Seven Wonders Loop, Valley of Fire State Park, February 2023 In a hike combining Valley of Fire State Park’s most Instagram-famous spot with the wilder and more adventurous Seven Wonders route, this scenic loop traverses some of the park’s most spectacular scenery, from narrow slot canyons to vibrantly-hued sandstone knobs. The wonderful diversity makes this …
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White Domes Trail, Valley of Fire State Park, February 2023 There is perhaps no other place in the American Southwest where the sandstone erupts in such a range of color—from pastel pink to orange, cream, gold, and deep red—as Valley of Fire State Park in southeast Nevada. As one enters the Las Vegas-area park, the …
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Anniversary Narrows, Muddy Mountains Wilderness, February 2023 Anniversary Narrows is Nevada’s best answer to the challenge laid down by neighboring Utah: give us your best, most picturesque slot canyon. Better yet, extend the slot for more than 1/3 mile, place the trailhead less than an hour’s drive from the state’s largest metropolis (Las Vegas), and …
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Goldstrike Canyon Hot Springs, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, February 2023 Most visitors flock to Lake Mead National Recreation Area—straddling the Arizona-Nevada border, a short drive from Las Vegas—for water-related activities on the United States’ largest reservoir by volume. However, adventure-seekers of the land-bound sort are also treated to a fair amount of challenging and …
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Fortynine Palms Oasis Trail, Joshua Tree National Park, January 2022 Why settle for Twentynine Palms when you can see Fortynine? While the exact count is likely no longer quite right, Fortynine Palms Oasis is one of five desert fan palm oases in California’s Joshua Tree National Park. Here, secluded in a rugged canyon just south …
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Rattlesnake Canyon, Joshua Tree National Park, January 2022 Rattlesnake Canyon in southern California’s Joshua Tree National Park is a rough-and-tumble, off-trail route that is well-known and advertised in Joshua Tree guidebooks—although perhaps it should not be. Despite its short length—the entirety of Rattlesnake Canyon upstream from the trailhead is less than two miles—the canyon floor …
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The Rings Loop Trail at Mojave National Preserve’s Hole-in-the-Wall area meanders through Banshee Canyon, a wild, narrow notch named by early settlers for its howling desert winds. Though only 1.4 miles, this brief circuit packs a punch, passing through desert scrub to a set of ancient petroglyphs before ascending a pair of ring ladders, bolted …
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Mojave National Preserve in southern California boasts a wide array of desert ecosystems, from pinyon-juniper woodlands, to Joshua tree forests, to cactus-yucca scrub, but there is perhaps none more iconic than the massive desert dunes scattered across the 1.6-million acre park. The primary show-stopper is Kelso Dunes, the largest dune field in the Mojave Desert …
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Nestled in the depths of a slot canyon downriver from Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam, Arizona Hot Spring boasts sizzling temperatures of 85-120 degrees year-round. On weekends in winter and spring, residents of the Las Vegas area flock in droves to the spot, with their bathing suits and Tevas in hand, in order to …
At 282 feet below sea level, Badwater Basin is the lowest point in North America and a main draw for visitors to California’s Death Valley National Park. Situated 18 miles south of the Furnace Creek Visitor Center, visitors can walk out across the salt flats and, near the start, observe the hyper-saline, spring-fed pools that …
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