After three nights and four days in the backcountry it was time to pop back into civilization for food and showers so we headed to Vegas. We usually break up our Thanksgiving trip with a night or two in Vegas and this time we spoiled ourselves with a hot tub room. Although Vegas can be fun, we’ve been there so many times that wandering the Strip has lost its appeal and we prefer to spend the days hiking in Red Rock Canyon.
We spent two full days in Red Rock. On day one, we first headed up to Black Velvet canyon to check out some bouldering sites. There were many climbers up on the bigger walls, but we had just brought along bouldering gear (shoes, chalk, crash pad) and wandered up the canyon while stopping to play on the rocks. It was a fun morning stop away from the crowds of the main park loop, but we had an afternoon plan to summit Turtlehead Peak and didn’t want to run out of daylight so we didn’t spend a lot of time in Black Velvet.
Back on the main park loop, we parked at the extraordinarily busy (for a Monday, anyways) Quarry trailhead. Many people stop to wander the 1/4 mile to the old sandstone quarry or to play around on the Calico rocks, but we made a beeline down the trail so we could get up and down Turtlehead before dark. It was only about 12:30, but with sunset at 4:30 and vague route descriptions (that varied from ‘meh, it’s easy’ to ‘OMG you’re going to die’), we didn’t want to push it.
Turtlehead is about 4 miles round trip with about 2000 feet of gain. This is normally a pretty quick hike for us, but the trail dies out after a mile and the rest of the climb requires a gravelly and steep scramble up the side of the mountain. Of course there is plenty of cactus scattered in the area, just to keep things interesting. We made it to the summit in about an hour and a half and spent about 30 minutes enjoying the views of all of Red Rock Canyon, across to other ranges in the area, and down to the Vegas strip. The trip down took almost as long as the hike up since it was still a slow process of picking our way down the side of the mountain.
The following day, we did the easy but longer hike of the Willow Springs/White Rock loop. This is a seven mile walk around the White Rocks at the far end of the Red Rock Loop. We got there early, right as the park opened, and started off as the only people in the parking lot. The route follows the Rocky Gap road out of Willow Springs and turns up the canyon that runs along the northwest side of the giant White Rock formation. The canyon climbs gently and goes over a small pass that offers great views towards the Calicos and Turtlehead Peak. As you descend and pass by the White Rock trailhead, you have the option of extending the hike by taking the side trail to Keystone Thrust.
If You Go
Turtlehead Peak
Although the trail starts off marked and maintained, it quickly disappears and requires cross-country travel skills. It helps to have a clear description of the route up the chute to the ridge below Turtlehead Peak, a topo map, and a GPS. There are several guidebooks and websites that describe the route.
Although there is no trail up the steep chute there is a complicated mess of use trails that go all over the place and it is useful to know what landmarks to aim for. As you climb, there will be a large ridge of rock in the middle of the canyon/chute. Stick to the right (as you a climbing) of these big protruding rocks. On our hike down we ended up on the other side and although it’s passable, it’s much more of a scramble than the other side (we ended up having to ~3rd class downclimb some boulder pile/dry falls – there were no such obstacles on the climb up when we stuck to the right).
White Rock/Willow Creek Loop
I liked doing this loop in the direction we went. The climb through the canyon was gradual and it was fun to stop and look back down towards the way we came. Watch out for 4x4s on the road during the first ~3/4 mile. Also, make sure to take the short (~500ft) side trail to the springs near White Rock.
