1. Keystone Thrust
Distance: 2.2 miles out and back.
Condition: well maintained.
Difficulty: moderate.
Elevation Change: 360 ft.
Although not one of my personal favorite destinations in terms of scenic appeal, Keystone Thrust Fault is well worth a visit for those who are interested in geology: the older limestone sits on top of the younger sandstone here due to compressive forces created by tectonic plate interactions. You also get great views of the escarpment from here!
The hike starts at the end of a half-mile bumpy dirt road that spurs off the scenic drive. The trail intercepts a small wash shortly after the trailhead. Continue on the trail instead of following the wash. A little over 300 feet after crossing the wash, you’ll find a T-intersection of trails. Straight ahead is White Rock Loop, and a right turn leads to Keystone Thrust in less than a mile. You’ll see two more splits of trails before reaching Keystone Thrust. Please stay on the obviously more trekked trail (straight ahead at the first fork, and right at the second fork where you can already see the fault’s red sandstone).
2. White Rock Loop to Trail High Point
Distance: 2.6 miles out and back.
Condition: well maintained.
Difficulty: moderate.
Elevation Gain: 570 ft.
White Rock Loop is a 6-mile loop trail that isn’t as scenic as some other trails in the park. However, it isn’t a bad idea to hike a portion of the loop trail to reach one of its relatively scenic sections—about a mile from the trailhead, some red sandstone emerges from the otherwise light colored terrain. Shortly afterwards, you’ll reach the high point of the loop trail and have a view of the canyon behind the White Rock Hills.
You are not going to get better views going down the canyon. In my opinion, the remainder of the loop should be skipped unless you have abundant time to spare. Another scenic portion of the loop is shared with La Madre Springs trail and will be featured later.
Back to the trailhead shared by White Rock Loop and Keystone Thrust trail, you may also want to stroll to the west for about 500 feet to White Rock Spring—again, not super scenic, but there may be birds and bighorn sheep that come here for water. Why skip it if you’ve come so close?
3. Lost Creek – Children’s Discovery Trail
Distance: 0.75 miles loop.
Condition: well maintained and marked.
Difficulty: easy.
A little over a mile from the turnoff to White Rock trailhead, you’ll encounter the paved turnoff to Willow Springs Picnic Area. 0.2 miles onto the spur road (before reaching the picnic area), a parking lot is furnished on the left side of the road for access to the well signed Lost Creek Trail – Children’s Discovery Trail loop, an interpretative trail that features Native American archeological sites, desert plants, and even a seasonal waterfall. If you come here with young children and want to maximize the educational value of this trail, be sure to stop by the visitor center for a brochure.
An exciting highlight of this trail is a rock shelter with pictographs. At trail marker #4, you can find rock overhangs behind protective wooden fences. Native Americans used the overhangs as shelters and left rock art behind. The faint pictographs can be hard to spot. In addition, a hand painting can be found a few steps farther along the trail. Please respect traces of the past and do not damage them! In 2010, a local teenage gang member committed reckless vandalism by spray-painting graffiti over several rock art panels here, costing tens of thousands of dollars to restore.
Between trail markers #4 and #5, a spur trail veers right towards a small box canyon. If you come here in late winter or early spring, you’ll be delighted to find a small waterfall at the end of the box canyon. Interestingly, you have to crawl through a tunnel formed by large boulders to reach the waterfall.
4. Willow Springs Pictographs
Distance: 0.1 miles out and back.
Condition: well maintained.
Difficulty: very easy.
If you park near the first picnic tables at Willow Springs Picnic Area, look to your right for a very short trail leading to an exhibit plate and signs about protecting rock art. It can be hard to identify the rock art because it is a group of faint pictographs. Look for a small metal plate beside a boulder, and you can see the impression of four hands a few feet above the metal plate.
The trail leads from the pictograph rock to the Lost Creek ?C Children’s Discovery trailhead about 0.4 miles away. You’ll pass by an agave roasting pit used by Native Americans near the pictographs. I’m not featuring this portion of the trail in this article, but hiking along this trail might become necessary if you can’t find any parking spot close to the pictographs.
5. Petroglyph Wall
Distance: 0.2 miles out and back.
Condition: well maintained.
Difficulty: easy.
The short trail to petroglyph wall, a large panel of petroglyphs at the base of the canyon wall, is a well-marked official trail starting at the gravel parking lot at the end of pavement beyond the Willow Springs Picnic Area. Follow the trail to cross the streambed, and you’ll soon find the impressive rock art panel behind a wooden fence.
To the left of the petroglyph wall, there is also a panel containing pictographs. The symbol above is probably the most intricate pictograph you can find around the Willow Springs area.
6. La Madre Spring
Distance: 3.3 miles out and back.
Condition: well maintained.
Difficulty: moderate.
Elevation Gain: 680 ft.
An unmaintained Jeep road extends beyond the end of payment at Willow Springs. Unless you are driving a compact high-clearance SUV, don’t attempt to drive on this road. However, it does provide a hiking path as a segment of the White Rock Loop. La Madre Spring is located on a trail that spurs off the loop and leads to an unusual wetland habitat at >5000 feet elevation.
As mentioned earlier, the White Rock Loop isn’t very scenic. However, one of the best views along this loop is the distant view of the colorful sandstone hill and sharp rock crags, shortly after the foot trail spurs off the Jeep road.
