First off, let me tell you that the best time to go to Red Rock National Park is NOT over the Christmas and New Years Holidays. As it is just a short hop from the strip on the outskirts of Las Vegas, Red Rock is an easy destination for all the holiday makers who come in droves over the Christmas season.
When we arrived at Red Rock to get our hike on we were greeted with a line up 100 deep just to drive into the park! The fun continued as we and thousands of other tourists vied for parking spots at the numerous trailheads throughout the park. The parking lots were full, the sides of the roads were full, the places with “No Parking” signs were full, and a friendly tow truck driver was continuously making the rounds to hook up to the cars that were blocking traffic. It was a zoo! We parked in a clearly marked “No Parking” zone and hoped for the best.
Despite the crowded conditions we were still able to find our little slices of paradise as we explored the beautiful red rocks that the park gets its name from. (Although my children insist the rocks are more orange than red and that someone was seriously colour blind when they named the park.)
We scrambled up and down the rock faces, peered into deep canyons, and marvelled at the beauty of the place. What an oasis of nature so close to the artificial glitz of the city.
On one of our trails we even encountered snow and a frozen waterfall! Brrrr! We have been told this is the coldest winter in Vegas for years and we are definitely ill prepared for the weather!
Now that kids are back in school and the holidays are over the park shouldn’t be so busy and we can go back to have a quieter experience. We have purchased an annual park pass for America’s National Parks and we can now enjoy this and any other National Park at our leisure.
2 comments
Josée says:
January 4, 2016 at 7:08 pm (UTC -7 )
Cool! Glad you didn’t get towed 😉
worldschooled says:
January 9, 2016 at 6:28 pm (UTC -7 )
Me too!