11:00 a.m.
We reached the Red Canyon National Conservation Area, paid our fee of $6.00, and stopped at the Visitor Center. We took a quick walk through the crowded facility, bought a book on geology trails around Las Vegas, then headed out.

Willow Springs

We bypassed the interesting looking Calico Hills area because there were just too many people there, and we could not find any parking. We drove to the Willow Springs area and found a parking spot and an empty picnic table and had lunch. It was a bit breezy and cool, but we managed. There seem to be many tour buses, originating in Vegas, bringing tourist-type people out to see the hills.

Willow Spring Trail

After we ate we did the 1.5 mile loop Willow Spring Trail through the area and saw several panels of pictographs and some interesting rock formations. The trail is rocky in places, and because there are several other trails crossing the area, it can be a bit confusing. The trail climbs a bit along the south side of the canyon, but the views are well worth it. There were several rock climbers in the area.

The geology in this area is mostly browns and buffs, with a few more trees than some areas in the Scenic Loop portion of the Conservation Area. There are high peaks, and the sandstone is eroded with more rounded features than in some areas.

Scenic Loop Drive

1:55 p.m.
We left the Willow Springs area and drove the rest of the way through along the one-way Scenic Loop drive, stopping at a couple of view points for the high Sandstone Cliffs and their associated deep canyons. There are some interesting sounding trails in this area that we’ll have to do in the future.

We drove back through the entrance of the Scenic Loop, using our receipt to get back in without paying. We found a parking spot at the Calico Hills Overview I site and walked down the short gravel path to the base of the hills. The area was swarming with people, and there were a good number of rock climbers doing their thing in the area.

Calico Hills

The Calico Hills are a variety of red and brown to buff types of rocks, mostly sandstone and limestone, with interesting erosional formations. They definitely invite climbing and exploring.

When we drove on we decided to skip the Calico Hills Overview II site because it was too crowded. We will come back some other time and hike the two or three mile round-trip trail along the base of the formations and get a better, higher quality view of this area.

Calico Tanks

Then we drove on to the Calico Tanks area, where we were able to find a good parking spot. There are restrooms here. We hiked the 2.5 mile round-trip trial to the Calico Tanks. This is a really great short hike with a lot of wonderful sandstone rock formations with a wide variety of colors. The sky was clouding over, but the Sun would shine through at times and give us great photo opportunities of highlighted color packed formations in the distance with the dark clouds as a backdrop. There were only a few people back in the canyon, so we had it pretty much to ourselves. There is a little climbing here and there, but nothing very difficult. Much of the trail passes along a sandy wash with desert vegetation. There are a few pictographs in the canyon, and some interesting man-made stone steps. Because of the recent rains, there were pools of standing water and much of the sandy wash bottom was wet.

Near the end of the trail we came to a large tank of water. Because the trail seemed to pass through the water we climbed the sandstone to the right of the tank and made our way around it. There are some amazing erosional features and subtle colors in this area.

When we reached the saddle above the tank we got a very good view of the entire valley surrounding Las Vegas. It was kind of a shock to come up over that ridge and suddenly see the city spread out before us, about 10 miles to the east.

The Quarry

On the return trip we stopped by The Quarry where large sandstone blocks had been moved out by a small operation at sometime in the past. It’s a small area, but interesting because you can easily see how they worked the stone away from the bedrock. Several large blocks are still sitting in the area.

4:33 p.m.
We made it back to the parking area and drove back along the loop to the entrance station and used the restroom there to change our clothes and clean up a bit. From there we drove Charleston Avenue back toward Las Vegas, looking for a restaurant for dinner.