Question of the Day - 09 July 2021

As a matter of fact, a place called Calico Basin fits your bill to a tee.

You head west on Charleston Boulevard, past Rampart and the Suncoast on the right, Red Rock Resort on the left, and the 215 Beltway underneath. In another mile or two, you're beyond the exurbs and into the outback on Blue Diamond Road (NV 159).

A mere 15 miles from the city is the turnoff (right) to Calico Basin. It's a couple miles this side of the entrance to Red Rock Canyon, so if you pass Red Rock, you've gone too far. Calico is on the shaded side of the sandstone-limestone hills of Red Rock (much cooler than Red Rock if you’re there in the afternoon).

One thing we always find interesting about Calico Basin is that people live there; many of the houses date from way before this was a recreation area, while others are new (and huge). You can zig and zag through the neighborhood if you like, then turn around and park in the big lot at Red Spring.

Water percolates out from the base of the sandstone hills into Calico Basin from Red, Calico, and Ash springs. The water creates this oasis, a habitat for lizards, rabbits, desert tortoises, and bighorn sheep (though you’ll be lucky to see any of them), along with a number of bird species. Trees include ash, cottonwood, shrub oak, and honey mesquite; saltgrass is abundant in the meadows -- at least it was the last time we were there.

A half-mile boardwalk protects the riparian environment and provides the easiest hiking you could hope for, complete with benches, interpretive signs, petroglyphs, and, on occasion, photographers. This is a popular background spot for wedding and quinceañera pictures and it's fun to see couples and teenage girls all decked out in fineries.

If that satisfies the urge to "experience the desert," consider yourself lucky. If your wife wants a longer and drier hike, you can pick up the Calico Basin Loop trail on the right side of the Red Spring parking lot. This is a trail that's fairly easy to follow, four miles up and back with a 1,000-foot elevation gain. It has flats, scrambles, some bouldering, and some steep parts; you can go as near or far as you're inclined to. Aggressive hikers can do the whole loop in three hours or so.

If that's too much, you can simply stroll the boardwalk and sit in the well-developed picnic area, complete with barbecues, for a peaceful diversion where you’ll feel far off from the bright lights of Vegas, with towering red-rock formations to keep you company.

And unlike the BLM’s National Conservation Area ($15) and Spring Mountain Ranch State Park ($10) farther west on Blue Diamond Road, the entire Calico Basin facility is free of charge. That said, if your appetites are whetted by Calico Basin, Spring Mountain State Park is a great follow-up -- and it's less expensive and much less crowded than Red Rock. 

For those interested in the more difficult Calico hikes, five of them are mapped out in our book Hiking Las Vegas.