I love the wide open spaces and views of the American West. So, I arranged for another westward trek, this time to southern Nevada. My sister Melissa and I drove her Toyota 4Runner, an excellent vehicle for the narrow, rough roads on which we would be driving. We planned on going to the Buffington Pockets area, Gold Butte National Monument, both northeast of Las Vegas, and the Vermilion Cliffs in northern Arizona (the subject for another story).

We added, on the fly, a visit to Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, just across the border in northwestern Arizona. All of these locations are far from the often-crowded national parks, and far, far from the hustle and bustle of Las Vegas – my kind of places!

A Desert Hiking Adventure Begins

Our first stop was Buffington Pockets, which is a rugged and isolated area not too far off of Interstate 15 north of Las Vegas. Our first goal here was the historic Colorock Quarry. The roads to Colorock Quarry start out as graded gravel roads, which split to go to Valley of Fire State Park (which I had previously visited) and toward the quarry. The further you go the more the roads deteriorate into narrow one-lane tracks which require a high clearance 4-wheel drive vehicle, especially the very last part nearest the quarry.

We climbed around this colorful and scenic area for a while, getting up high for good views. Once we finished here, we drove on toward Hidden Valley on the Bitter Springs Backcountry Byway, where we wanted to hike to an arch called Striped Arch, but we found that the road ended at a wilderness boundary a few miles from the arch. We didn’t have enough time before sunset to make it to the arch and back, so we gave up on that hike and drove back a ways along the byway and found an excellent camping site just off the road next to some colorful rocks with arches. Camping in this area is not at established campgrounds (there are none), but you can find many places just off the road to camp.

Gold Butte National Monument

The next morning, we headed back to the interstate and then northeastward toward Mesquite NV, and then south on Gold Butte Byway into Gold Butte National Monument (nearly 300,000 acres on the east side of Lake Mead). Melissa was driving, and at one point she applied the brakes, and I was asking “WHAT?! WHAT?!” She had seen a Gila monster crossing the road, and of course we stopped for photographs. Further down the road, we stopped at an area with an exceptional number of cacti and wildflowers (more pictures) and then continued on to Whitney Pocket. This is an area of outcrops of red and white Aztec Sandstone surrounded by desert vegetation, including many Joshua Trees.

This area had several spots for camping, and had the largest number of people that we encountered on the entire trip. We wandered around the rocky outcrops for a while, and then continued our sightseeing tour. Our next stop, and it was a brief one, was at the Devil’s Throat, a large sinkhole surrounded by a chain link fence. Not much to see there, so we drove on to our next destination, The Grotto. Before we hiked we had sandwiches for lunch, and then took the short hike (a little over one-half mile round-trip) into the area. There were some interesting outcrops and a few petroglyphs here, but we didn’t spend a lot of time before moving on.

Our next stop was at Seven Keyholes Slot Canyon. After another short hike (about one-half mile to the canyon), we arrived at the canyon, which has odd-shaped openings, almost round at the bottom with a slot at the top. There are several of these sections with open sections in between. After seeing the canyon, we explored the area a bit more, seeing lots and lots of “holey” rocks, small caves, and arches. We probably hiked an additional mile or more exploring the nearby canyons (and there was a lot more that we could have gone to see).

We next headed toward a place that’s been on my “must see” list for a long time – Little Finland or Hobgoblin’s Playground. Getting there again consisted of driving miles of sandy, rocky roads. The ridge along which Little Finland is located is about fifty feet or so above a large relatively flat area. Along the base of the cliffs there are a number of large California Fan palm trees (not something we expected to see in the desert). Once we found our way up onto the ridge, we were surrounded by some of the strangest rocks I’ve ever seen, eroded mostly by the wind into intricate shapes, some resembling animals or monsters.

It was a difficult place to take photos, as there was so much distracting background that it was hard to isolate individual pieces of the scene. Somehow, however, I managed to take dozens of photos, including a few “keepers”. The hike at Little Finland was around a mile in length, although you could probably hike back and forth and make it considerably longer. We ended up hiking over 5 ½ miles on the hikes of this day, after which we drove until we found a good campsite off of Mud Wash Road. There were supposedly petroglyphs somewhere around there, but we never found them. Looked for shooting stars (it was one of the Lyrid meteor shower nights) until bedtime. We didn’t see any.

Our next day began with a drive to another trailhead. This meandering "trail" was up and down over the outcrops of stone, for a total of a little over a mile and took us to the area known for the Falling Man petroglyph. There are an impressive number of other petroglyphs on the cliffs in this area too. There were even a couple of potholes (or tinajas) with water and tadpoles. We hiked around, following a bunch of GPS waypoints that I had pre-loaded on my phone and found Falling Man (there must be an interesting story here) and most of the other petroglyphs. There is an amazing variety of these scattered throughout the area, including some that were in what I would consider pretty precarious spots high on the cliffs. Those ancients were skilled climbers (except for perhaps that poor falling man).

