Red Rock Canyon – Las Vegas, NV

Red Rock canyon is just west of Las Vegas, NV.  This area is a national conservation area covering ~ 200,000 acres.  It is part of the Mojave Desert, and is located just outside the city limits, roughly 30 minutes from our usual Vegas home-base: Tahiti Village.

The canyon has some pretty cool geological features.  You can see the different colors in the this photo (right).  In the photo, notice the gray rock (middle of photo) – this is the oldest rock.  Being the oldest rock, you would think it would be found under the newer rock.  But because of an earthquake fault known as the keystone fault, this older rock has been thrust above the newer, buff and red rock.  All the way on the right side of the photo, you’ll notice red, or dark orange rock.  This rock gets it color from iron oxide deposits within the rock; basically the rock is “rusting.”  The buff (or white) rock are rocks that do not contain iron oxide deposits or the iron oxide has been leeched out, or simply non-existent.   There are two basically different makeups of the rock that form Red Rock Canyon:

1. The dark gray rock is limestone.  This rock is well over 250 million years old.  This rock was deposited on the bottom of the ocean basin that was here 500 million years ago.  The rocks we see today are basically 250 million years of ocean sediment.
2. The other type of rock are outcrops of Aztec Sandstone.  Aztec Sandstone was created after the ocean basin resided, and the area was part of a massive desert.  In short, as the desert’s sand dunes built upon each other, they created sandstone.  When up close, you can see the sand dunes and their development over one another – pretty awesome.

I find it very interesting at the amount of wildlife found in the desert.  Where there is a wash, there is life.  At the visitor’s center, they discuss the wash, and how wildlife use it.  Something I had never thought of as to why wildlife are around it, it’s nature’s equivalent to the highway system.  It is easier to travel along the open, sandy beds of a wash, then to travel through the surrounding desert.  The wash also offers safety for smaller animals and it’s moisture attract all; including lizards and snakes.

The cost of admission to the canyon is modest, I think around $10 a car.  If you do visit, visit the visitor’s center prior to starting the scenic drive, as the drive ends far away from the visitor’s center.  if you come to Vegas, this has to be on your “to-do” list.