Red Rock Canyon South.
As 2019 comes to a close in a few hours, I wanted to end the year on a high note by reflecting on while looking forward returning to a special place. It is the Late Night Trailhead.
Located off Nevada State Route 160 immediately east of where it makes the drastic climb into Mountain Springs, Late Night Trailhead is essentially the hiking and mountain biking hub serving the southernmost portion of Red Rock Canyon. It does this through a large paved parking lot with facilities that include information kiosks and a restroom. The trails it feeds into include the Landmine Loop Trail, the Old Spanish Trail, Rubber Ducky Trail, the Cottonwood Valley trail system, and numerous trails. The trail system extends as far north as the border fence of the former Bonnie Springs, as far east as the town of Blue Diamond, as far south as the desert beyond the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area border, and as far west to the Red Rock escarpment.
When I think of the word Late Night, it is thoughts of teens partying and drinking beer, people shooting off guns, and destroying the fragile desert. I was happy to see a clean and well maintained facility that was for the most part free of graffiti and vandalism. Ditto for the hiking signs.
One of my later adventures and best hikes of 2019 was a round trip hike between the Town of Blue Diamond and the Late Night Trailhead. The Town of Blue Diamond was my starting and ending point. One of the reasons that I started at Blue Diamond is that there is a want for a traffic signal exiting the Late Night Trailhead to turn left across the busy and dangerous Nevada State Route 160. In the hiking world of South Red Rock Canyon there is a relationship between the Town of Blue Diamond and Late Night Trailhead. Both are destination spots in the South Red Rock Canyon trail system. Taken together the trails connecting to the two destinations make up the Red Rock equivalent of Bootleg Canyon in Boulder City. The majority of the trails are mountain bike trails where hikers like myself have to use extra caution. The main trail connecting the two is a loop trail named the Landmine Loop. On this adventure I hiked the south loop with the Old Spanish Trail between the two destinations. It was two hour each way hiking adventure that transported me into a real life Western portrait. It was a Road Runner Wile E Coyote landscape come to life where I was the star of the adventure. The trail topography ranged from gravelly to sandy. The elevation ranged from ascending and descending hills to passing through a dry wash. The plants included cacti, Joshua trees, and yucca. The fauna included bunny rabbits and some birds. When I hiked the area in 2017 I saw burros. On account of a signing deficiency in some spots, I accidently left the trail for a Nevada D.O.T. right of way that followed along Nevada State Route 160 and ultimately delivered me to the Late Night Trailhead.
When I arrived at the Late Night Trailhead, it was obvious that it has so many hiking adventures to offer. In the New Year 2020, I desire to return here to hike under the Nevada State Route 160 tunnel and explore the Cottonwood Valley. I want to explore the trails that lead towards Nevada State Route 160's drastic ascention to Mountain Springs. I want to hike the Rubber Ducky Trail and see a tree covered with rubber duckies. And I want to hike the longer loop of Landmine Loop between the Late Night Trailhead and Blue Diamond. Reflecting on Late Night Trailhead gives me an abundance of optiminism for 2020. My final Yelp of 2019 will be describing a mesmerizing sight near the Late Night Trailhead. It was north of the trailhead where I saw one of the most optimistic hiking vistas of 2020. This was the Landmine Loop Trail stretched to the horizon through a nature valley showcasing the Red Rock escarpment as far as the eyes can see. Just like this optimistic visualization I want 2020 to be a beautiful trail of 365 days leading through a Happy Valley where life is a natural adventure. read more