Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area West of Las Vegas

Just 17 miles west of the Las Vegas Strip is Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.

The Visitor's Center

Bring jackets with you.  At 6,000 feet it was windy enough for me to regret not having mine.  

Eric wishes we have a
geologist with us to
describe what we see.

Desert Tortoises are

 protected here.

The red rock is caused

by iron oxide.

Grey colored limestone in the

background was at the

bottom of an ocean over

250 million years ago.

Somewhere in the 195,819 acres of this Conservation Area, there are dinosaur footprints.  The area has not been developed for visitors to view the footprints.

This light tan formation 

looks like it oozed up 

out of the ground. 

This area is subject

to flash flooding.

Darker grey limestone moved

sideways in this area about

70 million years ago.

Watch out for donkeys!

Erosion caused the
ripples in the stone.

Looking east, between two

mountains, I see the tops

of casinos in Las Vegas