Calico Hills
The Calico Hills are an awesome way to spend your time at Red Rock Canyon in Nevada in the American Southwest. You can climb in and up and around them while exploring the caves, canyons, boulders, pools of water, and enjoying the views of the surrounding mountains & desert. The ancient sand dunes are reminiscent of the Colorado Plateau Kayenta & Navajo Sandstone Formations that cover the Four Corners and are just as exciting to adventure in.
The Park guide suggests this is a 2 to 6 mile hike but it can be even shorter or more importantly, longer than that. You can explore the entire amazing and colorful area until the sun sets. But at the beginning there is a rather large hill that you will have to climb down and then at the end, climb back up so be prepared. The place is especially popular with rock climbers with the many routes and problems that exist on the paradisiacal wall that is the sandstone Calico Hills. If you look up on the side of the large walls you may find a climber or two!
Sometimes there’s water in the various pools while other times the place is bone dry. At times you’ll even have the place to yourself, if you’re lucky.
The Calico Hills are one of my favorite places outside of the Colorado Plateau and it helps that it was part of the same sand dune complex that covered much of the American Southwest over 100 million years ago.
Don’t become another statistic: Bring plenty of water and make sure you’re careful as there are plenty of places to plummet to your death.
