Brownstone Canyon is the first canyon as you come from Las Vegas to the Red Rock Canyon NCA. It can be gotten to in several ways but none of them is a good option. You can hike from Route 159 to the canyon. That involves about 3 miles before you get to the fence. Almost all of it is an upgrade through a wash filled with gravel that’s difficult to hike. Another way is to go to Sandstone Quarry on the Scenic Drive and hike out past the Turtlehead Peak turnoff and keep going until you come up a saddle between La Madre Peak and Turtlehead. It’s a tough walk and then you go down into Brownstone. You still have to walk back up to get back. If you’ve ever hiked Turtlehead, Brownstone is the canyon you see when you reach the saddle on your way to the peak at Turtlehead. I have been to the canyon more than a dozen times because the Cultural Resource Team of Friends of Red Rock Canyon spent a lot of time documenting the Indian rock art that is in the canyon. As such, I have a permit which allows me to drive across Howard Hughes Corporation property(Summerlin) to get to Brownstone. You need a four wheel drive vehicle. There are two man made dams. I understand that one was built by a rancher who kept cattle there years ago and the other one, at the end of the canyon, was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. The canyon is a marvelous place to visit. I do grow tired of trudging up the wash. As stated before, hiking in gravel is tough. In this case, it’s worth it.
Angela T.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Las Vegas, NV
We started out from the Calico Basin-Kraft Mtn Trailhead. Heading towards Gateway Canyon, you proceed through and continue the hike through mostly dry waterfalls and a wash the entire way. I love hiking up dry waterfalls, gives you a little extra workout when you have to scramble up and over. The scenery to the canyon was great, there happen to be a lot of water through the wash most of the way. This wasn’t a great workout, but I can’t give less than 5 stars, only reason is, it’s history and it’s pretty crazy that just a short distance from the Vegas Strip, you can find a archeological site full of petroglyphs. Way more accessible than Sloan Canyon, and I enjoyed the hike WAY more than Sloan. 8 miles RT, out and back from Calico Basin, with 2000 feet of elevation gain, no trekking needed, it’s more scrambling.
