Eastern Red Rock Canyon Overview, Nevada

What Do We Mean by Eastern Red Rock Canyon?

Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area is much larger than the gated BLM fee area around the Red Rock Canyon Scenic Drive. It stretches to the North to include portions of the La Madre Mountains Wilderness. It stretches to the East to include the Calico and Brownstone Basins all the way to Summerlin. It stretches to the West to include the Rainbow Mountain Wilderness. And to the South it stretches beyond Highway 160 within about 4 miles of Goodsprings. See the Nevada Wilderness Finder map.

Here, we refer to Red Rock East as the East side of the BLM Red Rock Canyon Scenic Drive including the ridgeline between the scenic drive area and the Calico and Brownstone Basins. More specifically, here Red Rock East refers to the Calico Hills, Turtlehead Peak and its ridgeline to the North.

Dramatic Terrain and Geology Shift on the Red Rock East Ridgeline

The long ridgeline on the East side of the Red Rock Canyon Scenic Drive can be further divided into a Southern and Northern half.

The Southern Half is the Calico Hills

The colorful Calico Hills are frozen sandstone dunes formed in the Jurassic Era. The Aztec Red coloring is caused by iron leeching up through the sand, then oxidizing. Many of these red surfaces have been oxidized to a thin darker outer layer. Ancient Southern Paiutes etched designs through this darker layer to form petroglyphs — two Greek words: Petros (rock) and Glyph (drawing). The meaning of the petroglyph drawings is largely a mystery. Eric Pacl created a fascinating 74-page  Master of Arts Degree in Archaeology thesis “Valley of Fire Petroglyphs: A New Perspective On An Old Idea” that attempts to discover the meaning of petroglyphs. There are a number of petroglyph stones scattered throughout the Calico Hills and Graycap Ridgeline. You’ll see images of these stones in the slide guides and video guides on the adventure pages for these areas.

In addition to petroglyphs there are incredibly beautiful bonsai-like Pinyon Pines, Yucca, Juniper and Cacti scattered throughout the Calico Hills portion of this long Eastern ridgeline. You’ll also come across peaceful Ephemeral Pools (Tinajas).