Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, Nevada, United States

5Tom H 5:00 PM Feb 19, 2022

Beautiful Mountains
We visited Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area while staying in Las Vegas. We stayed in Summerlin so it was only about a 25 minute drive from our hotel. The loop drive is spectacular and the scenery stunning. We also got a blue sky day which was great. Things to know. Cost is $15 per vehicle. We have an annual US park pass (America the Beautiful) which allows access to all Federal parks and facilities. Red Rock is administered by the BLM. Our pass cost $80. We bought it the day before at another park and as I write this we would have had to pay $55 for the 3 parks we have visited. Great value if you're seeing multiple parks. We drove the 13 mile scenic loop road. There was just about every other mode of transport on the road. You must make a reservation online for a certain access time. Access is regulated from October to May. The first 3 parking areas provide really excellent opportunities for photos of the red rocks. If you want to access the second lot (Calico 2) I recommend going early because the lot is very small and hikers use it. There is no parking along the road. You cannot do the loop twice. The road spits you back out onto Highway 159 and you're out of the park. So do the visitor center at the start of your tour. This was a great scenic opportunity and lots of people were hiking, biking, jogging and taking guided tours.

5Martin S 5:00 PM Feb 3, 2020

Great location near to the city...
Well worth the drive out west, and the $15 entrance fee for vehicles, $10 for m/cycles and $5 for pushbikes (steep ride p in places), this is a one-way loop to see the canyon with lots of lookout points and wide road with perfect surface. Tours also available I believe. There are also several toilet blocks (big hole in ground variety with a raised seat so pungent in the summer no doubt, no running water but hand sanitiser provided). We didn't stop at Visitor Center [sic] but it looked impressive and I believe the entry fee to the Conservation Area included entrance to the Center. Take a camera and go around sunset/sunrise for best lighting and some great panoramic scenes and views of the city from afar... Be prepared for lengthy queues to get in though, even at end of January we queued for 20mins or so mid-morning.