Calico Basin Springs Hike - 03/03/2017 Trip Notes

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This page last updated on 03/08/2017

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03/03/2017 Trip Notes: On this date it was a sunny day in the low 70's with no wind, the best weather we've seen in months. So Jim Herring and I decided to take advantage of the weather and hiked the area around the town of Calico. We started at the Red Spring and picnic area, that acts as a trailhead for several short hikes within Calico Basin. From the picnic parking area, we decided to head out on a trail toward Angel Pass and the Calico Spring (center of Fig. 02). Calico Spring is the middle spring of the three springs within Calico Basin.
                               

(Fig. 02

(Fig. 03) Click picture to enlarge

Along the way we passed several large rocks and cliffs where people were doing some free climbing (Fig. 03). It is always amazing to watch people climb up these rocks and cliff areas using nothing but there bare hands. Personally we think their all a little 'crazy', but each to their own.

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If you click on the images in figures 03 and 04, you can better see a climber working his way of one of the large outcrops that we passed on the way to Calico Spring. Even though all of the springs at Calico Basin have water running year round, due to the fact that it was still winter, there were only just a few signs of water that were barely flowing (Fig. 05). There was very little green vegetation and almost no wild flowers. It the spring, about mid-April, this area is much greener with more water are many small wild flowers and cactus blossoms.

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Along the way we did spot a rabbit that had apparently been getting a drink of water from the spring. This spring is about the halfway point of the hike to Ash Spring. As we approached the northern edge of the red Calico Hills we were presented with a view of the large flat, open meadow filled with dozens of large Ash trees that is fed by the water from the spring.

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From the vantage point in the trail (Fig. 07), we had to climb down to the meadow and then follow the meadow due west towards the base of the hills to the trailhead of the spring. Once we reach the meadow we walked through the large grove of Ash Trees on the way to the spring (Fig. 08). When you go to the end and the head of the spring, one come to an area where the water just flows right out of the rocks on the side of the mountain (Fig. 09). From here we followed the 'stream' that has been carved out by the water from the spring along the north side of the meadow (Fig. 10). There are several pools of water along the way that are nearly a foot or more deep and even a couple of places where the water creates a few small waterfalls as it flows over the rocks (Fig. 11).
                                          

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Because we had two cars, we parked one in the parking lot for Ash Spring and were able to drive back to the Red Spring and picnic area. When we got there we had a picnic lunch before walking the wooden boardwalk out to Red Spring.  Our hike for the day ended up being nearly 3.5 miles. The last picture of a quail (Fig. 12) was taken along side of the road on the way out.
                                               

(Fig. 12)

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Kraft Mountain Loop Trail

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This page last updated on 06/15/2017

(Fig. 01) Kraft Mountain

Directions: From the Stratosphere Casino take a right onto Las Vegas Blvd south (the Strip) to Sahara Ave. Turn right onto West Sahara Ave (NV-589) and continue to follow W. Sahara Ave for 10 miles until it turns into Desert Foothills Drive. Continue on for about 4.5 miles and turn left onto NV-159 W Charleston Blvd. Continue to follow NV-159 (which becomes Blue Diamond Road) west for about 3 miles and turn right onto Calico Basin Road and drive north, then west, for about 1 mile to where the paved road makes a 90-degree turn to the right. Turn right onto Sandstone Drive and drive to the end and park in the parking area on the left. Distance from Point of Origin is 17 miles with a estimated one way travel time of 30 minutes.
                   

(Fig. 02)

Area and Description: Kraft Mountain (Fig. 01), is in the La Madre Mountain Wilderness Area, and is one of several minor summits in the Calico Basin section of the Red Rocks area that offers several short but enjoyable scrambling routes and excellent views of the surrounding desert peaks and canyons. At 4,714 it is almost due north from the end of Sandstone Drive bordering the north side of Calico Basin.

The Kraft Mountain Loop, also called Gateway Canyon Loop, circumnavigates Kraft Mountain, and is a 3-1/4 mile loop that is a moderate to strenuous hike with some rock scrambling. The route can be hiked in either direction from the two trailheads (Fig. 02). A series of use-trails run across desert flats to the the base of the mountain. Taking the trail heading east is easy to follow for the most part and passes an area that is scattered with dozens of large boulders (Fig. 03) that many people use to practice their rock climbing skills. Taking the northwest trail you immediately begin to gain elevation and is much more difficult - right side of (Fig. 04).

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11/26/2016 Trip Notes: Blake Smith and I, looking for an easy hike, decided to travel to Calico Basin and hike the lower portion of the Kraft Mountain Loop Trail. Even though it was Thanksgiving weekend, in all the times I have visited Calico Basin area, I have never seen so many people there. We encountered roughly 150 people while hiking this trail. Most were in 'groups' that were free climbing the dozens of huge boulders that littered the trail along the lower edge of Kraft Mountain (Fig. 05 & 06). They all hike with large folded rubber mats on their backs which they spread on he ground below where they are scaling the rocks to protect them in case of falling. (notes con't below)

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Trip Notes Continued: As we hiked along this trail (Fig. 07), weaving in and around the dozens of fallen boulders, the trail eventually reach a huge gouge that had been created by the Gateway Canyon Wash on the southern side of the trail (Fig. 08). At one vantage point, standing on the edge of the trail, the base of the wash was nearly 40 feet below the trail. Before the bend that leads into Gateway Canyon (Fig. 02) we came across a boulder that had some ancient petroglyphs (Figs. 09 & 10). Both on the way out and the hike back we encountered two groups of people riding horses (Figs. 11, 12 & 13). As we approached the lower portion of Gateway Canyon we encountered a few trees, some green vegetation and a view of Turtle Head Mountain (Fig. 14). (more notes con't below)
                                   

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Trip Notes Continued:  On the return hike we stole a view of Las Vegas between two boulders (Fig. 15). We also got a great view of the backside of the Calico Hills and the small town of Calico Basin (Fig. 17). As we approached the trailhead area I captured this picture showing all the cars in the parking lot and along both sides of the road approached it (Fig. 18). Click picture to 'zoom' in.

