Lake Mead National Recreation Area – Hiking

Owl Canyon Trail

This trail starts at the northern most Hole 33 parking area along Lakeshore Road at Lake Mead National Recreation Area. The trail leads to a great slot canyon where owls nest. It also leads through a few culverts. You can either make a loop or return the way you came. The trail is not marked along the way but can be easily found. It was a fun slot canyon.

View from Hole 33 parking area

Heading down the hill to the wash from the parking area

Heading toward slot canyon

The slot canyon

Inside the culvert

Bird nesting material found along the trail

More of the slot canyon

Holding up the rocks

Hiking through another culvert

Bluffs Trail

This is a short easy trail with fantastic views. Bluffs Trail starts near site 72 at Las Vegas Bay Campground within the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. It is a well defined trail which sits high on the bluffs with views down to the Las Vegas wash, the surrounding mountains, and over to Lake Mead. The trail ends on top of a high hill with most fantastic views and you return the same way you came.

The well defined Bluffs Trail

The Las Vegas Bay wetlands

Hiking along Bluffs Trail

The views from Bluffs Trail

View of Lake Mead in the distance

The amphitheater at Las Vegas Bay campground at the Bluffs trailhead

Bowl of Fire

The Bowl of Fire red rock area is off the north side of Northshore Road in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area at mile marker 16. The signs as Mile Marker 16 are for Anniversary Mine and Calville Wash. There is not a sign for Bowl of Fire. After you turn north at mile marker 16 you drive north along the Calville Wash for about 2 miles. Be careful to not take the dirt road to the left after getting on the Calville Wash dirt road as it leads to the Anniversary mine. Otherwise, the unmarked trail head is easy to find. The trail is also unmarked but you can follow the footprints and head west towards the red rocks and then simply follow trails around until you are tired. It is absolutely beautiful.

Bowl of Fire

Trail head for Bowl of Fire along Calville Wash

Green mudstone (volcanic ash) along the way

You can either climb up on the rocks or take a trail up the hill to get into the red rocks

In the Bowl of Fire

Fire

Redstone Trail

Redstone Trail is a short trail at the Redstone picnic area on the south side of Northshore Road in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area near mile marker 26. It is an easy hike with great views of the red rocks and surrounding mountains.

Hiking up the hill at Redstone Trail

Redstone Trail

Hikers along Redstone Trail

Views from Redstone Trail

Red stone fist?

St Thomas

St. Thomas is an old abandoned town from the late 1800’s and early 1900’s which was flooded when Hoover Dam was built but today remnants of the town can be seen due to the lake levels subsiding over the years. The town is in the very north part of Lake Mead near the north Lake Mead National Recreation Area entrance/exit. From the trail head parking lot you can hike down into the river valley and wander around the old town which is basically just some building ruins and old tree trunks. But you can easily visualize what the town must have felt like and looked like as the streets must have been lined with tall trees which provided the much needed shade during the hot desert summers. The buildings looked like they must have been somewhat grandiose for that time. This was a fun little expedition.