Calico Hills Overview | Red Rock Canyon | Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, Nevada

Where Are the Calico Hills?

The Calico Hills are the Jurassic Era sandstone hills that form the border between the Red Rock Canyon Scenic Drive area to the West and the Calico and Brownstone Basins to the East.

1st Impression of the Calico Hills Can Be Deceiving!

The Calico Hills look like a smaller version of the Rainbow Mountains on the West side of Red Rock Canyon. Even from the Red Rock Canyon Scenic Drive Viewpoint 1 right at the Lower Calico Hills, the Calico Hills seem small and easy to climb. However, looks can be deceiving! When you take the trail at the viewpoint down to the base of the Calico Hills and look up, they suddenly seem huge!

Wide Range of Rock Climbing Levels

From a little light class 3 rock scrambling to the most challenging rock climbing levels, the Calico Hills have it all. Once on the sandstone, you’ll quickly reach ledges with huge drop-offs. Ease your way into the Calico Hills, taking them gradually just as far as you can remember the exact path that brought you to each destination. The Calico Hills quickly become a maze of canyons, ledges and ridges, and it’s easy to reach a place where you can’t go forward and no longer remember how to get back to your starting place. When they’re icy or wet, those ledges become skating rinks. So never enter the sandstone within 24 hours of a rainstorm.