Everything about Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area totally explained
» This article is about the National Conservation Area in Nevada. For other uses, see Red Rock Canyon.
Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area in
Nevada is a 198,000 acre (801 km²) area managed by the
Bureau of Land Management as part of its
National Landscape Conservation System, and protected as a
National Conservation Area. It is located about 15 mi west of
Las Vegas, and easily seen from the
Las Vegas Strip. The area is visited by over 1 million visitors each year.
The conservation area showcases a set of large red
sandstone peaks and walls called the Keystone Thrust. The walls are up to 3,000 ft (1,000 m) high, making them a popular
hiking and
rock climbing destination. The highest point is La Madre Mountain, at 8,154 ft (2,485 m).
A one-way loop road, 13 miles (21 km) long, provides vehicle access to many of the features in the canyon. Several side roads and parking areas allow access to many of the trails located in the canyon. A
visitor center is located at the start of the loop road. The loop road is very popular for
bicycle touring; it begins with a moderate climb, then is mostly downhill or flat.
Red Rock Canyon itself is a side-canyon accessible only by four-wheel-drive road off of the scenic loop. The unnamed but often visited valley cut through by
State Route 159 is commonly, but incorrectly, referred to as Red Rock Canyon. The massive wall of rock called the Wilson Cliffs, or Keystone Thrust, can be seen to the west along this highway.
Towards the southern end of the National Conservation Area are
Spring Mountain Ranch State Park, the western ghost town replica attraction of Bonnie Springs, and the village of
Blue Diamond.
History
Native Americans
The first humans were attracted to the Red Rock area due to its resources of water, plant and animal life that couldn't be easily found in the surrounding desert. This made Red Rock Canyon NCA very attractive to hunters and gatherers such as the historical Southern Paiute and the much older Archaic, or Desert Culture Native Americans.
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As many as six different
Native American cultures may have been present in Red Rock Canyon over the millennia. The following chronology is an approximation:
Numerous
petroglyphs as well as pottery fragments remain today throughout the area. In addition, several roasting pits used by the early Native Americans provide further evidence of human activity in the past at Red Rock Canyon.
Modern History
In the early 1900s, around the time the first people settled in nearby Las Vegas, a small
sandstone quarry was operated by the
Excelsior Company near the northern area of the scenic loop. It proved to be uneconomical and was shut down. Evidence of the quarry's existence includes some of the huge sandstone blocks that have been left behind.
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In 1967, the
Bureau of Land Management designated 10,000 acres (40 km²) as the Red Rock Recreation Lands. By 1990, special legislation changed the status of the Red Rock Recreation Lands to a National Conservation Area, which also provides funds used to maintain and protect it.
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The Howard Hughes Corporation, developer of
Summerlin,
Nevada, has transferred land adjacent to the protected area, to provide a buffer between development and the canyon. Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area is protected on the west side by the
Spring Mountains National Recreation Area.
Biology
The canyon is one of the easternmost parts of the
Mojave Desert; the bottom of the canyon, from 3,600 to 4,500 ft (1,100 to 1,400 m), is in the
Lower Sonoran Zone, while the area from 4,500 ft (1,400 m) up is in the
Upper Sonoran Zone. The character of the sandstone layers is such that a number of year-round springs may be found in the recesses of the side canyons.
Some 600 species of plants are known in the area; common types in the canyon bottom include the
Joshua tree,
Mojave yucca,
banana yucca,
creosote, and
blackbrush. Higher up the
Utah juniper and
scrub live oak come to dominate, and
ponderosa pines may be found at the top of the canyon, where it connects to the
Spring Mountains.
Wild
burros are a familiar sight, as are
rabbits and
ground squirrels.
Desert bighorn sheep are occasionally seen at higher elevations.
The Conservation Area is protected habitat for the
Desert Tortoise. A mascot Tortoise, named Mojave Max, is kept at the Visitors Center.
Geology
The Red Rock Area has a complex geological history which over millions of years, helped to create the dramatic landscape that characterizes the region.
The Red Rock area was located under a deep ocean basin during the
Paleozoic Era 600 million years ago. The decaying ocean and marine life formed sediments up to 9,000 feet thick at the seafloor. This sediment eventually formed into
limestone.
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Around the
Mesozoic Era 250 million years ago, the earth's crust started to rise due to tectonic shifts, forcing the water out and leaving behind formations of
salt and
gypsum. Exposure of the former sea bed allowed some of the rocks to oxidise (literally
rust) and formed the area's characteristic red and orange rock layers.
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Eventually a lush plain with streams and trees developed in the area. Some of these trees were covered with mud from the streams and eventually became
petrified wood. Many of these fossilized logs can still be found today at the base of the Wilson Cliffs.
By 180 million years ago, the climate continued to change and the area became a desert featuring vast expanses of huge shifting
sand dunes. These dunes would pile up and get
lithified into layers called Aztec
Sandstone.
