Overview

Black Canyon is a medium-sized (17,220 acres) wilderness area with distinctly different landscapes on the west and east sides. The west side has gently rolling hills formed by the flow and erosion of basalt; while the east side has steep volcanic cliffs cut by deep canyons. The entire landscape is densely covered with desert-varnished volcanic boulders and very sparsely covered by vegetation. Elevations are relatively low, ranging only from about 600 to 3,000 feet. Bighorn sheep and desert tortoise are fairly common. Springs, some of which are hot, and the Colorado River provide water for wildlife. Archaeological and mining artifacts can be found in the area.

The Black Canyon Wilderness Area is separated from the El Dorado Wilderness Area by a powerline corridor. Combined, these two wilderness areas are fairly large, nearly 50,000 acres, and both are almost entirely contained within the boundaries of Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

Location

The Black Canyon Wilderness Area is located about 25 air-miles southeast of Las Vegas, between Boulder City and the Colorado River.

Link to map of the Black Canyon Wilderness Area.

Boundaries

The western boundary generally is coincident with the boundary of Lake Mead National Recreation Area. The northern boundary starts along a dirt road, then runs east on section lines to the Colorado River. The eastern boundary is the river. The southern boundary is a powerline corridor that follows Burro Wash, this is also the northern boundary of the El Dorado wilderness area.

Access

The wilderness area can be accessed from dirt roads that run along the west and south sides of the area, and also from the river on the east. On the south side, the Burro Wash Road runs along a powerline corridor, and (assuming dry roads) driving to the crest of the mountains only requires a high-clearance, 2-WD vehicle. Several roads penetrate the western side of the wilderness area.

Burro Wash Road

To get to Burro Wash from Boulder City, turn south at the intersection of Highway 93 and Buchanan Blvd. Buchanan intersects Highway 93 at the stoplight where Highway 93 jogs north in downtown Boulder City (driving east, if you turn left at the stoplight, you will go to Hoover Dam; but if you turn right, you will be on Buchanan). From Highway 93, drive south on Buchanan for 2.9 miles to a paved road (no street name) just before a large power substation. Turn east (left) on the paved road and drive for 0.5 miles to the north entrance gate of the power substation. At the gate, continue east on the dirt road that runs parallel to the chain-link fence. Beyond the substation fence, curve southeast on a wide, graded dirt road that follows a line of high-tension powerlines running out towards a saddle on the mountains to the southeast. The road passes under other high-tension powerlines. Drive 1.8 miles across the flats to the edge of the hills, which is also the edge of Lake Mead National Recreation Area (marked with fencing and signs). Continue southeast for another 4.3 miles on a graded, but rocky road to an overlook at the head of Burro Wash. At this point, which is the end of the easy 2-WD road, there is a parking area and a great view east into Arizona. At this point, you first encounter the boundary of the wilderness area.

Terrain

The El Dorado Mountain Range forms the backbone of the wilderness area, and the two side of the mountains have distinctly different landscapes.

On the west side of the wilderness area, the landscape is gently rolling hills formed from the flow and erosion of basalt and volcanic ash. These hills slope gently up to the crest of the mountains. The hillsides are strewn with reddish brown boulders that are covered with an astounding amount of black desert varnish. The rocks are so smooth that when the sun reflects off the desert varnish, it looks like thousands of chards of broken glass scattered across the hillside.

From the crest of the mountains east to the river, the terrain is a rugged maze of volcanic peaks, steep cliffs, deep canyons, and vertical cliffs that tower above the Colorado River. As on the west side, the hillsides are strewn with reddish brown, highly varnished boulders. Near the river, the hills are formed from old metamorphic rocks with steep cliffs and narrow, water-polished canyons. Much of the land bordering the river is cliffy, but there are small beaches where side canyons empty into the river. Burro Wash, on the south edge of the wilderness area, is a deep, wide wash.

Habitat Type

In general, the vegetation is Mojave Desert scrub dominated by creosote bush, bursage, a few other low-desert shrubs, and a variety of cacti.

West of the crest, the vegetation on the flats and hillsides is sparse, stunted creosote and bursage, with little else except exotic brome grass. There are a few other shrub species mixed in, such as buckwheat and Encelia, plus a few cacti (prickly pear and cholla) scattered about, but the diversity is low and there is none of the buckhorn cholla or teddybear cholla found south of here. The vegetation in the shallow drainages is more robust and diverse.

East of the crest, the vegetation on the steep, rocky hillsides is sparse, stunted creosote with little else in most places except brome grass. Along the washes, the species diversity is higher, and species such as catclaw acacia and Encelia are common. Saltcedar is common along the river. This country is very dry and gets very little rain.

Wildlife

Desert bighorn are common, and their trails can be seen on some hillsides. Other mammals include wild burros, Townsend's big-eared bat, bobcats, mountain lion, coyotes, and jackrabbits. Birds of the desert include Peregrine Falcon, Red-tailed Hawk, Gambel's quail, Rock and Canyon wrens, and Phainopepla. Along the river, ducks, coots, loons, Double-crested Cormorants, Black Phoebe, and many species of migrants can be found. Reptiles include banded geckos, collared lizards, side-blotched lizards, desert spiny lizards, tree lizards, zebra-tail lizards, chuckwalla, and rattlesnakes. There are about 2,700 acres of desert tortoise habitat in the wilderness area. Relict leopard frogs are thought to occur here, and Red-spotted Toads are common in wet canyons.

Archaeology

Resources are said to include petroglyphs, lithic scatters, and an intaglio, but I have no personal knowledge of these sites. The general area has been occupied by native peoples for thousands of years.

Geology

The El Dorado Mountains primarily are Precambrian metamorphic rocks with intrusions that are about 1.4 billion years old. These old rocks are overlain by colorful (red, white, and brown) Tertiary volcanic tuffs, ash, pyroclastic flows, and basalt flows, mostly of Oligocene and Miocene age (40-20 million years old). The El Dorado Mountains were uplifted during the Miocene Basin and Range Uplift, about 15 million years ago. This is volcanic country, and Black Canyon gets it name from the black, volcanic rocks in the area.