Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area

The Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area in Nevada is an 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 miles (24 km) 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 rock formations: a set of sandstone peaks and walls called the Keystone Thrust. The walls are up to 3,000 feet (910 m) high, making them a popular hiking and rock climbing destination. The highest point is La Madre Mountain, at 8,154 feet (2,485 m).

A one-way loop road, 13 miles (21 km) long, provides vehicle access to many of the features in the area. Several side roads and parking areas allow access to many of the trails located in the area. 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 a 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 could not be easily found in the surrounding desert. This made the area very attractive to hunters and gatherers such as the historical Southern Paiute and the much older Archaic, or Desert Culture Native Americans.

As many as six different Native American cultures may have been present at Red Rock over the millennia. The following chronology is an approximation:

• Southern Paiute 900 to modern times
• Patayan Culture 900 to early historic times in the 1800s
• Anasazi 1 AD to 1150.
• Pinto/Gypsum (Archaic) 3500 BC to 1 AD.
• San Dieguito 7000 to 5500 BC.
• Paleo-Indians (Tule Springs) 11,000 to 8000 BC.

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.

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. In 1967, the Bureau of Land Management designated 10,000 acres (4,000 ha) 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.

The Howard Hughes Corporation, developer of Summerlin, has transferred land adjacent to the protected area, to provide a buffer between development and the conservation area. Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area is adjacent, on the west side, to the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area.

Biology

The conservation area is one of the easternmost parts of the Mojave Desert; the lowest elevation of the area, from 3,600 to 4,500 feet (1,100 to 1,400 m), is in the Lower Sonoran Zone, while the area from 4,500 feet (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 valley floor include the Joshua tree, Mojave yucca, banana yucca, creosote, and blackbrush. Higher up the Utah juniper and Sonoran scrub oak (also called scrub live oak) come to dominate. Agave is easy to spot in red rock niches, with its thick low leaves and flowering stem that reaches twice the height of a man. The Calico Tanks trail has a plaque about prehistoric agave roasting pits. Ponderosa pines may be found at the top of the valley, 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. During rare spring and summer rainstorms, tiny red-spotted toads can be seen emerging from pools of water.

The Conservation Area is protected habitat for the Desert Tortoise. There is a habitat at the Visitor Center that houses eight females and two males. One of the males, Mojave Max, is a mascot tortoise for the Clark County Desert Conservation Program and is used in educational programs.

Climate

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 an ocean basin during the Paleozoic Era 600 million years ago. Up to 9,000 feet of limey sediments were deposited and eventually lithified to limestone. During the Mesozoic Era 250 million years ago, the earth's crust started to rise due to tectonic shifts, and marine shales and sandstones were deposited. As the basin became isolated evaporite formations of salt and gypsum were deposited. Oxidation of the iron minerals in the sediments resulted in the red colors of some of the rocks. Deposition by streams and in swamp environments resulted in the formation of petrified wood in the area.

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 accumulated over a broad area, up to a half mile thick, and were lithified, cemented with calcium carbonate and iron oxides, and are now the colorful Aztec Sandstone. During a mountain building period called the Laramide orogeny around 66 million years ago, the Keystone Thrust Fault developed. The Keystone is part of a series of thrust faults which ran through much of western North America and through the Red Rock Conservation Area. The movement of this fault forced the older gray sedimentary rock over the younger red rocks, forming the varicolored landscape that can be seen in the mountain today. The thrust is exposed over a distance of 13 miles along the Red Rock escarpment.

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 (Subaru enthusiasts club) and Sin City Sportbikes, often do group drives through the 13-mile scenic drive. ATV use is not permitted in the area.

Aside from the obvious dangers from climbing rock faces and cliffs, visitors should know that temperatures can routinely exceed 105 °F (41 °C) in the summer, so bringing plenty of water is a must. Visitors hiking into the backcountry off established trails should never go alone, and should inform other people of their plans. There is also the threat of venomous rattlesnakes and flash flooding/lightning from thunderstorms.

Rock climbing

Despite the Yosemite-size walls offering a host of challenging lines, technical climbing activity is not known from before 1968. 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.

Hiking

Red Rock has hiking trails and picnic areas. Trails are changed and diverted depending upon the needs of the ecosystem. In early spring, depending upon the precipitation, it is possible to see waterfalls on the edge of the canyons.

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.

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 (12,800 ha), burned into Red Rock NCA's southern area.
• July 22, 2005 - Lightning caused an 800 acres (320 ha) fire in the loop area.
• September 6, 2006 - Yet another fire was started by lightning in the loop near the visitor's center and burned around 1,500 acres (610 ha).
• July 2013 - Carpenter I fire. Burned mainly in the Spring Mountain NRA, but encroached on the north west portion of the conservation area. Can be easily viewed from SR 157 Kyle Canyon Road. Caused by lightning in Trout Canyon nearby.

Gallery

Notes

References

• Urioste, Joanne, The Red Rocks of Southern Nevada, American Alpine Club, 1984 ISBN 978-0-930410-17-9
• Clinesmith, Larry L. and Elsie L. Sellars, Red Rock Canyon Plants, Red Rock Canyon Interpretive Association, 2001 ISBN 978-0-9707179-0-0

External links

• BLM's Red Rock Canyon Site

• Flowers of RRCNCA by BLM

• Red Rock Canyon Interpretive Association