During a mountain building period called the
Laramide orogeny around 65 million years ago, the Keystone
Thrust Fault developed, which ran through most of North America and through the Red Rock Conservation Area. The movement of this fault forced the older grey sedimentary rock over the younger red rocks, forming the striking red line that can be seen in the mountain today.
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Activities
Red Rock provides a wide variety of activities, the most popular being
hiking,
biking, rock
scrambling, and
rock climbing.
Horseback riding and
camping are also allowed on specific trails and designated areas. Automobile and motorcycle clubs such as Flat 4 LV often do group drives through the 13-mile scenic drive.
ATV use isn't permitted in the area.
Aside from the obvious dangers from climbing rock faces and cliffs, visitors should know that temperatures can routinely exceed 105F (41C) in the summer, so bringing plenty of water is a must. Visitors hiking into the backcountry off established trails should never go alone and inform other people of their plans in advance as a precaution. There is also the threat of poisonous
rattlesnakes and flash flooding/lightning from
thunderstorms.
Rock Climbing
Despite the Yosemite-size walls offering a host of challenging lines, technical climbing activity isn't known from before 1968. Las Vegas resident
Joe Herbst was a key early explorer of the walls, and made many
first ascents. Later
Jorge and
Joanne Urioste put up a number of long hard routes, and Joanne wrote a first
climber's guidebook.
The rock is
Aztec Sandstone, a very hard variety with a consistent solidity; many climbs feature ascents of a single parallel-sided crack hundreds of feet long. The climbs of Red Rock have a broad range. Not only are there many long, easy routes, making the area a common climbing training ground, but Red Rock also features many more difficult climbs as well.
Popular
sport climbing areas include the Calico Hills and Sandstone Quarry. Red Rock also has a multitude of
traditional climbing areas including single pitch areas such as Brass Wall and Necromancer Wall, along with multi-pitch areas such as Eagle Wall, Aeolian Wall, Mescalito, and Solar Slab Wall. Multi-day big wall aid climbs are featured on the Rainbow Wall.
Some of the more famous traditional climbs include:
Cat in the Hat (5.6, 6 pitches, 650 feet) on Mescalito in Pine Creek Canyon.
Solar Slab (5.6, 9 pitches, 1200 feet) on Solar Slab Wall in Oak Creek Canyon.
Black Dagger (5.7, 6 pitches, 800 feet) on Brownstone Wall in Juniper Canyon.
Crimson Chrysalis (5.8, 9 pitches, 1000 feet) on Cloud Tower in Juniper Canyon.
Epinephrine (5.9, 13 pitches, 1600 feet) on Black Velvet Wall in Black Velvet Canyon.
Dream of Wild Turkeys (5.10a, 7 pitches, 700 feet) on Black Velvet Wall in Black Velvet Canyon.
Prince of Darkness (5.10c, 6 pitches, 700 feet) on Black Velvet Wall in Black Velvet Canyon.
Levitation 29 (5.11c, 9 pitches, 700 feet) on Eagle Wall in Oak Creek Canyon.
Wildfire history
Wildfires in Red Rock, especially those in the loop area, allow visitors to see both the damage caused by these events as well as the ability of the desert to heal itself over time.
While wildfires are nothing new to the Red Rock Area, recent fires seemed to have been in part fueled by the thick growth of non-native red brome and cheat grasses. They provide fuel for fires and also compete with the native plants in the area for resources. So far there have been no plans to control these weeds, as control methods such as using herbicides can be both costly and also damaging to the native plants.(External Link)
Several significant wildfires have burned within the Red Rock Canyon NCA in recent years, including:
1998 a fire occurred in the loop area. By 2003 regrowth made it difficult to find the burn area.
June 25, 2005 the Goodsprings fire at over 31,600 acres (128 km²), burned into Red Rock NCA's southern area.
July 22, 2005 lighting caused 800 acre (3 km²) fire in the loop area.
September 06, 2006 yet another fire was started by lightning in the loop near the visitor's center and burned around 1,500 acres (6 km²).
Gallery
Image:Joshuatree_redrockcanyon.jpg|Joshua Tree with Calico Hills in the Background
Image:Lasvegasgeography.jpg|Valley in Red Rock Canyon NCA, looking north, with the Keystone Thrust on the left. The Wilson Cliffs can be seen to the left.
Image:Red Rock Wilson Cliffs.jpg|The Wilson Cliffs as seen from the top of the Scenic Loop.
Image:Calico Hills.jpg|The Calico Hills
Image:Bridge Mountain.jpg|Bridge Mountain.
Image:Calico basin red rock cumulus mediocris.jpg|Calico basin
Image:Wild Burros Grazing.jpg|Wild Burros grazing.
Image:Calico Hills climbing.jpg|Climbers at Red Rock Canyon's Calico Hills area.
Further Information
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