Hiking Around Las Vegas, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Hamblin Mountain

Arizona Hot Spring
White Rock Canyon Route (1,534 to 757 ft)
Hiking Around Las Vegas, Lake Mead National Recreation Area

View west from the trailhead.	Overview This is a great, 3.25-mile hike to hot springs near the Colorado River. The route runs down a deep, narrow, geologically interesting canyon for 2.75 miles to the Colorado River, turns and runs downstream for 0.5 miles to the next canyon, then ascends that canyon for about 5 minutes to a 15-ft waterfall and an old metal ladder. Climbing the metal ladder brings you to the hot springs: two thigh-deep pools in the deep, narrow canyon. This is a place to sit, relax, and meet interesting people. This hike would make a nice overnight outing, as there are nice places to camp at the river and in the canyon just above the hot springs. Return to the trailhead by retracing your footprints or by continuing up Hot Spring Canyon on a mostly easy route with three scramble-ups, one of which requires 30-40 feet of 4th-class climbing to bypass a pour-over. Link to map or elevation profile.
Starting into narrows (view west).	Watch Out Other than the standard warnings about hiking in the desert, ...this is a fairly safe hike. There are places to trip and hurt yourself in White Rock Canyon, and the trail along the river is sometimes narrow, but there is nothing out of the ordinary. Be extra careful on the metal ladder, and be careful walking on slick rocks after you've picked up wet sand on the bottom of your shoes. While hiking, please respect the land and the other people out there, and try to Leave No Trace of your passage. Also, even though this hike is short, rescues from the narrow canyons be difficult, so be sure to just bring what you need of the 10 Essentials.
Enormous boulder (view west).	Trail Guide Getting to the Trailhead This hike is located along Highway 93, south of the dam in Lake Mead National Recreation Area, about 1 hour southeast of Las Vegas. From town, drive out to Lake Mead. From the intersection of Highway 93 and Lakeshore Scenic Drive (by the Visitor Center) (Table 1, Site 803), drive south on Highway 93 for about 4.2 miles to Hoover Dam (Site 812). From the middle of the dam, continue south for 4.25 miles to a parking area on the right side of the road. Turn right onto the short access road and drive west for about 100 yards to the parking lot (Site 905). Park here; this is the trailhead.
White rocks in the canyon (view west).	The Hike From the trailhead (Table 2, Wpt 2), the trail runs downhill on a broad ridge parallel to White Rock Wash. The sparsely vegetated country provides grand views down White Rock Wash to the start of the narrows and out across the Colorado River to the Black Canyon Wilderness Area. The sparse shrubby vegetation on ridge is creosote bush and bursage, with little else mixed in. About 5 minutes out, the trail forks (Wpt 3). The main trail stays to the right, while the fork to the left leads down the alternate route (more direct, but 4th-class) to the hot springs.
Narrow open (view west).	Staying on the main trail, the route shortly drops off the ridge and into the bottom of White Rock Wash (Wpt 4). From here, the route follows the wash all the way to the Colorado River. The dominant vegetation in the wash is catclaw acacia, brittlebush, Mormon tea, Snakeweed, and several other species. The ecological differences between the dry ridges and the relatively well-watered wash are clear. The trail (that is, the wash), starts into a narrow canyon (Wpt. 4.5) cutting into an interesting layer of conglomerate rock formed of red sandstone with cobbles. Below this layer (Wpt 5), the wash cuts through pyroclastic flow material (volcanic rock) where many rocks and boulders were caught up in a matrix of reddish brown rock. About 10 minutes into this layer, the route passes an enormous boulder (Wpt 6) that fell from high on the cliffs above; it’s enough to make you stop and think for a minute.
Second narrows (view west).	Through this part of the deep, reddish-brown canyon, the name “White Rock Canyon” becomes obvious. The mountains above the canyon (the high peaks east of Highway 93) are granitic, and over the eons, huge granite boulders washed down the canyon and lodged in the narrows. The granite isn't actually white, but the contrast between the dark canyon walls and the light-colored boulders makes them look white. After winding through narrows for about 45 minutes, the canyon opens up into a broad wash (Wpt 07) that gives a nice change from the claustrophobic narrows, but it only last for about 10 minutes.
Mouth of White Rock Canyon (view north).	The route starts into another section of narrows and passes some nice, large specimens of catclaw acacia, and also a few desert fir and rock nettle, two species not seen before here. After about 10 minutes in these narrows, the canyon opens up (Wpt 08) onto the Colorado River. The route turns south and runs downstream for about 15 minutes on a trail that winds among cliffs overlooking the river. The trail is good, but narrow in places with drop-offs into the water (Wpt 09). Staying on the fairly obvious trail along the river, the trail runs into a cliff, turn, and climbs a steep, rocky gully. Atop the gully, the trail crests out on a ridge (Wpt 10) and joins what is obviously the main trail, indicating that there was a less-than-obvious trail junction lower down, perhaps near a broad area on the cliffs overlooking the river (Wpt 09).
Narrow trail along the Colorado River (view north).	From atop the ridge (Wpt 10), the trail descends steeply into Hot Spring Canyon, dropping into the canyon by two large desert willow trees (Wpt 11). At least in wet years, the creek flows to about here. The route runs up the deep, narrow canyon for a couple of minutes to a 15-ft waterfall that can be climbed using an old metal ladder (1358). The ladder is sturdy enough, but the cable anchors at the top are less secure than they appear from below. The ladder is wet and tall, so climb carefully.
Lower Hot Springs Canyon (view east).	From atop the ladder, the route runs around a corner and arrives at the hot springs (1400), which are thigh-deep pools of hot water in the bottom of a water-polished, 8-ft-wide canyon. The pools have natural sills, but they are reinforced with sandbags that add several inches to the depth of the water. The bottom of the pools is sandy. The canyon is deep and narrow, so there is no direct sunlight. Relax in the hot water, then either return to the trailhead by retracing your route through White Rock Canyon, or consider making a loop and hiking up Hot Creek Canyon to the trailhead (requires about 30 vertical feet of 4th-class scrambling).
Climbing the metal ladder (view east).	End of text.
Stepping into the lower hot pool (view east).	No text.
Upper hot pool (view east).	No text.

