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Overview | Bowl of Fire SE Detail | Lake Mead NRA, Nevada
Slide Guide will appear week of 10/20/2024
The Wonder of Lake Mead’s Bowl of Fire
There are literally hundreds of beautiful, unique Jurassic Era sandstone formations in Lake Mead’s (and Muddy Mountain’s) Northern and Southern Bowl of Fire. Each of these formations, sculpted by the action of wind and water over millions of years, has created one of the world’s most vast collection of sandstone sculptures.
Return to the Southern Bowl of Fire with a Purpose
We’re returning to the Southern Bowl of Fire today with a specific mission: Locate the Horse Collar Arch for a photographer. In the process, here’s what’s new and unique:
- Horse Collar Arch: Locating a small but beautiful Jurassic Era arch formation is like locating a needle in a haystack of hundreds of huge and small sandstone formations.
- SE Bowl of Fire: A circuit of the Southeast branch of the Southern Bowl of Fire. An earlier adventure focused on many more formations in the main area of the Southern Bowl of Fire.
- High Heat Adventure Tips: Today’s temperature was in the mid-to-high 90’s. During the last adventure in this temperature my phone overheated and shut down. The heat also influenced how I felt. I’ve developed some tips that helped me overcome high heat issues today.
- Context of the Bowl of Fire: Placing the Southern and Northern Bowl of Fire in the context of their larger surroundings including the Lake Mead National Recreation Area and the Muddy Mountains Wilderness with vivid photos and videos.
Best Time of Year for This Adventure
Gauge the best time by the temperature and conditions in the Las Vegas Valley. You’ll be most comfortable when the temperature is in the mid 40s to 70s, skies are clear and there is no threat of rain. This puts you in late Fall through early Spring.Â
Directions to Route Starting Point | Bowl of Fire SE Detail | Lake Mead NRA, Nevada
Enter Lake Mead National Recreation Area and take Northshore Road to the mile 16 marker. Park there and continue up Bowl of Fire Road on foot, or drive Bowl of Fire Road which is well graded and good for 2WD vehicles except when there has been flooding. If you have trouble making the first brief dip on the road into the wash, you may need to walk Bowl of Fire Road. Just know that the initial dip into the wash is the most difficult stretch (it’s only one short descent) that you will face on Bowl of Fire Road/Callville Wash Road.
Narrative Guide | Bowl of Fire SE Detail | Lake Mead NRA, Nevada
By Vehicle or on Foot?
At the mile 16 parking area on Lake Mead’s Northshore Road, you’re just 2 miles of a good unpaved road from the Southern Bowl of Fire Trailhead. You have two choices:
- Drive to the Trailhead: The road has been well-graded and good for 2WD vehicles all the times I’ve been there.
- Take the 2-Mile Stretch on Foot: This is my preferred choice as I don’t like to take my car off paved roads. The 2 miles on foot goes fast, but may take some of the energy and time needed for a larger exploration of the Bowl of Fire.
Callville Wash Road to the Trailhead
As you head up Callville Wash/Bowl of Fire Road from the parking area note the left split to Anniversary Mine Road. That road leads to the spectacular Anniversary Narrows Slot Canyon. Keep that in mind for a future adventure as you pass the left split and continue on Callville Wash/Bowl of Fire Road. Note the pointy hill about 2 miles ahead to the left of the road. That pointy hill marks the location of the Southern Bowl of Fire trailhead and will be your reference point throughout this adventure eventually leading you back out of the Bowl of Fire on your return trip.
Trailhead to the Southern Bowl of Fire
Continue on the road to the base of the pointy hill. There you will find the trailhead parking area and a couple posts marking the trail entrance. There are no written signs of any kind anywhere you will be going today! Head up the trail, noting a parallel wash to your right. Basically, you want to circle the pointy hill on the trail to find the Southern Bowl of Fire on the opposite side of that hill. The trail will briefly dip into the wash, then continue above the wash and around the hill.
