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| - What a sight; majestic, striped landscape, jutting up from the earth just a 30 minute drive from the strip. Driving into the Summerlin area and down Blue Diamond Highway into the Red Rock area you are suddenly greeted by massive red and beige rock mountains that shoot high up into the blue desert skies, seeming unreal or something you'd see in an old western painting.
Entering the park you pay $7 a car and can park up at the Conservation Center that allows one to peek into the life of the Red Rock inhabitants. Hawks, desert iguanas, rattlesnakes, scorpions, desert tortoises are on display along with desert landscape and environmental facts. They have a nice gift shop should you want purchase a Red Rock hat or shirt, a cactus plant or a Native American replica.
Now, it gets really good once you begin one of the many hikes. From easy to advanced, 2-3.5 hour hikes are there for your adventure.
Drive up through the scenic route, which is 13 miles, you have the opportunity to stop a few times to get out and explore or take pictures.
The landscape along that 13 mile road changes also, from jutting, striated cliffs and enormous boulders resting precariously upon another, inviting you to come take a look around, loads of crevasses and small caves lay awaiting to be explored. Then driving just a few miles on the winding road, it turns to bumpy,scabrous, craggy mountains dabbled with green bushes tucked within its regresses. On further still, amazing tall evergreens and lusher foliage in deep ravines and ditches look completely different than the miles before.
I can imagine a lot of time could be spent exploring the different areas of Red Rock Canyon Conservation Area, many photo ops and opportunities to discover what this southern Nevada desert has hidden away.
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