Table 1. Highway Coordinates (NAD27; UTM Zone 11S).

Site #	Location	Latitude (°N)	Longitude (°W)	UTM Easting	UTM Northing	Elevation (feet)	Verified
803	Hwy 93 at Lakeshore Scenic Drive	36.0091	114.7989	698377	3987000	1,700	yes
812	Highway 93 at Hoover Dam	36.0163	114.7364	703994	3987925	1,312	yes
905	Hwy 93 at Arizona Hot Spring parking	35.9774	114.6971	707637	3983688	1,534	yes

Table 2. Hiking Coordinates (NAD27; UTM Zone 11S).

Wpt	Location	Time*	Easting	Northing	Elevation (ft)	Point-to-Point Distance	Cumulative Distance
2	Trailhead	1119	707637	3983688	1,534	0.00	0.00
3	Trail forks	1124	707407	3983570	1,479	0.17	0.17
4	Trail drops off ridge	1128	707139	3983514	1,393	0.18	0.35
4.5	Enter Narrows	1138	706625	3983363	1,290	0.35	0.70
5	Getting into volcanics	1141	706459	3983352	1,272	0.13	0.83
6	Enormous boulder	1150	706150	3983220	1,171	0.27	1.11
7	Below narrows	1213	705572	3982929	956	0.83	1.94
8	Mouth of the canyon	1239	704865	3982063	661	0.82	2.76
9	Lunch stop	1252	704904	3981873	656	0.15	2.91
10	Crossing ridge	1255	705009	3981817	768	0.12	3.03
11	Hot Spring Canyon	1259	705061	3981744	653	0.08	3.11
11.5	Hot Springs	1305	705156	3981760	757	0.14	3.25

Note: All distances, elevations, and other facts are approximate.
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© Jim Boone; Last updated 080114

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