This is a pleasant 3-mile walk across a desert valley to a little waterfall with cottonwood trees, willows, and other shade trees. Except for the last few feet, the hike follows a well-maintained trail. At the falls, the route follows a use-trail down the side of the wash to the falls. As with other falls in the area, these often are dry.

There are many small boulders on the little ridge that make for a nice place to stop for lunch. While there, watch or listen for white-tailed antelope squirrels (often confused with chipmunks). These little squirrels often sit up in the bushes or in buckhorn cholla where they watch for predators and other squirrels. Also watch for the various species of birds that occur out here (e.g., Juniper Titmouse, Western Bluebird, Western Scrub-jay, Common Raven, and House Finch).

The Arnight Trail is a 2 . 4-mile segment of the Escarpment Route that runs through open desert along the base of the Wilson Cliffs. The Arnight Trail runs between Oak Creek Canyon and Pine Canyon. The trail winds among boulders and shrubs, and passes little washes, as it climbs the bajada at a slight grade. Along this part of the trail, there are many low-growing shrubs dominated by blackbrush with some yucca, cholla, brittlebrush.

Oak Creek Canyon is one of several beautiful canyons cutting into the Red Rock escarpment. It receives fewer visitors than other canyons in the area, and the hike has two distinct personalities: The beginning approach across open desert offers sweeping views of the Red Rock escarpment and the freedom of open desert, and the canyon itself offers challenging hiking over jumbled boulders and steep slopes.

This easy, .75-mile loop trail runs out into Pine Creek Wash through an area where the BLM performed a prescribed burn in 1997 to clear brush and reduce the chances of a catastrophic wildfire that might kill the tall ponderosa pines in the wash. Little evidence of the fire remains, but the efforts have been successful.

Pine Creek Canyon offers some of the best of the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area–beautiful and diverse plant communities nestled at the bottom of monolithic canyon walls. The ponderosa pine forest at the mouth of the canyon is a remnant from the last Ice Age, but it survives here thanks to the cool air and water flowing down Pine Creek Canyon..

Dale’s Trail is a 2 . 1-mile segment of the Escarpment Route that runs through open desert along the base of the Wilson Cliffs. Dale’s Trail runs between Icebox Canyon and Pine Creek Canyon. The trail runs at a fairly gentle grade most of the way, but it has several short, steep sections.

Ice Box Canyon is a good hike for a hot day. The trail takes you through a cool, shady box canyon with seasonal waterfalls in the heart of Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. The narrow canyon rarely sees sunlight, and the cool water and air pouring down from the mountains keep it significantly cooler than the open desert. But you will have to cross the open desert for a mile to get there, so it’s a good idea to start early to beat the heat.

SMYC stands for “Spring Mountain Youth Camp,” which is a long-term correctional facility for young men. In partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, these guys have done nice trail work on Mt. Charleston for more than 30 years. They did a nice job on this trail too. This is a pleasant trail with relatively little elevation change that generally runs at gentle grades. There are two short, steep sections, but both are associated with nice viewpoints.

This nice hike follows an old road up a canyon with red and white sandstone cliffs on one side and gray limestone mountains on the other. The trail does not actually go to La Madre Spring; rather it ends at a concrete dam built in the 1960s. The dam now provides water for wildlife and a pleasant contrast with the desert environment. For the Red Rock area, the vegetation in the canyon is fairly dense, and the pinyon pine, juniper, and scrub oaks actually feel like a forest.