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ScottP
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ScottP
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PostSat Feb 02, 2019 12:14 pm 
I'm going to be in Las Vegas for a few of days in mid-March and am planning on visiting the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area for some wandering and exploring. I did a climb in Oak Creek Canyon (Black Orpheus) in the mid-2000's, so i'm somewhat familiar with the area and logistics. I am looking for advice about getting up high and wandering around one day, and then a good canyon hike the next. I am an experienced hiker, scrambler and rock climber so off trail and less traveled routes aren't a problem. Turtlehead Mountain is well-published and seems to be the type of thing I am looking for, but the "most popular summit hike in the state" description has me a bit wary. Bridge Mt and North Peak seem to require a considerable amount of road walking, but other wise look good. Icebox and Pine Creek canyons look like what I am after for canyon excursions. Any suggestions of day trips that are must do or personal favorites? Thanks in advance.

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Mikey
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PostSun Feb 03, 2019 2:00 pm 
John Williamson is very familiar with the Red Rock area but I think he is away from the Puget Sound area hiking. When John lived in the Las Vegas area as a youngster, he did first ascent climbs of many of the Red Rock routes.

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dave allyn
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PostSun Feb 03, 2019 2:26 pm 
Hiking Las Vegas by Branch Whitney is a good guide for Red Rocks, mt.Charleston and Lake Mead areas. I hiked the Turtlehead peak trail one day when it was raining and we couldn't climb. Not much traffic but it was raining. All the canyons are cool and the scrambling can be amazing.

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neek
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neek
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PostSun Feb 03, 2019 2:26 pm 
I think you'd enjoy Mt Wilson quite a bit (see my latest TR). It's a long canyon route with some class 3, and there are some more obscure routes as well. I saw zero people, vs a hundred screaming teenagers on Turtlehead.

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pcg
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PostSun Feb 03, 2019 2:44 pm 
ScottP wrote:
Icebox and Pine Creek canyons look like what I am after for canyon excursions.
The hike up Icebox is fun, but short, unless you can manage to get past this point. Graffiti above this point is evidence that some folks have, although they may have rapped down from the top. We turned around here because the rock was extremely slippery. Later in the year this corner would be dry. We were there in March and, as I recall, it was 30 minutes max from the trailhead to this point.
I hope you post a trip report because I'd like to go back and do more scrambling and would love to hear what you find.

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Fletcher
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PostTue Feb 05, 2019 11:18 am 
+1 for Bridge from me. I did it last winter. We approached from the north on an awful 4WD road. I think that there is considerable road walking if approached from the Red Rocks Side but the scramble makes it worth it, very cool.

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Foist
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PostTue Feb 05, 2019 12:30 pm 
Have you considered heading east from Vegas instead of west, to the northern reaches of the Lake Mead NRA? Way, way fewer people, and I thought even more beautiful, and has similar red-orange-pink rocks. Here is a description of the area we visited: https://www.stavislost.com/hikes/trail/bowl-of-fire-and-northshore-peak-loop Neither we nor the above blogger did any rock climbing or scrambling -- well, maybe we did a tiny bit of the latter -- but there was plenty of opportunity for that. We did the hike on a Saturday and saw literally zero people.

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Eric Hansen
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PostTue Feb 05, 2019 9:57 pm 
Bowl of Fire is two thumbs up. I can't speak to the trail linked to. My entry was thru Anniversary Narrows to the washes above, then east and down into the Bowl. The view from above is memorable.

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