can take this path up the sandstone bluff to points commanding spectacular views of the La Madre Mountain range to the north and west. These are great places to take a break and enjoy a snack, giving you more time to take in the views. Bighorn sheep frequent this area, so be on the lookout for movement in the steep parts of the landscape.
The White Rock Hills route takes hikers through a pinyon-juniper plant community which also includes Mojave yucca and prickly pear cactus.
Once you backtrack down the spur to the saddle, the trail gradually descends into La Madre Spring Valley and the west side of the White Rock Hills. After about one and one-half miles you will reach a junction where the route turns left onto an old gravel road. But for an excellent side trip, go right instead, and follow the road less than a mile to La Madre Spring, which flows perennially.
The spring feeds a shallow pond, about the size of a large, portable wading pool, which was created by a dam built in the 1960s. Surrounded by Baltic rush, bulrush, reeds and other water-loving plants, it is beloved by area wildlife including bighorn sheep and mule deer. You can sometimes see them of a morning or evening.
If you’re skipping the side trip, or after returning from it to the junction, follow the old road about one-half mile to Rocky Gap Road — main route to Pahrump in days of yore — and go left. Continue down the gravel road for about one-half mile to the Willow Springs Picnic Area.
A little below the parking area, look for the sign marking the point where the trail leaves the road and heads east. A little more than two miles farther along, you’ll see another spur trail on your left that brings you down to White Rock Spring. There is a bench where you can relax, watch for wildlife and listen for birds before heading up the trail a mere one-tenth mile to the parking area where you started. That’s one of the nicest and most unusual features of this hike. How many other opportunities are there to hike six miles, yet end the hike well rested?
White Rock Hills/La Madre Spring Loop At A Glance
Best Season: October–April.
Length: Six-mile loop.
Difficulty: Moderate.
Elevation gain: 885 feet.
Trailhead elevation: 4,875 feet if starting at upper White Rock Spring Trailhead.
Warning: Flash flood potential in washes.
Jurisdiction: Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.
Directions: From Red Rock Canyon’s main entrance, follow the 13-mile Scenic Drive for 5.7 miles and go right. Follow this access road 0.5 miles to parking area. The trailhead for doing the loop in a counterclockwise direction is on the north side of the parking area.
4 La Madre Spring Trail
This route takes you directly to a perennially flowing, spring-fed stream and a small pond, manmade in the 1960s. Although many visit this spring as a side trip from the White Hills Loop Trail, this is a different, shorter route through sandstone and limestone hills.
It’s a good hike for children, with no drop-offs or obstacles along the main route. Very young hikers, though, might struggle keeping balance on the uneven, rocky surfaces. And because it’s very rocky in places, everybody will be more comfortable in sturdy-soled hiking boots instead of lighter-tread sneakers or trail-running shoes.
From the Willow Springs Picnic Area, which serves as the main parking area for this hike, walk up the rough, gravel Rocky Gap Road. This road was once called the old Pahrump Highway or the Potato Road, and was a major route to Pahrump for about fifty years starting in the early 1900s.
After one-half mile you will cross Red Rock Wash (usually dry, but a major drainage). After crossing the wash continue up the road about 130 yards and you will see the sign that marks the official La Madre Spring trailhead on your right.
From the signed trailhead head up the now-abandoned jeep road which will bring you high on the west bank of Red Rock Wash. You will be in a pinyon-juniper plant community which in this area includes scrub oak, Mormon tea, sagebrush, manzanita, Mojave yucca and prickly pear cactus.
About one-half mile after leaving Rocky Gap Road you will come to a signed junction. To the right is the White Rock Loop Trail that circles north around the White Rock Hills and back to the Willow Springs Picnic Area, about six miles in total. For the La Madre Spring hike, however, you continue straight ahead.
Travel about three-tenths miles farther and you will see an obvious and wide spur trail on the right. This fifty-yard side trip takes you to an old house foundation. I paced it out to be about fifty-five by thirty feet. There are still some remains of the old floor tile; very strong glue has held it in place through about four decades of desert heat and cold.
Off the main trail there is another short spur trail on the left where you can find another foundation about the same size.
Continuing up the main route about four-tenths miles you will arrive at the official end of the trail, marked by an interpretive sign. From here look down the embankment and you will see the pond and dam surrounded by Baltic rush, bulrush and other water-loving plants. La Madre Spring itself is located upstream.
A small dam creates a little pond, a haven for water loving plants. This area is frequented by mule deer and desert bighorn sheep in early mornings and evenings. La Madre Spring is upstream.
This is a lovely place to have lunch or just relax on the wide flat areas and listen for birds. Desert bighorn sheep and mule deer are often seen here in mornings and evenings.
Although this ends the official hike you can continue upstream on a well-worn, yet narrow path within a pretty canyon, and about one-half-mile farther will come to the remains of an old miner’s cabin. This area was privately owned until 1975 when the Bureau of Land Management acquired it.
Along the way you will have to do many stream crossings but need not get wet, for the stream is usually only a couple of feet wide. The most pleasant part of hiking upstream is the sound of the water as it flows through the constricted drainage under a thick, low canopy of vegetation.
La Madre Spring Trail At A Glance
Best season: October–April.
Length: 3.6 miles roundtrip from Willow Springs Picnic Area.
Difficulty: Moderate.
Elevation gain: 715 feet.
Trailhead elevation: 4,580 at Willow Springs Picnic Area or 4,804 at official trailhead.
Warning: Flash flood danger.
Jurisdiction: Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.
Directions: From Red Rock Canyon’s main entrance, take the 13-mile Scenic Loop Drive for about 7.5 miles. Go right and drive 0.6 miles, parking on the right at
