Red Rock Canyon National Conservation area is a popular hiking and rock climbing area located in the Mojave Desert. Millions of people visit Red Rocks each year to see the beautiful desert landscape and the large and bright rock formations. The proximity to Las Vegas also doesn’t hurt the popularity of the park. It is located so close to Las Vegas that it makes for the perfect day trip from Vegas.
Red Rock Canyon National Conservation area is located only 20 minutes from the Las Vegas Strip. It is so close it can be seen from the Strip. So if you’re looking for a short and easy escape from the glitz and glam of Vegas, Red Rock Canyon is the easiest road trip to take.
What to See at Red Rock Canyon?
Red Rock Canyon consists of a one-way 13 mile scenic drive. Along this scenic drive, there are plenty of short hiking trails and viewpoints. However, as the drive is one-way, you’ll want to plan your stops. If you miss a stop, you’ll have to re-loop the park to catch it again. So we’ve put together this half-day road trip through Red Rocks with stops included. We hope this will help you plan your own Red Rock road trip.
Red Rock Canyon is also an amazing rock climbing destination for those who love the sport. If you are a climber, make sure to pack your gear. This itinerary, however, is not designed for climbers and leaves out all of the great opportunities for it that this park presents.
When to Visit Red Rock Canyon?
The best time to visit Red Rocks is in the spring and fall when temperatures are still warm but mild. Winter is also nice as well. However, if there is snow or ice, you may not be able to do as much rock climbing as you would otherwise, due to icy conditions.
If you visit during peak season (October-May), you’ll need to make a timed reservation to enter the park. This timed reservation helps thin out the traffic in the park and adds an additional $2 reservation fee to your entrance. If you’re visiting on a weekend, definitely make sure you book your timed ticket ahead of time. If you’re visiting on a weekday, you’ll **probably** be fine to just drive in and “book” your ticket at the gate.
You can also visit in the summer. However, it is the desert and it will be ridiculously hot. So if you visit in summer you may just want to drive through the park and not spend as much time hiking.
Getting There and Around
The park is just 20-30 minutes from the Las Vegas Strip and is super easy to get to. Just plug it in to your GPS and head out.
You will need a car to explore the 17 mile scenic drive. And we’ve designed this post for people self-driving this loop. Once you’re in the park, consider downloading the park map so that you can see all that the park has to offer – they do not offer paper maps at the park. While you can take a ride share/taxi to the park, you really need a car to get around the park.
The speed limit in the park is 35 mi/hr. We drove even slower than that as we wanted to enjoy the scenery. However, if you are going to be a slow driver, like us, make sure you pull off at every parking area to let the other cars pass.
However, if you prefer a tour of the park, there are several tour operators that operate out of Las Vegas.
What to Budget
Entrance into the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area is $15/vehicle. And American the Beautiful annual parks pass will also get you in. Don’t forget to budget the $2 reservation fee if you’re visiting between Fall-Spring.
And that’s it for the budget! That’s all this half day trip will cost you.
Where to Stay Near Red Rock Canyon
When we visited Red Rocks, we stayed in Las Vegas. Since this is so close to Vegas, it made a perfect day trip for us.
However, if you are interested in staying closer to Red Rock Canyon, there is one campground in the park that operates Fall-Spring each year. There is no camping available in the summer months. Camp sites are $20 each and reservations are recommended. Reservations can be made up to 6 months in advance.
Red Rock Canyon Itinerary
Start your trip to Red Rock Canyon by stopping at the first two parking areas for views. Calico I and Calico II parking areas are connected by a hiking trail. However, this hiking trail goes along the road so we skipped this hike as you can see everything from the road. But make sure to get out at both parking areas and take in the scenery and snap some photos of the red rocks.
Next, stop at the Calico Tanks and Turtlehead Peak trailhead lot. This is a moderate trail. We thought the trail was pretty easy but it did require some rock scrambling. This will bring you to the top of some beautiful sandstone cliffs views views of Vegas below. Along the way you may even see some natural pools of standing water.
Next, stop at White Rock overlook. This is at the end of a dirt road. However, the road was well maintained and our car could drive it.
Next, stop at the Petroglyph Wall trailhead. This is a super short and easy hike to see some petroglyphs on the canyon’s wall. These are estimated to be about 800 years old. Can you spot them?
You can also hike the Lost Creek trail as well. In winter and spring months, you may even see a river or waterfall along this easy hike. There are also a bunch of information signs along the hie as well which are a fun learning experience.
Next, stop at the Ice Box Canyon parking area. If you are visiting in the winter or spring and are looking for a challenging hike, consider hiking the difficult 2.6 mile trail to Icebox Canyon. This canyon has a small waterfall in it if there was a recent rain or snow melt. However, this hike is challenging as it requires scrambling over boulders once you are in the canyon.
Lastly, stop at Pine Creek Canyon. You can walk the 3 mile loop through the desert if you still have energy left for an easy hike.
Want to Add To The Itinerary?
If you’re looking to add to this half day in Red Rock Canyon, consider spending the rest of your day in Las Vegas. It’s sooo close it would be a shame to miss it.
If Las Vegas isn’t your idea of fun, Death Valley National Park is also really close and worth exploring.
If you want to look farther afield for ideas to add on to your Red Rock vacation, check out our favorite destinations nearby (-ish):
- Two Days in the Grand Canyon
- Utah Travel Guide
- Arches National Park Day Trip
- Things to do in Sedona, Arizona
What to Pack for Red Rock Canyon
As you’ll be hiking through the desert, make sure to pack plenty of water and a good water bottle or hydration pack.
You’ll also want to make sure you have sun protection such as sunscreen and a hat.
For shoes, we wore walking/running shoes and hiking sandals. Hiking boots seemed like overkill on these relatively easy trails.
For clothes, make sure you pack in layers. If the sun is out, the desert is hot. If the sun is gone, the desert is cold. So make sure you have layers for the different temperatures.
Safety in Red Rock Canyon
For public lands, Red Rock Canyon has amazing cell service. Probably due to the close proximity to Vegas and mostly wide open spaces. However, we always think it’s a good idea to download maps ahead of time just in case you loose service while hiking.
One of the biggest issues we had with the park was the poorly marked hiking trails. Lots of signs were completely faded from the sun. Some trails had rock piles marking the way but those weren’t always visible to us. So make sure you have a good hiking map or GPS if you plan on doing the longer hiking trails.
Also, you’re in the Mojave Desert. So make sure you always have enough water for the hiking that you plan to do.
We hope that our experience in Red Rock Canyon has help you to plan your own visit to this amazingly accessible park. Please let us know if you have any questions or if we’ve left anything out of this guide, please leave it in the comments section below.
