Las Vegas offers so much more than casinos and night life. If you head just outside of the hustle and bustle of the city, you can find beautiful natural areas and incredible hiking trails! Here are some of the best easy hikes near Las Vegas.
LessThe Calico Hills are a unique formation of deep red sandstone slabs that soar into the sky, dominating the viewscape as you enter the Red Rock Canyon Conservation Area. The popular Calico Tanks hike winds around the backside of the first ridge and leads straight into the heart of the hills, but the hike shown here traverses along the front side of the rock formation. All through this hike, you'll be afforded stunning views of the hills—you might just be snapping photos the entire time!
Ice Box Canyon is routinely ranked as one of the best hikes in the Red Rock Canyon Conservation Area, but it receives much less traffic than other trails. If you're looking to escape some of the crowds, head for this trail! Due to the lesser traffic, the route into Ice Box Canyon is much less defined. The trail splits and braids the entire way, but you can always see the objective of the canyon mouth in front of you—keep heading straight on.
The short 4-mile Mustang Loop provides the perfect hiking outing in the Las Vegas desert without any of the challenges of the more difficult trails. The singletrack here is smooth and almost entirely bereft of rocks and technical obstacles, allowing hikers to soak in the views of the dramatic red rock cliffs in the distance.
While many of the trails in the mountains above Vegas can be quite steep, the trails in McCullough Hills are mostly quite mellow and well-graded. The trail tread is sandy and mostly smooth, with very few obstacles to trip you up or cause pause. In addition, there is very little fall exposure along these trails, and most of the time, absolutely none!