The trail continues above the Southern Bowl of Fire. You can descend into the Southern Bowl’s main area to view its many sandstone formations. On this day I continued to make a wide circuit above the Southern Bowl heading to it’s outermost Southeastern extent.
High Circuit of the Southeastern Bowl
As you’re viewing the Southern Bowl from above, note a wash that runs through it all the way up to the Southeast end of the bowl. You could descend and take that wash. I chose to continue circling above the bowl. There are some upper hills above my circuit promising further sandstone formations. The hills themselves form a beautiful Aztec red sandstone ridgeline. I continued along the base of that ridgeline. I imagine the view from above is spectacular. The face of the sandstone ridgeline is an intricate pattern of sandstone sculptures. There’s a high point at the very Southeast tip of the Southern Bowl that offers a spectacular view all the way down the Southern Bowl and over to the Northern Bowl with Anniversary Ridge and the Muddy Mountains to your left (West). In the opposite direction you can see a portion of Lake Mead.
Location of the Horse Collar Arch
Descending from that high point you’re now approaching the location of the Horse Collar Arch. If you’ve seen photos of the arch, it may look huge. Actually, it’s only about 3-4 feet high and VERY FRAGILE! Don’t even think about touching it and risking destroying millions of years of nature’s sculpting action. The location of the arch is pretty much at the upper Southeastern end of the main wash, above the wash. After searching for some time, I looked up and there it was–the arch actually found me! Not far above the arch, at the very upper edge of the Southeastern end of the bowl, there’s another interesting arch. It’s not as intricate, but has its own beauty.
More to Explore in the Southern Bowl of Fire
There are still some areas in the hills above my circuit of the Southeastern Bowl I have yet to explore. More and more additional sandstone hills and sculptures appear the further you explore. It’s like looking at the sky on a starry night when the deeper you look, the more stars appear until you’re lost in the midst of something so vast you could wander there forever!
Return to the Trailhead
I returned to the trailhead by way of the main wash. You could also just circle the base of the pointy hill to find the trailhead and road on its opposite side.
High Heat Adventure Hiking Strategy
Here are some strategies I’ve developed to keep myself comfortable and my camera operational on extremely hot days in the desert:
- Cover your phone with a white cloth: Cell phones are normally black. Black absorbs heat, causing the phone to overheat and shut down. I have a phone holder on the chest strap of my backpack making my phone very convenient for quick photos and videos, but also exposed to sunlight. I cut the sleeve off a white t-shirt, slipped it over my phone and set it in the phone holder. Problem solved. The phone stayed cool. The sleeve material was thin enough that it did not prevent the phone from fitting into the holder.
- Use a Cooling Necklace: This strategy can cool your body temperature by as much as 10 degrees! You can find cooling necklaces on Amazon.com. They are a blue tubular strip filled with beads that absorb water. Place the strip in a small zip-lock plastic bag filled with just enough water to cover the strip. Pull it out and snap it around your neck. The wind flowing around the necklace cools the necklace an the arteries in your neck which in turn circulate the coolness throughout your body.
- Head Dress: Another, larger square piece of the white t-shirt makes a very light head dress when placed under a light polyester white cap. This gives you the feeling of being in the shade all day! The material is light enough that the wind flows through it, keeping you cool. Many of the shaded caps that you buy are made of heavier material than this ultra-light set-up.Â
- Electrolytes: I place a couple electrolyte tablets in my backpack’s water bladder. This enhances the hydration value of the water.
- Enough Water: Speaking of water, I start out with 3 liters in the water bladder plus an additional 2 or more liters in bottles.
- Point of Reference: As noted above, in this case it was the pointy hill. You want to always have some reference point that will guide you back out of the desert to your car. Getting lost can run you out of water and into a life-threatening situation.
- Turn-Around Point: For every adventure I have a turn-around point that gets me back to the car during daylight hours. This strategy has never failed me, as long as I observed the turn-around point.