Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area
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- 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 area managed by the Bureau of Land Management, 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.
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[edit] History
[edit] 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 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.[1]
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:
- Southern Paiute 900 A.D. to modern times
- Patayan Culture 900 A.D. to early historic times in the 1800s
- Anasazi 1 A.D. to 1150 A.D.
- Pinto/Gypsum (Archaic) 3,500 B.C. to 1 A.D.
- San Dieguito 7,000 to 5,500 B.C.
- Paleo-Indians (Tule Springs) 11,000 to 8,000 B.C.
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.
[edit] Modern History
In the early 1900's, 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 include some of the huge sandstone blocks that have been left behind.[2]
In 1967, the Bureau of Land Management designated 10,000 acres 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.[3]
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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.[4]
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.[5]
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.[6]
[edit] 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. 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 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.
[edit] Rock Climbing
Despite the Yosemite-size walls offering a host of challenging lines, technical climbing activity is not 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.
Popular climbing areas include the Calico Hills, Sandstone Quarry and the Wilson Cliffs.
[edit] 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 as well.[7]
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.
[edit] Gallery
 Joshua Tree with Calico Hills in the Background |
 Valley in Red Rock Canyon NCA, looking north, with the Keystone Thrust on the left. The Wilson Cliffs can be seen to the left. |
 The Wilson Cliffs as seen from the top of the Scenic Loop. |
 The Calico Hills |
 Bridge Mountain. |
[edit] References
- Joanne Urioste, The Red Rocks of Southern Nevada (American Alpine Club, 1984)
- Larry L. Clinesmith and Elsie L. Sellars, Red Rock Canyon Plants (Red Rock Canyon Interpretive Association, 2001)
