White Rock / La Madre Spring Loop
If you travel approximately 18 miles west of the Las Vegas Strip on Charleston Avenue, you will come to the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. This beautiful area offers a nice visitors center at the beginning of a 14 mile one-way scenic loop. Along this loop you will find a number of pull-outs for viewing the beauty of the desert or exploring its many trails and rock formations.
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On this trip a friend and I stopped at the highest pull-out in the loop. There we viewed the vast Red Rock area and took a few photos of Gold Rush. We then continued to the Northwest portion of the Conservation Area to the Willow Springs Picnic Area and parking lot for the White Rock / La Madre Spring Loop. It is a six-mile hike looping around the White Rock Mountain. For this hike we choose to travel counterclockwise.
Before we started our hike, I took a few more photos of Gold Rush with beautiful and rocky mountains as a backdrop. Traveling counterclockwise we hiked on an open and winding trail which took us over small hills and into dry ravines. After a little more than halfway around White Rock Mountain we had reached a high point of the hike and started to descend. It wasn't long before we were hiking among trees that we taller than us. This shade is a welcome relief on a warm summer day.
As we wound our way around the back side of White Rock Mountain we came to junction where the trail went right up to the La Madre Spring or left back to the Willow Springs Picnic Area parking lot. We went left. After a short distance the trail met up with the Rocky Gap off-road trail.
Rocky Gap Road is very popular with local off-roading clubs. This is a challenging trail usually reserved for jeep type vehicles or others with high ground clearance. Rocky Gap Road is normally traversed starting in Lovell Canyon and ending in the Red Rock Loop. This way no cost or reservation is needed to enter the Red Rock Loop area.
Back to our hike. You can also hike around White Rock Mountain traveling clockwise. If you do, you will walk on a gravel road for about three quarters of a mile (Rocky Gap Road). Then you will turn right onto the La Madre Spring / White Rock Loop trail. I prefer to hike this way because you can hike to the high point and back mostly in the shade of the trees.
As you exit the White Rock parking area and continue along the loop you will past a number of hiking trail opportunities before you reach the loop exit.
Continue reading
On this trip a friend and I stopped at the highest pull-out in the loop. There we viewed the vast Red Rock area and took a few photos of Gold Rush. We then continued to the Northwest portion of the Conservation Area to the Willow Springs Picnic Area and parking lot for the White Rock / La Madre Spring Loop. It is a six-mile hike looping around the White Rock Mountain. For this hike we choose to travel counterclockwise.
Before we started our hike, I took a few more photos of Gold Rush with beautiful and rocky mountains as a backdrop. Traveling counterclockwise we hiked on an open and winding trail which took us over small hills and into dry ravines. After a little more than halfway around White Rock Mountain we had reached a high point of the hike and started to descend. It wasn't long before we were hiking among trees that we taller than us. This shade is a welcome relief on a warm summer day.
As we wound our way around the back side of White Rock Mountain we came to junction where the trail went right up to the La Madre Spring or left back to the Willow Springs Picnic Area parking lot. We went left. After a short distance the trail met up with the Rocky Gap off-road trail.
Rocky Gap Road is very popular with local off-roading clubs. This is a challenging trail usually reserved for jeep type vehicles or others with high ground clearance. Rocky Gap Road is normally traversed starting in Lovell Canyon and ending in the Red Rock Loop. This way no cost or reservation is needed to enter the Red Rock Loop area.
Back to our hike. You can also hike around White Rock Mountain traveling clockwise. If you do, you will walk on a gravel road for about three quarters of a mile (Rocky Gap Road). Then you will turn right onto the La Madre Spring / White Rock Loop trail. I prefer to hike this way because you can hike to the high point and back mostly in the shade of the trees.
As you exit the White Rock parking area and continue along the loop you will past a number of hiking trail opportunities before you reach the loop exit.
