Plan to Arrive at Red Rock Early

Check the visitor information page for their hours. We arrived at the entrance at 9:30 a.m. There were only a few cars ahead of us to pay. There was a $15 entrance fee. We stopped at the visitor’s center and looked around. Instead of hiking around the visitor’s center, we decided to head to the Calico Tank hike. After entering the park the road is 13 miles one-way loop. When we arrived at the parking lot for Calico Tank it was completely full at 10:00 a.m. I drove around and around the loop, but nobody was leaving. I finally decided to drive down the road and park off the roadway and hope I didn’t come back and find a ticket.

Wildlife at Red Rock Canyon

We hoped to see some wildlife during our visit to Red Rock Canyon, but we only saw a few lizards. There are signs warning drivers to slow down for the wild tortoise, but since we visited in January they were probably still hibernating. We lept our eyes peeled for wild burros, but we didn’t see them either.

Hiking to Calico Tanks

The park trail map rates the hike to Calico Tanks as Strenuous. From the parking lot to the tank is a little over 2 miles roundtrip. Even though the parking lot was full there are other hikes in the area and lots of people practicing rock climbing. The first part of the hike follows an actual path. There weren’t that many people on the trail when we first started. The weather in January was sunny and comfortable. I wouldn’t want to do this hike if it was hot outside, because there is little to no shade. After about 1/2 mile the trail becomes less clear cut and the hike becomes “choose your own adventure.” There are places where you can hop from rock to rock.

Calico Tanks

There are a few signs along the way to let you know that you are still going the right way. Basically, you are heading up through a small canyon. The actual Calico Tank is a natural holding pool for water. I’ve heard that the water dries up in the warmer months. We made it to the tank in a little over an hour with plenty of time for exploring and taking pictures. After the tanks, you want to continue going up and you will be rewarded with an amazing view of the Las Vegas strip and valley. We took in the view and took lots of pictures.

Hiking Down From Calico Tanks

Coming down was a little dicey. The trail had become “The Disneyland of the Desert.” I couldn’t believe how many people were on the trail on the way down. A lot of the trail is on rocks that have a thin coating of sand on them and there were way too many people in Vans or Converse that were sliding all over. We saw some people scooting down on their butts in order to avoid falling. We made it down and walked back to our car. The parking lot was still full on our way out.

Petroglyph Wall

We continued driving on the scenic one-way loop. We drove to the parking lot for the Petroglyph Wall. Depending on where you can find a parking place the walk to the Petroglyph wall is very short. We walked across a wash and headed towards a cliff. The Petroglyphs are on the face of the cliff. The Petroglyphs are estimated to be 800 years old. After reading the sign and taking pictures we walked back to the car. We got a cooler out of the car and had a picnic at the Willow Springs picnic area. While we were eating the clouds rolled in and we started to get cold. We finished the scenic loop and decided we were done for the day.

A Reason For Another Visit

We only did two hikes in Red Rocks. I would love to go back and visit, but preferably on a weekday when it is a little less crowded. We saw several groups drive by in open-air 3-wheeled vehicles. Each car held 2 passengers and they all looked like they were having a good time. I would also like to come back and look around for some wildlife. All in all, we had a good visit and this was definitely a side of Las Vegas that I had never seen before.

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Parking

We arrived at 5:30 p.m. With the time change, it was definitely dark enough for the lanterns. We entered Gate 17 and had to pay $12 to park. Probably because it was the opening weekend it was not crowded. We parked close to the entrance and only had to wait in line for 5 minutes to have our tickets scanned.

Experience The Wild at The Chinese Lantern Festival

This year’s theme is “Experience the Wild.” The majority of the lanterns are animal-themed. The promoters promise that there are 1,0000 lanterns at the festival and they are lit up with LED lights. Most of the lanterns are stationary, but some move. The most spectacular lanterns were the underwater-themed ones located on the water. The reflection of the jellyfish on the water was magical.

Don’t Go Hungry to The Chinese Lantern Festival

Now for the negatives. We went to the festival hungry because we saw pictures of delicious-looking food, unfortunately, there is only one small booth selling food and the lines were long. The online information about the festival says that there are unique hand-crafted keepsakes and they were there, but there were only 4 artisans at one small table. We sat down to watch the Kung Fu show, but the sound was not working and we could not hear anything, We left after about 10 mins. The last negative is people do not follow the rules. So many people disregarded the no touching signs and touched the lanterns. They also climbed up over embankments and took selfies with the lanterns.

In Conclusion:

Overall, I would recommend the Chinese Lantern Festival. The lanterns were beautiful and the setting at the Fairplex made walking around enjoyable. I would not pay the full price for the tickets, because a quick google search will show you all the available discounts. The festival runs through January 6, 2019. It is held Thurs – Sunday nights and there are some special dates that they are open for the holidays.

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