Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area

The signature cliffs are made of Aztec Sandstone, the hardened remains of enormous sand dunes that piled up in a desert here roughly 180 million years ago. You can still read the old dunes in the sweeping curves of the cross-bedding in the stone. The red comes from iron in the sand that rusted over time, staining the rock in bands of crimson, orange, and cream.

Above and behind the red sandstone stand cliffs of gray limestone, and the way they sit is the surprise. Normally older rock lies beneath younger rock, but here the gray limestone rests on top of the younger red sandstone, an inversion that puzzled early geologists.

The reason the gray limestone sits above the red sandstone is the Keystone Thrust Fault, one of the clearest examples of a major thrust fault in the country. Roughly 65 million years ago, as the earth's plates collided, a slab of older gray limestone was shoved up and horizontally over the younger red sandstone, stacking old rock on top of young.

The result is a vivid, visible line where gray meets red along the mountain front, a boundary geologists come from around the world to see. A trail leads right to the contact, so visitors can stand where two very different ages of rock, and the immense force that rearranged them, meet.

Red Rock is one of the premier rock-climbing destinations in North America, its long, clean sandstone walls drawing climbers all winter when the desert is cool. For everyone else, the scenic loop offers overlooks and trailheads for hikes of every length, from short walks to Calico Basin's colorful rocks to longer routes into canyons with seasonal water and pools.

Watch for the roasting pits where Native people cooked agave, for petroglyphs on shaded walls, and for the seasonal waterfalls that appear after rain or snowmelt. The desert looks barren at a glance, but it is full of these small human and natural details for those who slow down.

Herds of wild burros roam Red Rock, descendants of animals turned loose by miners a century ago. They are protected and often seen along the roads and washes, and while they seem tame, they are wild and best given a wide berth. Desert bighorn sheep, wild horses, and a range of desert birds and reptiles also live here.

Because Red Rock sits at the meeting of the low Mojave and the higher Spring Mountains, its plant and animal life is unusually varied for a spot so close to a big city. That richness, plus the sheer visual drama of the cliffs, is why locals treat it as their backyard wilderness and why it belongs on any Las Vegas itinerary.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.