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Scenic Drive is a picturesque loop road through Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. The road offers a memorable drive or bike ride with access to numerous trails and overlooks. Scenic Drive is 12.5 miles long if you drive straight through and about 13 miles long if you pull off at each of the various overlooks. A few things to know from the start: Scenic Drive is a one-way road.... Read more.

The whimsically concocted concentration of vibrant red-orange Aztec sandstone known as the Calico Hills is a must-see destination in Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. After leaving the visitor center, the Scenic Drive heads straight to the Calico Hills, passing three overlooks and trailheads, Calico I, Calico II, and Sandstone Quarry (the start of Calico Tanks Trail). You could... Read more.

Willow Springs Loop explores an area off the northwest side of the Scenic Drive through Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. While it is bordered by steep mountains, the loop actually crosses easy terrain along Red Rock Wash. Visit pictographs left behind by Native American's near Willow Springs Picnic Area and meander through desert landscapes. A spur to Lost Creek Waterfall, a... Read more.

This short hike ventures into a canyon to Lost Creek Waterfall, a seasonal desert falls. Cross through a riparian area below tall cliffs in the Spring Mountains of Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. Lost Creek Canyon Trail is 0.35 miles long and can be done as a 0.7-mile out and back hike with 165 feet of elevation change. Form a circuit with Lost Creek Children's Discovery Loop... Read more.

Calico Tanks Trail is one of the most popular hikes in Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, and for good reason. The trail ventures up a canyon colored in both yellow and red sandstone. Add the gray-blue mountains to the northwest and you get some seriously vibrant views. The trail ends with two rewards, a hopefully-not-dry pond and an overlook of Las Vegas. This scenic hike is 2.5... Read more.

Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area is a fantastic park to explore, with grand mountains and sandstone formations risings from the desert west of Las Vegas, Nevada. For those staying overnight in the park, Red Rock Canyon NCA has one campground with 72 sites. Like the rest of the park, the campground is managed by the Bureau of Land Management, which has established a well-developed... Read more.

How significant is water in the desert? Head to Read Spring to find out, where a 0.55-mile boardwalk circles an out-of-place meadow fed by a small spring. Red Spring spills from the base of the Calico Hills beneath a ridge of wildly shaped sandstone. While most of the trails in Red Rock Canyon NCA begin along the Scenic Drive, Red Spring Boardwalk sets out from a picnic area off Calico... Read more.

Very few places in nature would you feel comfortable getting up close to 5,000-pound animals. Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery is one of them. While visiting the seal colony, you can get up close to these impressive (and vocal) animals and observe them in their natural habitat. In addition to two quarter-mile long boardwalk trails, the rookery is also the starting point for a dirt... Read more.

If you are visiting Arches or Canyonlands and are planning to camp, you should know that camping within these national parks is quite limited. Fortunately, the Bureau of Land Management operates over two dozen developed campgrounds (with over 400 individual sites) outside these parks around the city of Moab. Each of the BLM campgrounds are first-come first-serve, so it is best to arrive... Read more.

This 4.65-mile round trip hike starts above the banks of the Colorado River east of Moab, Utah, and travels up a scenic canyon alongside a much smaller stream. The trek terminates at a stunning 243-foot long natural bridge, the sixth largest natural rock span in America. The level dirt trail to Morning Glory Bridge ascends just 300 feet and offers plenty of serenity along the way. ... Read more.