Overview

The Bowl of Fire is an area where brilliant-red Jurassic-Age sandstone outcrops are surrounded by gray limestone mountains. The limestone forms the sides of the bowl, and the red sandstone forms the fire in the bottom. The southwestern section of the Bowl of Fire is a place to wander about in a wonderland of jumbled piles of red sandstone; a place to go and just hike about with no particular destination. If you have a map, you can keep track of where you are (at least in general), but if you get confused about exactly where you are, just hike downhill to get out.

Link to map.

Watch Out

Other than the standard warnings about hiking in the desert, ...this is fairly safe hiking area if you stay in the bottom of the washes that dissect the sandstone outcrops. The outcrops are inviting, however; so if you climb on the rocks, watch your step and watch your kids. This is a backcountry area, so rescue would be time consuming and fairly difficult. It would be easy to get turned around in the maze of side canyons and boulder piles, so if you get "lost," just hike down any wash (always go downhill) and you will come out were you went in.

While hiking, please respect the land and the other people out there, and try to Leave No Trace of your passage. Also, this hike is moderately long, so be sure to bring the 10 Essentials.

Getting to the Trailhead

This hike is located along Northshore Road in Lake Mead National Recreation Area, about 45 minutes northeast of Las Vegas. From town, drive out to Lake Mead, and then to the Anniversary Narrows Trailhead.

From the intersection of Northshore Road and Road 94, either drive up Road 94 in a 4WD vehicle or continue east for 2.2 miles on Northshore Road in a 2WD vehicle.

In a 4WD vehicle, drive up the sandy Road 94 for about 1.8 miles. Avoid places where you see that other drivers were stuck in the sand. The road passes to the south of a small mountain that is capped with wildly-folded sedimentary layers, and shortly arrives at the mouth of a large wash that comes in from the north (Site 786). This is just past the first place in the wash where you can look north and see red sandstone outcrops. Stop at the mouth of the side-wash (Site 786). Park here; this is the Road 94 trailhead.

In a 2WD vehicle, continue east on Northshore Drive to mile 18.2 (0.2 miles past Mile Marker 18) and park in the pullout on the left side of the road (Site 804). Park here; this is the Northshore Road trailhead.

Hiking Guide

From the Northshore Road trailhead (Table 2, Waypoint 01), the route runs north across the open desert towards the northern toe of Peak 651 (Wpt. 02). There is no trail until you get out on the end of Peak 651. The use-trail fades away past the toe; but from the toe, just hike northwest, across Callville Wash, and towards the red Bowl of Fire rocks. This route hits the Bowl of Fire Wash just below the red rocks (Wpt. 03) and misses the Road 94 trailhead.

From the Road 94 trailhead (Wpt. 04), the route runs north-northwest up the side-wash heading towards the red sandstone outcrops in the distance. Initially, the wash is wide and open, but it soon narrows and deepens as you approach a pass between two limestone hills. Shortly after starting out (while still in gray limestone soils), you will come to a place where the wash cuts through a thin layer of green sandstone. Red sand, washing out of the Bowl of Fire, lies over the green rocks, providing an interesting contrast of gray, green, and red.

At the pass through the limestone hills (Wpt. 05), the wash narrows as it cuts through a narrow layer of gray conglomerate rock and forms a small pour-over (which is easy to pass). The conglomerate is composed of coarse limestone fragments set in a matrix of smaller limestone fragments, which is interesting enough, but where it was polished by flowing water, the color is blue and very pretty.

Atop the pour-over, the wash splits and you are on the edge of the Bowl of Fire. From here, wander about the washes admiring the eroded red sandstone outcrops and how they contrast with the surrounding gray limestone hills.

The red rocks seem to go on forever, or at least to the mountains in the distance. This is a place to hike about with no particular destination. You might consider a big loop up one fork of the wash, across the north side of the bowl to the other side, and then back down the other wash. If you have a map, you can keep track of where you are (at least in general), but if you get turned around in the maze of boulder piles, just hike down any wash (always go downhill) to get back out.