Overview

This is a short and interesting, but sometimes steep and exposed, 0.9 mile hike and scramble up a steep-sided canyon to a pair of limestone caves: Desert Cave and Upper Desert Cave. There are many cave formations, but the caves have a long history of use and abuse by modern humans. Most of the cave formations are broken, and the only rock art is spray paint and soot. The caves are fairly large and deep (about 80- and 70-yards deep, respectively), and they are cool in summer and warm in winter. There are few places like this around Las Vegas.

Link to map

Watch Out

Other than the standard warnings about hiking in the desert, ...this hike requires a steep, exposed scramble from the end of the trail up to Desert Cave, and a 3rd-class climb to Upper Desert Cave. Inside the caves, well..., caves are inherently dangerous and it is hard to rescue injured people from caves. If you don't take at least three lights per person into the cave, don't go any deeper than where you can still see using natural light from the entrance. After a few minutes underground, your eyes will adjust to the dim light and you will be able to go pretty deep without flashlights. If you want to go deeper, get some training and always carry at least three sources of light. Getting around inside both caves requires some 3rd-class scrambling. The floors are uneven, and things hang down from the ceiling to bash your head. Be sure to review the standard warnings about going into holes in the ground.

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 is a short hike, be sure to bring what you need of the 10 Essentials.

Trail Guide

Getting to the Trailhead

This hike is located in Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, about 30 minutes west of Las Vegas, but not on the Scenic Loop Road. The trailhead is located on Charleston Blvd (Highway 159) between the entrance and exit of the Scenic Loop Road. This is not in the fee area.

From town, drive out to Red Rocks. From West Charleston at the entrance to the Scenic Loop Road (Table 1, Site 519), continue west on Charleston Blvd. for 1.0 miles to the "Horseback Rides" parking lot on the left (southeast) side of the road (Site 853). This is the parking lot for the cowboy trail rides. Park here; this is the trailhead.

From the other direction, the Horseback Rides parking lot is 1.2 miles north of the Scenic Loop Road exit (Site 532).

The Hike

From the trailhead (Table 2, Waypoint 1), walk southeast on the dirt road or on the trail towards a large deep canyon on the flanks of Blue Diamond Hill. The cowboy corrals are at the end of the dirt road (Wpt. 2), just inside the canyon. Walk around the corrals to the east (left), but don't disturb the cowboys or their horses, at least not too much. Just past the corrals, a trail drops into and crosses a wash.

Follow the wide trail up the canyon for a few hundred yards to where the canyon splits (Wpt. 3). The trail to the caves continues up the main canyon. A smaller tail, the Fossil Canyon Trail, forks off and goes up the canyon to the south where there are some interesting fossils. The wide trail continues up the main canyon for a few more yards and crosses the wash to the south side. After crossing the wash, the trail becomes steep, narrow, and rocky as it climbs high onto the south wall of the canyon.

The trail ends when it drops back into the wash (Wpt. 4). Immediately before the end of the trail, there is a large opening to a shallow cave on the south (right) side of the trail. The dusty flowstone on the floor of this cave is surprisingly slick.

This cave isn't deep, but it is interesting because it contains some nice flowstone and enormous packrat midden. A "midden" or "midden pile" is a fancy name for a trash heap. When ancient people made middens, they left behind things for archaeologists to dig through. From their trash, archaeologists determine how the ancients lived, what they used for tools, and what they ate. When packrats (specifically Desert Woodrats) make midden piles, which are mostly solidified urine, feces, and plant material, biologists can dig through the midden to determine the same things.

Scientists use packrat middens these days to study climate change by excavating the middens and identifying plant fragments in the layers. Different species of plants grow under different climate conditions, so using the plants and carbon-14 dating, scientists determine when the plants were alive, and thereby date the changes in climate. Using midden piles from the Las Vegas area, biologists have determined that much of our desert was covered with pinyon pines and juniper trees at the end of the last ice age (about 10,000 years ago). So, take a look at the enormous midden and contemplate its age, but leave it alone, and thank the packrats for their contribution to our knowledge of the changing desert ecosystem.

At the end of the trail, just before the wash, the routes to Desert Cave and Upper Desert Cave diverge. Desert Cave is directly above you, high on the northeastern (opposite) wall, while Upper Desert Cave is about 100 yards farther up the canyon on the left.

The cave entrance is relatively small, but it is easy to get in. Inside, the cave opens up into a wide cavern with a low ceiling. There is a lot of broken glass, trash, spray paint, and candle wax inside the cave, but the darkness hides most of it. You can enter this big room without lights if you let your eyes adjust. If you are an experienced caver, you can work your way back into the mountain. The cave is about 80 yards deep, and the back of the cave is about 40 feet lower than the entrance; I don't know how much of this cave is unexplored.

There are nice, if elaborately painted, cave formations in the cave. There are several stalagmites in the center of the main room, and there are many smaller ones around the edges. There once were nice stalactites and cave bacon too, but all of the bigger pieces have been broken and removed. There are a few nice little soda straws tucked around in the corners. Farther back in the cave where the ceiling is low, there are lots of columns and some nice flowstone.

To get to Upper Desert Cave from the end of the trail, drop into the wash and hike up the canyon for another 40 yards to a pour-over. The pour-over requires a short bit of easy 4th-class climbing and 3rd-class scrambling. People piled up a bunch of boulders at the base of the falls to make the first moves easier. Above the falls, hike up the canyon for another 40 yards to a small cave on the north side of the canyon. This cave is right along the edge of the wash and has a horizontal entrance. This cave is shallower and smaller than it looks. Upper Desert Cave (Wpt. 6) is just above and left of this small cave.

Upper Desert Cave is about 70 yards deep and the back of the cave is about 20 feet lower than the entrance. This cave isn't as nicely painted as Desert Cave, but otherwise they are similar. There are lots of small cave formations around the edges and in the back of the cave. Be sure to check the ceiling for fossils.

Return to the trailhead by following your footprints. Be careful down climbing the pour-over. You might consider carrying out some of the trash.