NOTE: January 15, 2012. Access to Lovell Wash Narrows appears to have been reopened by the landowner. I have few further details, but I'll keep working on it. Photos and additional information posted here.

Overview

This is an easy hike into an area with some amazing geology and a few old mines. This land was laid down as sheets of mud in the bottom of some vast playa lake where ancient animals once roamed. The mud turned to stone, and tectonic activity jumbled the area and turned the lake bed on edge. Now we see several mountain-sized ridges of sedimentary materials (sandstone, limestone, and mudstone of various colors including purple, red, green, yellow, and gray) that have been steeply tilted up; some nearly vertically. Lovell Wash cut through the ridges, creating spectacular narrows that are about 500 yards long (0.3 mi), hundreds of feet deep in places, and only a few feet wide. In many places, you can touch the walls on both sides.

There are several old borax (colemanite) mines in this area. The government tried to close the mines by blasting the entrances with explosives, but they were only partially successful. Remember, old mines are never safe to enter -- especially after someone ties to blast the entrance shut.

Link to map.

Watch Out

Other than the standard warnings about hiking in the desert, ...this is an old mining district. While mines are inherently interesting, they are always dangerous. It is never safe to go into old mines. If you go into a mine, don't touch anything, watch for holes in the floor, and if there is rubble on the floor, assume that it fell from the roof and get out. Be sure to review the standard warnings about holes in the ground. If rain threatens, don't hike in the narrows because a flash flood would ruin your whole day.

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, be sure to bring what you need of the 10 Essentials.

Getting to the Trailhead

This hike is located along Northshore Road in Lake Mead National Recreation Area, about 1 hour northeast of Las Vegas. From town, drive out to Lake Mead, and then to the Anniversary Narrows Trailhead.

The Hike

From the parking area near the pavement, drive or walk up Callville Wash on Road 94 for 0.2 miles to the intersection with Road 94a (Table 2, Waypoint 01). Road 94a turns out of Callville Wash and runs northwest up a side wash towards the hills to the north.

Road 94a is a moderately rough 2WD road. The road is fairly obvious, but a few minutes out, the rocky road climbs out of the wash to the hillside above, while tire tracks run up the sandy wash to the left. The two routes rejoin farther out, but the rocky road is the better route.

At 1 mile out, a big sign announces Ore Car Mine (which is outside Lake Mead National Recreation Area). The local Gem and Mineral Club owns this claim, and members can prospect for gemstones. There are a number of mine shafts in this area, and a large, conical, pink-colored tailings pile sits to the north across Lovell Wash.

At about 1.68 miles from the trailhead, there is a good place to park 4WD vehicles (Wpt. 02) because the road into the wash has washed out again (Jan 2011; send me updates if you know otherwise).

Upstream from the dam, the wash opens up again. The route continues up the wash for 0.18 miles to the entrance to the Anniversary Mine, which is located on the south side of the wash above some woodwork and tailings. From the wash, there appear to be two shafts. The left shaft is the mine entrance, while the right shaft is only a few feet deep and may have served as a dynamite cache or storeroom. They mined a lot of borax (colemanite) here during the 1920s, and the mine is very large and deep. All mines are interesting, but they are not safe to enter. Remember, the timbers were put in during the 1920s; giving them plenty time to rot in the moist underground air. The BLM used explosives to close the mines in this area for public safety, but they didn't do a very good job, and the mine opening that remain are extremely dangerous.

When clambering on the hillside, be careful not to step on the Las Vegas Bearpoppies.

A few yards past the mine, there is a cleft in the south wall of the wash with an odd, tubular structure. When I first saw it, I thought that maybe it was a petrified log partially buried in the mudstone. There are plenty of petrified logs just over the mountains in Valley of Fire, so one here would not be out of place. On more careful inspection, however, the structure looks more like a mud-filled and fossilized burrow of some giant beaver-like creature. Perhaps giant catfish lived here that dug burrows in mud riverbanks like some species do today.

Upstream from the narrows (Wpt. 06), the wash opens into a broad valley that runs north for a few miles to the Muddy Mountains. The scenery is spectacular. The sedimentary cliffs through which Lovell Wash cut are tall, multi-colored, and tilted with some amazing erosion patterns. At one spot just above the narrows, a part of the north wall of the canyon is formed by upturned purple-colored mudstone that shows ripple marks from some ancient lake or riverbed. The stark beauty of the upturned and eroded multicolored cliffs, and the whole scene, is too much for words.

Hiking up the wash, a fork in the wash (Wpt. 07) eventually leads to a nice place for lunch (Wpt. 08) with great view of the entire area.

The place is hard to leave, but when you do, retrace your steps down the wash. Walking at a brisk pace, the upstream end of the narrows is about 30 minutes from where Road 94a hits Lovell Wash.