White Rock Loop
Hike Review
After spending the previous night checking out the Las Vegas Strip (and us finding it a bit too loud), we were more than happy to spend time at Red Rocks Canyon. We were initially thinking about rock climbing, but we could not find a parking space to save our lives, as I guess we arrived too late (around 11 a.m.).
The trail was really nicely groomed and well marked; we found the trail easy to hike. The only downside was that even though the forecast had called for highs in the mid-70s, the actual temperature was much warmer, and I found myself wishing for my jogging shorts instead of my convertible pants.
The views were jaw-dropping gorgeous, especially on the backside of the White Rock Hills. Unlike the front-facing portion, the backside of White Rock Hills is a small canyon that has a ton of trees. We found the color combination of the green trees and white/orange rocks to be just spectacular.
We found no trash on the trail. There were two restrooms on the loop, with them positioned almost equidistant. There was plenty of parking in the Willow Spring area, but no parking before that.
What I Learned
Cassie forgot to bring her watercolor painting kit, so she jogged an extra mile while I waited for her on the trail, eating my lunch and reading a book. She did not end up painting, however, as we arrived back to the car during sunset.
When we finished our hike, we bouldered a bit on this giant boulder next to the parking lot. When we topped out, we saw that there were these brown circles embedded in the rock, with some brown cylinders protruding out of the rock. We then figured out that these were petrified bushes or tree branches! It was so cool to just see that out of the blue!
What Happened?
6.5 miles, 3 hrs 20 mins, 1549 ft of ascent
We spent the previous night at a hotel on the Las Vegas Strip as Cassie had not been to the Strip since she was 3, and it would be a new experience for her. I had not visited the Strip for 10+ years, as the last time I was there was for work. We had a tough time finding a hotel that had parking which would fit a 7’ tall truck, but we did figure it out and spent the night at the Lync. We were then able to do laundry, take a long shower, and just enjoy the comforts and cleanliness.
The next morning, we woke up slowly, got Vietnamese sandwiches to go, and arrived at a long line to the entrance of Red Rock Canyon. We then checked out the visitor center and started driving the loop, hoping to find a parking space that would allow us access to the Calico Hills. Unfortunately, there were no parking spaces available with a ton of cars waiting at each parking lot. So, we drove on and decided to go hiking instead.
We parked at the Willow Springs Trailhead and hiked the White Rock Loop in a counterclockwise direction. The hike was not too hard, easy to do, without too many other folks on the trail. The most fun parts of the hike were hearing climbers and staring up at the White Hills trying to figure out where they were.
The front (South-East) part of the hike was hot, while the rest of the hike was nicely shaded and much cooler with trees lending us company. The second half of the hike also had superior views as the White Hills lit by a setting sun being a gorgeous thing to witness.
We ended the hike picking up our jaws from the ground and bouldered a bit before hurrying to our campsite right outside of Death Valley. Much like the rest of the places we visited during this trip, we found Red Rock Canyon to be better than advertised, and we hope to come back and really explore the place.
