Red Rock Canyon, Las Vegas

This is my first time visiting Las Vegas. I am not sure what I had in mind, but a spectacular place in the middle of the dessert was not even remotely in my thoughts. We landed around 11am, rented a car, checked into our hotel and drove a short 30 minutes to The Red Rock Canyon conservation area. The park has a visitor’s area and a 13 mile driving loop with plenty hiking paths on different levels: easy, moderate and hard. The first area we visited was the Calico I, with massive orange-reddish rocks. As I would learn later in the trip, Las Vegas is the place for extremes: extreme cheesiness, extreme luxury and extreme nature. The Red Rock Canyon was a spectacular place, the Mojave Desert at its best. Bring water, sunscreen and a camera… a polarizer or neutral density filter are a must to get the deep blue sky and manage contrast between the bright sky against the rocks and mountains.