Mildred Mathias Botanical Gardens- UCLA

Bamboo Roots

Bamboo

Fern Leaf

Bamboo Grove

Mildred Mathias Botanical Gardens is 4.5 to 6 hours from Henderson on the UCLA campus.

Outsidepride Mexican Sunflower

Riverside Walk Trail - Zion National Park

The Riverside Walk Trail starts at the end of Zion Canyon Scenic Drive at the Temple of Sinawava.  The hike is only two miles round trip on a paved path, but plan to spend extra time here along the river. The squirrels and chipmunks will entertain you for hours. They are very people-friendly especially if you have food. They will beg like a dog and even climb up into your lap or on your shoulders to get your food.  I witnessed a chipmunk pulling food from a backpack that was left unattended. It had chewed a hole in the backpack in no time. You will also see butterflies, deer, and beautiful flowers that grow from the rocks where water seeps through almost continually. The water in the river is very cold in the spring so if you want to be able to go in the water go in late summer or fall.

This trail leads to the famous Narrows where you can walk for miles in a narrow canyon following the stream. In early summer you will have to rent waders and shoes in order to walk through the freezing water for any length of time.  You can rent them in town. This hike is quite difficult because of the uneven surface of the stream and the fact that you can't see where you are placing your feet if the water is deep.  It is slow going. 

In 2014 Ed and I did a 4-day rafting trip down the Grand Canyon with Canyon Ministries. We were flown from North Las Vegas Airport to the Bar 10 Ranch where they offered a great meal and horseback riding or ATV riding. We stayed in the covered wagons that had no electricity. The bathroom had electricity until sunset. The place is run by solar so they turn everything off except a swamp cooler that is in the main building which doesn't have enough power to run all night. (It cools off a lot at night to about 80 degrees depending on when you go.) Some people slept in the main building, some on the patio on the main building on mats, and some in the covered wagons. The staff also provided entertainment in the form of dancing, singing, and story telling.

From there we took a helicopter down into the canyon and boarded large rafts. We spent three nights on the sand in the canyon. Cots and tents were provided, but we found it was too hot for the tents so we just slept on the cots positioned precariously on the sand dunes. Our backpacks and clothes were filled with sand when we got back.

The food was great, but everyone was expected to help with the dishes, and packing up the raft in the morning. The raft made many stops at interesting locations: petroglyphs, canyons, waterfalls, arches, etc. I was amazed at the amount of green vegetation along the main canyon and smaller canyons.

There was some white water, but nothing scary, just fun stuff.

If you don't like roughing it or are shy, this trip is not for you. The restroom facility was a can that you were only allowed to deposit solid waste. The can was set out a ways from the camp with an open riverside view. You had to either pee in the river or over the edge of the boat. I picked the boat because the water was very cold.  Of course, everyone knew you were peeing because the top half of your body was visible when sitting in the peeing area.

Word of Advice: Canyon Ministries suggests taking a hat with a wide brim, which is a necessity, but it should really say take two hats because it is inevitable that someone's hat will blow away even with the strings that go around you neck. At least take an extra hat in case someone else loses their hat. We had several people lose their hat on our trip.

I highly recommend this trip.  It was well worth the money.  You will forever have fond memories of the canyon.

Another Word of Advice - Take the earliest trip possible. It gets really, really hot.

Once we got close to the dam, we were taken by speed boat to a location (I can't remember where) where we boarded a bus that took us back to Las Vegas.

Note: You should be somewhat physically fit for this trip.  You have to climb up onto large rafts, and carry your backpack up hills and sand dunes, and help pack and unpack the raft each morning and night. There are some short hikes and rock scrambling but nothing too difficult. If you can go up and down a flight of stairs several times without getting winded or hurting and can lift 30 lbs without difficulty, you can do this trip.

Hidden Canyon - Henderson, NV

Hidden Canyon (this is what I call it) is located less than a mile from the River Mountain Bike Trail. In less than thirty minutes of walking you will feel like you have walked into a desert wilderness except for the constant airplanes overhead. You will find huge boulders as big as building. One of the boulders you can walk under.

Be aware when walking this trail. It is perfect coyote and mountain lion country.  A mountain lion was spotted in this area.

Grotto near Lake Las Vegas

Grotto near Lake Las Vegas

The hike to this grotto takes less than half an hour and is a short distance from the paved bike trail by Terrazzo Park in Lake Las Vegas. Park in the Terrazza Park parking lot and walk down the bike path towards the bridge over the wash. Walk over the bridge and up the hill until you see a dirt path going off to the right. The path is marked with cairns and go down and back up through some washes. The trail leads up and around the hill into a canyon where it leads to the grotto. The hikes is best in the morning because the sun shines up through the canyon. If you go in the evening the canyon will be shaded by the walls of the canyon. If it is a hot day stop at the wash to cool off.  You can walk down to the wash if you make a right hand turn on the dirt road right before the bridge. Right after the sign for the Wetlands Park you can walk down into the wash next to the weir (small damn).

Calville Bay Hike in Lake Mead Recreation Area

Calville Bay Hike in Lake Mead Recreation Area

Coyote

This coyote scared the heck out of me when I was taking pictures in the desert with my dogs.  We weren't far from the horse corals.  You can see part of the River Mountain Water Treatment Facility in the background.

Gold Strike Hot Springs Trail

Gold Strike Hot Springs Trail - This is a beautiful hike through a canyon with high walls that goes all the way to the Colorado River. There is a lot of rock scrambling and with some ropes that help you get down some of the harder areas. We didn't make it all the way to the river because it was getting too hot (and I was really tired). We started at 6 o'clock in the morning when it was quit cool, but by noon it was 90 degrees. This hike should not be done in the summer. We heard that they were going to close the trail two days after we hiked it because they had to rescue too many people who were not prepared for the desert heat. It is quite strenuous and the heat makes it that much more difficult, but the hard work is well worth the effort.

Take the road down towards the dam from Boulder City. The road to the trail head is just past the helicopter landing pad at Gold Strike Casino on the right. Take the left-hand turn that goes down towards the dam to get to the trail head.

Sloan Canyon Black Mountain #404 Trail

Black Mountain - Sloan Canyon #404 Trail

Black Mountain is between Henderson and Las Vegas. When you hike to the top of the mountain you have a wonderful view of the valley on both sides. You can see Red Rock, California, Solar Panels and much more. The trail is a little difficult at the top because of the loose gravel and steep climb. You have to be careful with every step you take. The proposed part of the trail is not marked very well so you really have to watch where you are going. There is a flag and a place to rest at the top and take in the amazing views.  It takes about five hours round trip.  

Yellow Cactus Flower at Ethel M's

Flowers at Ethel M's Cactus Garden

Death Valley Day Trip - flowers, wild horses and a coyote

Wild Horses in Death Valley

These horses were not to far from the road. There was a herd of about 8 horses.  They really didn't seem to be very wild. People where as close a three feet and they didn't seem to mind. Even the mother with the baby didn't seem upset.  One of the horse sniffed my hand when I put it out.

Death Valley - Yellow flowers with dirt road in the background.

Death Valley is about two and a half to three hours from Henderson, NV.

Coyote in Death Valley

This coyote was walking down the main road.  When we stopped to take pictures it got off the road and just stared at us.

Wild Horses in Death Valley

There was a herd of about 8 wild horses not too far from the road in Death Valley. They didn't seem all that wild especially since one of them walked up to me and sniffed my outstretched hand.

Death Valley - from a distance this flat area looks like a lake.

Yellow sunflowers in Death Valley

The sunflowers seemed to glow in the late afternoon sun.