Southwest Online Journal
Places to Go
Bitter Springs Trail
The rugged Bitter Springs Trail lies not far from the sprawl of urban Las Vegas, but seems a world away. Designated a scenic back country byway by Congress in 1989, the 30-mile route south of Valley of Fire State Park connects old mining roads, a mountain pass and desert washes between Interstate 15 and the Northshore Road in Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Allow at least two hours just to drive the route, more if you stop to explore. To reach the trail, drive north on I-15 to the Valley of Fire exit, about 33 miles from Las Vegas. Follow the park road east about three miles to a point where the pavement swings to the left and a wide graded road points toward the dark Muddy Mountains ahead. Take the graded road, slowing down to find the smoothest course on the washboard surface, which sometimes is the road shoulder. About a mile along this road, note an old road crossing your route. This is part of the Old Spanish Trail, also called the Mormon Trail, followed by explorers, mountain men, traders and pioneers into Southern Nevada.
Read it at the RJ
Red Rock Canyon Hiking Trails
Red Rock Canyon, Nevada Geology
Ocean
For much of the past 600 million years, the land that is now Red Rock Canyon NCA was the bottom of a deep ocean basin and the western coast of North America was in present day western Utah. A rich variety of marine life flourished in those waters and left behind deposits of shells and skeletons more that 9,000 feet thick which were eventually compressed into limestone and similar carbonate rocks.
Swamps
Beginning approximately 225 million years ago crustal movements caused the sea bed to slowly rise. Streams entering the shallower waters deposited mud and sand which later consolidated into shale and marine sandstones. Changing land and sea levels trapped large bodies of water which later evaporated leaving behind layers of salt and gypsum in some areas. Exposure of the sediments to the atmosphere allowed some of the minerals to oxidize, resulting in red and orange colored rocks. Streams meandering across the broad plain deposited sand, mud, gravel and other debris such as logs. In some cases, minerals in the groundwater replaced the organic materials in the buried logs forming petrified wood. Petrified wood is one of the few fossil remains found in the rocks at the foot of the cliffs.
Deserts
About 180 million years ago the area was completely arid, much as the Sahara Desert is today. A giant dune field stretched from this area eastward into Colorado, and windblown sand piled more than half-a-mile deep in some spots. As the wind shifted the sands back and forth, old dunes were leveled and new ones built up leaving a record of curving, angled lines in the sand known as "crossbeds". These shifting sands were buried by other sediments, and eventually cemented into sandstone by iron oxide with some calcium carbonate. This formation, known locally as the Aztec Sandstone, is quite hard and forms the prominent cliffs of the Red Rock escarpment. In some areas the iron minerals in the rocks have been altered and concentrated giving the rock it's red color.
continued
Ocean
For much of the past 600 million years, the land that is now Red Rock Canyon NCA was the bottom of a deep ocean basin and the western coast of North America was in present day western Utah. A rich variety of marine life flourished in those waters and left behind deposits of shells and skeletons more that 9,000 feet thick which were eventually compressed into limestone and similar carbonate rocks.
Swamps
Beginning approximately 225 million years ago crustal movements caused the sea bed to slowly rise. Streams entering the shallower waters deposited mud and sand which later consolidated into shale and marine sandstones. Changing land and sea levels trapped large bodies of water which later evaporated leaving behind layers of salt and gypsum in some areas. Exposure of the sediments to the atmosphere allowed some of the minerals to oxidize, resulting in red and orange colored rocks. Streams meandering across the broad plain deposited sand, mud, gravel and other debris such as logs. In some cases, minerals in the groundwater replaced the organic materials in the buried logs forming petrified wood. Petrified wood is one of the few fossil remains found in the rocks at the foot of the cliffs.
Deserts
About 180 million years ago the area was completely arid, much as the Sahara Desert is today. A giant dune field stretched from this area eastward into Colorado, and windblown sand piled more than half-a-mile deep in some spots. As the wind shifted the sands back and forth, old dunes were leveled and new ones built up leaving a record of curving, angled lines in the sand known as "crossbeds". These shifting sands were buried by other sediments, and eventually cemented into sandstone by iron oxide with some calcium carbonate. This formation, known locally as the Aztec Sandstone, is quite hard and forms the prominent cliffs of the Red Rock escarpment. In some areas the iron minerals in the rocks have been altered and concentrated giving the rock it's red color.
continued
Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge
Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge is located in southern Nevada 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Encompassing over 23,000 acres of spring-fed wetlands, Ash Meadows is a desert wetland ecosystem providing habitat for at least 25 species found nowhere else in the world. Thirteen species are endangered or threatened and most depend on the isolated springs and wetlands found here. This concentration of native species is considered to be the greatest of any local area in the United States. Ash Meadows refuge is a unit of the Desert Refuge Complex.
Getting There . . .
Travel 15 miles south on State Route 373 from Amargosa Junction to Spring Meadow Road, then turn east 5 miles to refuge headquarters.
Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge is located in southern Nevada 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Encompassing over 23,000 acres of spring-fed wetlands, Ash Meadows is a desert wetland ecosystem providing habitat for at least 25 species found nowhere else in the world. Thirteen species are endangered or threatened and most depend on the isolated springs and wetlands found here. This concentration of native species is considered to be the greatest of any local area in the United States. Ash Meadows refuge is a unit of the Desert Refuge Complex.
Getting There . . .
Travel 15 miles south on State Route 373 from Amargosa Junction to Spring Meadow Road, then turn east 5 miles to refuge headquarters.
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