After nine nights at Willow Beach, we made a short 33 mile move north to Las Vegas Bay Campground in Lake Mead National Recreation Area. This would be our third stay at Las Vegas Bay. We like the vibe of the campground and it serves us well as a basecamp for continued explorations of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area and vicinity. For this stay, I had a few new trails for us to check out and RVer friends would be joining us!
Redstone Dunes Trail
Redstone Dunes is one of the easiest sites to visit in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. We had driven past the colorful area multiple times, but had never stopped. Located alongside Lakeshore Drive about 30 miles northeast of our camp at Las Vegas Bay, visitors can make this a quick roadside stop or enjoy a picnic lunch or a short hike. The fiery eroded formations found here were once part of a vast desert of sand dunes. Geological forces later turned the loose sand dunes into hard sandstone. A 0.5 mile loop trail with interpretive signs leaves from the paved parking lot. We followed some social trails and wandered for about 2.0 miles through the brilliant red formations.
Railroad Pass Trail
Just outside the Lake Mead National Recreation Area boundaries and on the west side of Boulder City, this 4.75 mile loop trail offers hikers a moderately challenging route with 775 feet of elevation gain. The route has some nice canyon views as it follows high above the Cascata Golf Course. At certain times of the year, there is even a waterfall visible (we were not there at the right time of year).
We found this hike on our AllTrails app, but we modified their route a bit. We started our hike from a trailhead parking lot at the edge of the Railroad Pass Casino and Travel Center. Several reviewers advised hiking in a counter-clockwise direction so that we could better see some arches along the route and for easier navigation of the rockier parts. There were a few steep sections and a couple areas of exposure on the east side, but it was pretty straight-forward overall. We enjoyed the quiet trail, some nice views, and even saw a few bighorn sheep.
Rainbow Canyon & Giant Fin Trail
A huge thanks to an RVer friend of ours for finding this awesome trail on the AllTralis app! Rainbow Canyon & Giant Fin Trail is a 5.6 miles roundtrip hike through some exceptionally colorful narrows. I recommend downloading the route from AllTrails and following it exactly as they show it.
We started our hike at the large gravel parking area at the junction of Callville Wash and Northshore Road, just 18.5 miles northeast from our camp at Las Vegas Bay. We did a short stretch of road walking along Northshore Road before dropping down into Lovell Wash. Once in the wash, navigation was easy and there was no doubt when we arrived at Rainbow Canyon—it is appropriately named!
Once through Rainbow Canyon, we continued to follow the Alltrails route. It took us through some nice canyons and around Giant Fin where we saw a couple of bighorn sheep. There were some relatively steep and rocky sections of trail, but they were brief and this was a pretty easy hike overall.
We really enjoyed this hike. We didn’t see anyone else and the colors of Rainbow Canyon were some of the most spectacular we’ve seen in nature. I think this is a hike we’ll repeat every time we visit Lake Mead. Given its location near Callville Wash, this hike combined with nearby Anniversary Narrows would make for an incredible day on trail.
The Adventure Continues
Be sure to join us on our next adventure as we continue our Lake Mead explorations and are joined by RVer friends D&L! And don’t forget to check out our Amazon RV and Adventure Gear recommendations. We only post products that we use and that meet the Evans Outdoor Adventures seal of approval. By accessing Amazon through our links and making any purchase (even things as simple as toothpaste!), you get Amazon’s every day low pricing and they share a little with us. This helps us maintain this website and is much appreciated!
Gorgeous pictures and great looking hikes!