7. Ice Box Canyon
Distance: 2.6 miles out and back.
Condition: well maintained near the start; scrambling on canyon floor.
Difficulty: moderately strenuous.
Elevation Gain: 430 ft to end.
Ice Box Canyon is one of the best canyon exploration destinations in the park. From winter to early summer, you can find numerous falls, cascades, and pools here. The climax of the trail is reached at the end, where a waterfall of at least 150-f00t height drapes from a cliff overhang. Its parking area, half a mile beyond the turnoff to Willow Springs Picnic Area on the scenic drive, is often full, so it isn’t a bad idea to park near Willow Springs and hike about a mile to here following a trail named SMYC trail that spurs off Lost Creek trail.
The sheer canyon wall blocks sunlight most of the time and makes the canyon fairly cold, so be sure to wear extra layers of clothing, and be prepared for scrambling over many boulders—I’ve seen quite young children on the difficult sections of this trail. Nevertheless, please be extra careful, especially if you come with young children who haven’t done boulder scrambling before.
Going farther would require crawling on slanted rock surfaces of poor traction. I attempted it and ended up slipping into the pool and had ice-cold water soaking to my abdomen level. Given the lack of direct sunlight to heat up the body and dry the clothes, one can easily develop hypothermia, so please do not repeat my mistake!
8. Pine Creek Canyon
Distance: 3 miles out and back to wilderness boundary; additional explorations upstream.
Condition: well maintained before reaching the canyon; scrambling on canyon floor.
Difficulty: moderate.
Elevation Change: 200 ft to wilderness boundary.
The next stop on the scenic drive is the trailhead to Pine Creek Canyon, a magnificent canyon that cuts through the escarpment and offers opportunities of canyon explorations. Unlike Ice Box Canyon where the tall waterfall blocks passage, there is no well-defined stop here, and your reach is bound by your scrambling/path finding abilities as well as weather conditions.
The official trail ends at the wilderness boundary in front of the red-capped monolith in the middle of the mouth of Pine Creek Canyon known as Mescalito. The canyon forks here. The left (south) fork is Pine Creek Canyon proper, and the right (north) fork is known as Fern Canyon. In winter and spring, both forks have an abundance of small waterfalls, cascades, and pools.
Among the two forks, Fern Canyon has interesting rock formations and poses many scrambling challenges, whereas Pine Creek Canyon proper has colorful boulders and extends quite far upstream. A short exursion into the wilderness will satisfy most readers who seek quick and easy escapes into nature.
Half a mile from the trailhead, Fire Ecology trail branches off to the south, leading through the site of a controlled fire in a stand of Ponderosa Pine. Fire is vital to the health of forests. This trail excels in educational value but not in scenic views.
The prominent mountain in between Oak Creek Canyon and Ice Box Canyon is Bridge Mountain, named after a large arch near the summit that isn’t visible from below. The hike to the “bridge” is a very strenuous one.
9. Oak Creek Canyon
Distance: 2 miles out and back to wilderness boundary; additional explorations upstream.
Condition: well maintained before reaching the canyon; scrambling on canyon floor.
Difficulty: moderate.
Elevation Change: 180 ft to wilderness boundary.
Oak Creek Canyon is the last stop along the scenic drive. However, you need to drive on an unpaved spur road for 2/3 mile to reach the parking lot. From here, the wilderness boundary is just a mile away, where the official trail ends. You are strongly encouraged to hike farther for some canyon explorations. The highlight in this canyon is striped color patterns on rocks and boulders.
Since Oak Creek Canyon is so close to the end of the scenic drive, there is actually a “shortcut” that adds 0.7 miles one-way to the hike but saves you driving time and gas. About 0.6 miles south of the scenic drive exit along Hwy 159, look for two small parking areas on the west side of the road, either of which is good as trailhead. Follow the obvious trail, and you’ll find yourself on the official Oak Creek Canyon trail in 1.4 miles.
If you have more time to spare, you may want to hike to the top of a small hill south of Oak Creek near the canyon mouth for great views. The hill is known as Potato Knoll or Wilson’s Pimple, the top of which is easily accessible via a former Jeep road on its southwest side. The colorful mountain north of Oak Creek canyon is aptly named Rainbow Mountain, and that to the south is Mt. Wilson, both of which require quite challenging and even technical hikes to summit.
10. Red Rock Overlook
Distance: 0.5 miles out and back.
Condition: paved.
Difficulty: very easy.
Half a mile north of the scenic drive’s exit along NV Hwy 159 is a designated Red Rock Overlook, which is effectively a roadside rest area with restrooms and picnic tables. You can appreciate the grandeur of the escarpment due west right from the parking lot. For a better view of the vividly red Calico Hills, you may follow a short paved trail at the end of the parking lot to the top of a small hill. If you like panoramic photography, this is a perfect location for a 180° or even 360° panorama. I happened to encounter an awesome rainbow here, which added to the hills surreal beauty and mystique.
When going back from Red Rock Overlook to the scenic drive entrance, you’ll notice a ranch entrance on the east side of the road with a sign for horseback riding. The limestone hill here, named Blue Diamond Hill, contains high cliffs and deep canyons, and offers multiple trails, many leading to great vista points of Red Rock Canyon as well as Las Vegas. Horseback riding is great fun and of special appeal to tourists.