Overview | Northern Bowl of Fire | Detailed View of Sandstone Sculptures and Life | Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Nevada

This is a more detailed exploration of the Northern Bowl of Fire with photo and video documentation of many of the 100+ unique sculptured sandstone formations. As it is difficult to map out the exact meandering route taken, the map on this page follows the approximate path on the wide shelf above the Northern Bowl of Fire escarpment cliffs. You can view the original Northern Bowl of Fire exploration here, which focused more on the area along the base of the escarpment cliffs. 

Location of the Northern Bowl of Fire

The Northern Bowl of Fire is technically in the Muddy Mountains Wilderness on the border of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area (See the Nevada Wilderness Finder Map). However, you can only access this area through via Northshore Road in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. 

The Adventure Route

The sandstone sculptures — sculpted over millions of years through the action of wind and water — are mostly found above a nearly three-mile-long escarpment cliffs of the Northern Bowl of Fire. The closest approach from the nearest road is from the upper end of Bowl of Fire Road.

The route taken on this day began where the upper Bowl of Fire Road was blocked off due to recent flooding. You have a choice at the road block. You could bypass the block on foot and continue up the road to its upper end, then turn left (West) to arrive above the Eastern end of the Bowl of Fire Escarpment cliffs.

On the other hand, we made a slightly different variation by angling diagonally from the road block, around a large hill and then over to the Eastern end of the escarpment cliffs. Our deviation was rewarded by a rattlesnake sighting on the far side of the large hill. See the map for detail on both options.

Either way,  once you’ve arrived above the Eastern end of the Northern Bowl of Fire escarpment cliffs, begin wandering Westward among the formations along the top of the escarpment. Eventually, find a descent gully on the West side of the escarpment. Head down that gully to the base of the escarpment cliffs, then circle back to Bowl of Fire Road. Enlarge the map on this page for more route detail.

Unique Jurassic-Era Sandstone Sculptures of the Northern Bowl of Fire

Whatever your approach, you want to summit the escarpment on its East or West end and explore the sandstone sculptures above. The unique sculptures include many arches, caves and coves, sculptures looking like animals (one looked like a T-rex!) and many more that defy description. If you’ve ever looked at billowy clouds in the sky and tried to name their shapes, you’re going to feel a similar level of creativity as you explore the Northern Bowl of Fire!

Big Thanks to Jean-Luc Montagnier

Jean-Luc, former director of a national park in the French Alps, accompanied me on this great adventure. He added his encyclopedic insights on the wilderness, its geology and history along with some awesome photography. At one point he photo-documented an upset rattlesnake close-up! 

Route Starting Point Directions | Northern Bowl of Fire | Detailed View of Sandstone Sculptures and Life | Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Nevada

Take Lake Mead Blvd. (Hwy 147) East from Las Vegas toward Lake Mead. Continue through the Lake Mead National Recreation Area entrance and turn left onto Northshore Road (Hwy 167). Pass Callville Bay Junction to find a parking area on the left side of Northshore Road at the Mile 16 marker. This is where Bowl of Fire Road begins. The unpaved Bowl of Fire Road is fairly well graded for 2WD vehicles. The initial very brief descent from the parking area into the wash can be a bit bumpy, but then the road is good baring future flooding. Continue up Bowl of Fire Road as far as you can. On this day we parked at a flood barrier near the upper end of the road.

There are a few other driving routes to the Northern Bowl of Fire. The closest points if you don’t want to drive on unpaved roads are to park at the mile 19 or mile 20 marker on Northshore Road. If mile 20, you’ll hike up and over Northshore Summit. Mile 19 might be a bit more direct. Either way, you want to sight the Northern Bowl of Fire escarpment cliffs in the distance and head over ridges and through canyons in that direction. Expand the map on this page to view these all these routes to the Northern Bowl of Fire.   

Narrative Guide | Northern Bowl of Fire | Detailed View of Sandstone Sculptures and Life | Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Nevada

Upper Bowl of Fire Road Toward the Northern Bowl of Fire Cliffs

From the blocked off upper end of Bowl of Fire Road, we immediately began to observe the geology of the reddish wall along the side of the road. The strange white veins webbing their way throughout the wall and creating a beautiful mosaic pattern are calcite deposits from water seeping through the iron-rich red rock.

First View of the Bowl of Fire Cliffs

Knowing that the Northern Bowl was to our left, we ascended the high ridge on the left side of the road to get a better view of the terrain between us and our target destination. We saw a couple large hills blocking the view of the Northern Bowl of Fire escarpment cliffs, so we charted a course between and around those hills. The terrain was fairly flat. As we circled between the hills the brilliant Aztec red cliffs of the Northern Bowl of Fire appeared, along with a faint trail. We were about level with the area above the escarpment and so were able to reach that upper area without any significant elevation gain. 

Rattlesnake Encounter!

It was along the far side of the large hill that Jean-Luc encountered the rattlesnake. Rattlesnakes seek to avoid human contact, and if they can hear you coming will disappear into the scenery before you know they are in the area. The sound of my trekking poles usually scares them away, so I’ve never come across a rattlesnake in my 40 or more years of weekly wilderness adventures — nearly 10 years in the Southwest U.S. deserts. I’ve weaved through rocks and boulders and high brush…no rattlesnakes. I think Jean-Luc came across this one due to traveling a bit more light and silent. At any rate, the greatest danger involving rattlesnakes is if you stumble across one before it sees you! You don’t want to surprise a rattlesnake. They’ll rattle their warning if they see you first. This is the most likely scenario. You keep to yourself, the rattlesnake keeps to himself and everybody’s happy! It was a hillside with some clumps of high brush and boulders…plenty of hiding spots for a rattlesnake. This is the kind of terrain they love.

Entering the Grand Field of Sandstone Sculptures Above the Cliffs

The faint trail along the hillside led directly to the upper Eastern edge of the Bowl of Fire escarpment cliffs. The overwhelming majority of the beautiful, unique sandstone sculptures are in the large area above the escarpment cliffs. Now it was just a matter of weaving our way around along the 2-3-mile stretch from East to West above the cliffs.

Sculptures from Massive to Nano-Sized — More Than You Can Take In!

The incredible sandstone sculptures are everywhere you turn. It’s a non-stop presentation, almost too much to take in. You could spend a few days exploring and still miss some of the sculptures. Every surface is molded by the action of wind and water over millions of years. Like looking into a brilliant starry night sky and seeing more and more stars the deeper you look, these Aztec red sandstone hills revealed more and more unique sculptures the closer and more focused the observation. Take time to view the huge overall design on the sandstone hills and canyons. View the large unique sculpted formations of arches, ledges, balancing rocks, coves and tunnels. But also look closely to the Nano-sized intricate designs that are an entire world unto themselves.

Unexpected Plant and Animal Life

And the plant life, especially in spring, is so beautiful with cacti and wildflowers in full bloom. Expect to see multiple varieties of lizards scurrying around. This sometimes hidden abundance of life always comes as an unexpected surprise given the surrounding desert terrain. You have to look carefully, sometimes sitting in one spot for an extended period of time and quietly observing. We tried to capture a slice of this natural wonder in the slide show on this page.

Weave around. Ascend any hill. Descend into any canyon gully. Walk any ledge. Every corner you round reveals more unique wonder!

Our Route Back Out of the Northern Bowl of Fire

We finally came across a long winding gully near the Western end of the escarpment that circled downward to the Western base of the escarpment. Should you continue in a Southern direction at this point you’ll end up in the Southern Bowl of Fire, about 3 miles away. However, there are sandstone hills all along the way with additional non-stop mind-blowing sculptures, plants, animals, geology and