Creek trail presents a little of everything people like about Red Rock Canyon, including open desert landscapes, riparian areas, a seasonal stream, and spectacular views of the sandstone Wilson Cliffs. Furthermore, it’s an easy trail to access, for it doesn’t lie on the one-way scenic loop.
From the trailhead start your trek west along the obvious well-worn path. For the first mile or so vegetation mainly consists of Joshua trees, banana yuccas, cholla cactus, and blackbrush. You might be lucky enough to see wild burros, coyotes, kit foxes, whitetail antelope ground squirrels, jackrabbits, or cottontails; you’ll surely see evidence of their presence. You’ll doubtless see a few lizards darting about, mostly the zebra-tailed, side-blotched, and desert spiny varieties.
About one mile from where you started, the trail veers right and tops an embankment of the First Creek drainage. There are a few spur trails along here that lead down into the creek bed, but most are pretty steep. Keep going, and you’ll come to the main trail down — a much easier route.
Once in the drainage there are some boulders to sit on and enjoy the surroundings. If there has been rain recently, head upstream a short distance and you will be treated to a waterfall. Keep an eye out for hummingbirds, white-throated swifts, cactus wrens, mourning doves, nighthawks and Gambel’s quail. Pacific chorus frogs and red-spotted toads also make homes here. Canyon grapevines grow profusely up many of the embankments and you will also find a variety of water-loving rushes and sedges. Flanking the streambed are willows, cottonwoods and single-leaf ash trees.
You won’t travel too far within the drainage until you are confronted with dense vegetation, but this lush riparian area is a pleasant place to just relax a while.
Once they have seen the creek bed and waterfall, most hikers return to the trailhead. But those seeking more can continue west into First Creek Canyon. Along the way you will be entering the 24,997-acre Rainbow Mountain Wilderness Area which runs up and over the escarpment. This wilderness area is jointly managed by the BLM and the U.S. Forest Service.
As you continue up the canyon, the trail gets faint and harder to follow and eventually you’ll have to do some rock scrambling. Within the canyon the vegetation changes dramatically due to more water and a cooler environment. Utah serviceberry, desert snowberry, and manzanita thrive here, and there are even Gambel’s oaks and ponderosas scattered throughout.
First Creek Canyon At A Glance
Best season: October–April.
Length: Two to three miles roundtrip with opportunities to extend.
Difficulty: Easy to moderate.
Elevation gain: Three hundred feet.
Trailhead elevation: 3,645 feet.
Warning: Flash flood danger in canyon.
Jurisdiction: Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.
Directions: From Red Rock Canyon’s main entrance head south on State Route 159 (Charleston Boulevard) about 4.2 miles. Parking area is on the right.
A riparian setting along First Creek.
Mt. Charleston / Spring Mountains National Recreation Area
Mt. Charleston Kyle Canyon area.
Only an hour from the desert climate of Las Vegas, winter snows can pile seven feet deep and elk graze in lush meadows. The Spring Mountains and particularly their dominant peak, Mt. Charleston, stand like green alpine islands in a sea of sand and stone.
Because of the heavy winter snows, late spring through early fall is the best time to hike these mountains. But because such a large population lives nearby, these months see heavy use, especially on summer weekends. If you desire solitude on popular trailheads, get there at first light.
Yet, there’s a lot of outdoors to share here. The Spring Mountains National Recreation Area, established in 1993 as part of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, encompasses 316 thousand acres. Elevations range from about forty-five hundred feet up to 11,918 at Charleston Peak’s summit.
In planning a hike it is important to factor in how altitude might affect your experience, for few of us are accustomed to such heights. At most of the trailheads you will be about five thousand feet higher than Las Vegas, so temperatures can easily be more than twenty-five degrees cooler. In the thin alpine air, hiking feels more strenuous, and it’s easier to get sunburned.
There are no bears in the Spring Mountains but there is plenty of wildlife including wild horses, mountain lions, and desert bighorn sheep. In fact, with six different life zones, and ages of isolation from other high-country habitats, the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area has more than fifty species unique to the area.
In the upper reaches of this area you will probably come across Palmer’s chipmunks, a species found only in these mountains and only where ponderosa trees are dominant, which is about eight thousand feet above sea level. A close cousin, the Panamint chipmunk, is found over a wider area. Most of us wouldn’t notice the difference between the two unless they were standing side by side; then one might notice the Palmer’s is a bit larger, and brighter in color. It’s charming to know you’re looking at a creature seen nowhere else in the world, but don’t let that fact tempt you to feed them. They’re trying to keep the wildlife wild around here.
Neither gasoline nor groceries are sold on Mt. Charleston, but there are restaurants at both the Mt. Charleston Lodge and Mt. Charleston Hotel in the Kyle Canyon area. There are some water sources on hiking trails, but not all are reliable, and all require thorough treatment to be potable, so it’s best to bring plenty from home.
For visitor information: (702) 872-5486, www.gomtcharleston.com.
9 Spring Mountains Visitor Gateway
Opened in late spring of 2015, the Spring Mountains Visitor Gateway in Kyle Canyon is the place to start any visit to the Mt. Charleston area. The complex features a new forty-five hundred-square-foot visitor center surrounded by 128 acres. The complex has something to offer all ages. Besides the visitor center, the Gateway includes an education building, two amphitheaters, a group picnic site, the nation’s first Cold War Memorial, and the Nuwuvi (Southern Paiute) Seven Stones Plaza. Three hiking trails begin behind the visitor center.
Resting benches made of natural logs are found throughout the property, and there are stations to refill your water bottles or hydration packs, or maybe even draw water for your dogs. Great thought also went into choosing the native plants here. Look for aspen trees and evergreens, and for wildflowers blooming in summer.
Directly behind the visitor center is the USAF 9068 Memorial and Silent Heroes of the Cold War National Monument. As our nation’s
