Overview

Whitney Pocket is a popular undeveloped camping and picnic area way out in the desert nestled up against sculpted red-and-white sandstone crags at the foot of Virgin Peak. Humans have a long history here, evidenced by rock art and agave-roasting pits left by the ancients, and by cement dams and other structures left by ranchers and the Civilian Conservation Crops (CCC).

It is a short walk (about 450 feet round-trip) to the dam, which was built by the CCC during the Great Depression when the federal government put men to work so they could send money home to feed their families. People really worked for their welfare during those days! The quality of the work is evident in the design and workmanship of the dam.

Link to map.

Watch Out

Other than the standard warnings about hiking in the desert, ... this area is fairly safe, but the Gold Butte Region is a wild and remote area, and there are no services out there.

While visiting Whitney Pocket, please respect the land and the other people out there, and try to Leave No Trace of your passage. Also, this is a remote area, so be sure to bring the 10 Essentials.

Be sure to bring trash bags to clean up after people who care less about wild places than we do.

Getting to the Trailhead

Whitney Pocket is located out in the Gold Butte Region at the northeast end of Lake Mead, about 2 hours northeast of Las Vegas in a wild, remote, and scenic area.

Drive out to the Gold Butte Region. From Las Vegas, drive east on Interstate-15 to Highway 170 (Table 1, Site 010). Exit towards Bunkerville, cross the Virgin River, turn right onto the paved Gold Butte Road (Site 020), and follow it to Whitney Pocket (Site 060).

At Whitney Pocket (Site 060), turn left and drive east on the Arizona Road for about 500 yards (0.27 miles) to a wide spot on the left (north) side of the road (Site 405). Park here; this is the trailhead.

The Hike

From the trailhead (Table 2, Waypoint 01), walk east about 110 feet to the water trough (Wpt. 02). From there, walk north into the narrow canyon for about 140 feet to the dam. Stairs lead up the east edge of the dam to the top.

Hikers can walk across the dam, but it would be a good fall off either side, so be careful. From atop the dam, hikers can look upstream to a small dam farther up the canyon. Apparently this dam was build by Old Man Whitney himself.

From atop the dam, consider making a loop by returning to the trailhead by walking west down the side canyon. There is a short pour-over to slide down on this route, so it is better for going down than up.

Please take care to protect historic sites like the CCC Dam. This dam has stood since the 1930s, and we hope that it stands for years to come.

When finished here, consider making the short walk across the Arizona Road to the CCC Store Room.