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Ash Spring @ Calico Basin - 03/09/2016 Trip Notes

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This page last updated on 06/15/2017

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03/08/2016 Trip Notes: After a failed attempt to hike Sloan Canyon, due to a road closure, Harvey Smith, Blake Smith, Robert Croke and myself decided to go out to Calico Basin. From the Ash Spring trailhead at the parking lot at the end of Sandstone Drive, we headed west, then northwest up the desert hillside to the base of Dragon Peak. We hiked up more than 350 feet to an elevation of nearly 3,600 feet. See the green arrow in the upper right of the picture in (Fig. 03). We wanted to hike to the top of the ridge-line, the second green arrow on the horizon, but realized that we would have had to hike up yet another difficult, rocky strewn (Fig. 04) elevation of nearly four hundred additional feet and, an additional distance of more than a half mile. We decided that it was more difficult than we had originally envisioned. Even though it was still too early to see any of the spring blooms we envisioned on our previous trip here during April of last year (Click the link at the bottom of the page) , we did find the occasional rock daisy (Fig. 05). From here we followed the trail that led us down to the spring at the base of this steep steep hill. The view in the picture seen in (Fig. 01), a little more than halfway down, provided a nice view of the town and Calico Basin. When we finally reached the bottom most point near the source of Ash Spring we ended up in the bottom of a wash. The view in (Fig. 06) was a shot looking northwest up the wash. (con't below)

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Trip notes continued: Looking southwest we were confronted with two very large boulders. Behind these boulders there was a small spring pool where water was slowly seeping out of the surrounding rocks (Fig. 07). After squeezing through a small opening in the rocks, we found a nice, quiet area where we all enjoyed a nice picnic lunch (Fig. 08). The quiet solitude here was absolutely wonderful. From here we hiked east across the open desert meadow between the Ash Spring creek and the base of the Calico mountains (Fig. 09). In the heavily eroded creek along the north side (Fig. 10), there were several areas where spring's water was flowing along the surface (Fig. 11). Climbing south we headed up out of the meadow to a small plateau where the local residents had created a very large geoglyph. Both Bob and I snapped pictures of Harvey and Blake standing in the center of the geoglyph (Fig. 12). From all I can gather about the cement foundations and septic tank adjacent to the geoglyph area at the end of the road is all that remains of a failed house building attempt (Fig. 13). It's too bad, it would have had the best view of Ash Canyon and Ash Spring in the entire basin (Fig. 14). I would like to like my hiking partner, Bob Croke for providing pictures (Figs.  01, 02, 10 & 12).
                                    

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Ash Creek @ Calico Basin

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(Fig. 01)

(Fig. 02)

04/17/2015 Trip Notes: Today, I hiked the area at the north end of Calico Basin with my fellow hiking partner, Blake Smith. Refer to my Calico Basin summary page [Calico Basin and Red Spring] for directions and more information on this location. In general, Calico Basin is a colorful desert area tucked between the gray limestone La Madre Mountains to the north, the red sandstone Calico Hills to the west, and a desert ridge to the south. Within the basin there are actually three year-round springs with permanent water that emerge from the base of these red and white sandstone cliffs: Red Spring, Calico Spring, and Ash Creek Spring. Today we hiked the area north of Ash Spring. As you can see from (Fig. 02), we hiked from the starting point noted in the lower right corner and hiked out across the desert to the end of the trail to the top of a peak (top center). From here we had to gingerly hike down a rather steep backside in order to pick up another trail in which to return upon. The view in (Fig. 03) was taken from the road looking out towards the area that we hiked. On both the hike out and the hike back we came upon dozens of blooming cactus and wildflowers, as well as several birds that were perched along the tops of various shrubs and cacti (Figs. 04 thru 13). The view in (Fig. 01) was taken from about half way back looking down towards the area of the spring. We hiked back to a ridge that ran west along the upper edge of the wetlands towards the beginning of Ash Spring. Before actually reaching the springs source, we began hiking down through the marsh-like area (Fig. 14) and along the trees and grasses that bordered its northern edge (Figs. 15 & 16). We were surprised to find this area was much drier than in previous years. It wasn’t until we reached its eastern end that we finally found evidence of flowing surface water (Figs. 17 thru 19). Hiking up out of the wash we came upon a large geoglyph (a.k.a. intaglio) that we had seen on a previous trip. Blake, standing near the center in the picture, noticed that it appeared larger than it was the last time we were here. He was right. I compared this picture (Fig. 20) to one I had taken previously and there were four additional rings that had been added to it. All in all we both felt that this one one of the best hikes we had taken this spring. On our way out of the basin, I took one final picture (Fig. 21) that captured a better view of Turtlehead Mountain in the background.

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(Fig. 21) Return to the [Calico Basin Summary Page]