As temperatures rise and critters like rattlesnakes emerge, many Red Rock Canyon visitors may be concerned about their safety.
Las Vegas Hiking Guide
Find the best hikes, sights and views from Las Vegas
New to Las Vegas?
Start with our 10 Best Hikes Near Las Vegas list!
Start with our 10 Best Hikes Near Las Vegas list!
As temperatures soar and scorch our concrete jungle, the forest shade and cooler air of the nearby Spring Mountains offer a reprieve.
Henderson held a ribbon-cutting and bike parade to formally open The Harry Reid UPRR Trail expansion at Acacia Park on Saturday.
Last summer, Eric Poulin bushwhacked his way across some 17 mountain ranges in central Nevada, plotting the coordinates of a new route he christened the “Basin and Range Trail.”
This lush oasis, in a secluded canyon near Tecopa, California, is not a spa or a resort but a working ranch.
Every hiker who has heard of it dreams of walking the Bright Angel Trail, the famous footpath that snakes from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon all the way to the Colorado River on the canyon floor, with spectacular scenery almost every step of the way. If you’re going to hike it, May is one of the best months to do so, with average daily highs at 72 degrees on the rim and in the 80s about halfway down, at Indian Garden.
Set within a wide Navajo sandstone canyon, Lower Calf Creek Falls is one of the most stunning waterfalls in Utah.
The national park boasts wonderful hiking opportunities and about 3,100 fruit and nut trees.
The park in Chinle, Arizona, is definitely off the beaten path, but it’s worth the extra effort to see its wonders.
Seeing Arizona’s Grand Canyon is either on your bucket list already or ought to be.
Zion National Park is a spectacular destination year-round, but spring is one of the best times to visit.
The park located just outside of Twentynine Palms, California, encompasses almost 800,000 acres, with elevations ranging from 536 feet to 5,814 feet.
The hike from Zabriskie Point to Golden Canyon is a moderately strenuous one, but it rewards the strong with a look at some of Death Valley National Park’s finest geologic formations.
With its fiery red sandstone formations, the area is similar to Valley of Fire but offers much more solitude.
Visitors to the Rings Trail in California’s Mojave National Preserve descend a narrow, steep slot canyon by using metal rings bolted into the rock along two sections.
Over the next couple of months, Southern Nevadans will experience some of the best temperatures of the year, perfect for enjoying the outdoors.
One of the largest oases in the Mojave Desert, this national wildlife refuge is located about 25 miles northwest of Pahrump.
Greenery and wildlife abound at this Lincoln County park.
Reaching these two stunning slot canyons does not require a long trek.
Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area isn’t among the most famous outdoor destinations, but perhaps it should be. Certainly, if you plan a northern trip to Wyoming’s Yellowstone or Grand Teton National Parks, consider a side trip to Flaming Gorge. Located in a remote area of northeast Utah and southwest Wyoming, this is an outdoorsman’s paradise. The most popular activities are fishing, boating, rafting, hiking and camping.
Sequoia National Park is a bucket-list destination, famed as home to the world’s largest trees. You get to see two national parks on the same trip, for Kings Canyon National Park is adjacent and jointly managed.
Summer travel is in full swing in the warm Southwest, so we need to turn our thoughts to higher elevations in search of agreeably lower temperatures.
If you plan on a spring outing to Southern Utah, especially along Scenic Byway 12 to Bryce Canyon National Park or the Escalante area, an easy yet rewarding side trip is Kodachrome Basin State Park.
Keyhole Canyon is a great short trip for the entire family. The area is best visited in cooler months, and it’s near Las Vegas, so you can enjoy it and be home by dark, even in February.
Darwin Falls in Death Valley National Park is one of my favorite places to go when I need to clear my head. It affords me a full-day scenic trip, during which I can take a short yet adventuresome hike and immerse myself in nature.
The very best outdoor adventures for midwinter pack a lot of experience into a few hours of daylight. China Ranch does this just about perfectly, offering hiking, history, birding, shopping and a unique treat for the taste buds.
While many of us in Southern Nevada want to travel this time of year, many of the go-to places are too cold or covered too deeply with snow. But you won’t have that problem if you head down into the Sonoran Desert and Tucson, Arizona. Almost as far south as you can go in Arizona, winter weather is luxuriously pleasant.
The Bridge Spring Trail makes a great winter hike to a rare natural bridge in the Eldorado Mountains, south of Boulder City and near the small town of Nelson.
This time of year the main entrance of Zion National Park near Springdale, Utah, often sees bumper-to-bumper traffic. And that’s just getting there; you’ll also encounter crowds on the trails. If you nevertheless want to see Zion in fall, your experience might be more enjoyable in the Kolob Canyons, in the northwestern area of the park.
This is a great time of year to head up to the Spring Mountains Recreation Area — what we locals call Mount Charleston. You will experience crisp, early-fall temperatures and maybe a good fall foliage show in the surrounding mountains. One of the best options might be Fletcher Canyon, a side branch off the larger Kyle Canyon. This is a moderately strenuous hike with an 880-foot elevation gain, but it is suitable for most older children and adults, as long as they can handle a 3.5-mile round-trip hike.