After finishing at Falling Man, we drove on down the road to our next trail, this one to take us to the 21 Goats Petroglyph Panel. This was an interesting hike (about two miles round-trip) in that it was a bearpoppy restoration area. The sign explained the ecology of the poppies and that they grow in a limited area and only on gypsum soil. We spotted a few along the hike and even found one near enough to the trail that we were able to get a couple of pictures. On to the petroglyphs – this was a really cool panel. I stepped off the width at over 35 feet, and it was probably at least 12 feet above the ground to the top. The name is somewhat misleading, as I counted about 38 “goats” (actually desert bighorn sheep). We took our photographs and headed back to the truck.

Next we drove to the trailhead for the Khota Circus (also spelled Kohta) Petroglyphs. This was a longer hike (around 3.6 miles round-trip) which went through different environments – some with sand (tough walking), and other places through washes and rocky outcrops. There was also quite a variety of wildflowers along the way. The Khota Circus is about 80 feet long by 6 feet high at the base of a tall cliff. It’s mostly animals (thus the name) – many goats, some turtles, birds, snakes, and a few humans. One of the humans is obviously a hunter shooting at a goat. Apparently, we missed another smaller but better preserved panel high on a nearby cliff.

We researched a bit once we returned to civilization, and found that the petroglyphs range in age from 700 to 3000 years old and were created by Anasazi or Southern Paiutes. There is a small slot canyon near the petroglyphs, but it isn't very long or interesting. Over the previous two days, we had seen very few people on the trails. Gold Butte only receives just over 100,000 visitors a year, most at Whitney Pocket, which is at the end of a semi-paved road, and at Little Finland. The rest of the time, we were on narrow, rough roads where only the hardiest souls (like us) go!

Grand Canyon-Parashunt National Monument

We were a bit ahead of schedule, so Melissa suggested that we go east to visit part of Grand Canyon-Parashunt National Monument (another huge park of more than a million acres that gets fewer than 100,000 visitors a year). It is even more remote and rugged than the areas that we had been in the previous days. There are no developed facilities, and most of the roads require high clearance and sometimes four-wheel drive vehicles. As we left Whitney Pocket, we came upon a field which was filled with a “superbloom” of Las Vegas poppies. We drove throughout the northern part of the monument, and noticed what looked like redbuds here and there. That was totally unexpected, considering the desert climate, but it turns out that they were California redbuds, which are indeed native to the area.

We drove until we found a place to camp along the road. We broke camp the next morning and headed toward the Paiute Wilderness for a hike, and as it turns out, the only hike we took in this vast park. The road to the trailhead was a crazy, narrow, up and down thing, but our expert driver (Melissa) handled it with ease. The trail didn’t have great scenery, but it was nice, and there were many wildflowers along the route. After leaving this area, we headed via several rough roads to Tweed’s Overlook, giving us a great overview of the northern section of the park.

We talked to a couple of guys up there who told us about a drive called “Nutter’s Twist” – supposedly a tough, rough road. Of course, we wanted to drive it. It was indeed rough, with a couple of really difficult wash crossings with steep, high banks. The only victim of the crossings, other than our nerves, was one running board that got bent on one of the boulders while crossing one of the deeper washes. There are several hiking routes ranging from one mile to over eleven miles within the park, but we will have to return another time for some of those.

Final Thoughts

If you enjoy the desert, and you want an off-the-beaten track adventure, head to Buffington Pockets, Gold Butte National Monument, and Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument. Here, you will experience isolation and extreme quiet, get away from civilization, and see scenery that few people get to enjoy.

Need to Know

Information

No permits are needed for any of the areas discussed above. There are no established campgrounds or facilities and there is no way to resupply provisions, supplies, or food / water. We double checked tires and carried a spare.

Getting There

Colorock Quarry in Buffington Pockets is accessed by exiting I-15 at exit 75, toward Valley of Fire State Park and the Bitter Springs Backcountry Byway. After just over three miles, the byway continues straight, and the road to Valley of Fire goes off to the left. Continue for about four miles, then turn right at the Colorock Quarry sign. From there it is about 3.5 miles to the quarry. (If you have time while in the area, be sure to visit Valley of Fire State Park. It's spectacular!)

Gold Butte National Monument is south of Interstate 15 and east of Lake Mead. Leave the interstate at Exit 112 onto Nevada 170 for 3.1 miles, then turn right onto Gold Butte Backcountry Byway. The road is semi-paved to Whitney Pocket, which is about 25 miles from the interstate. Beyond that point, a high-clearance four-wheel drive vehicle is needed.

Grand Canyon-Parashunt National Monument can be accessed several ways. From Gold Butte National Monument (Whitney Pocket area), go east on Pakoon Spring Road to road #101 or 111. From St. George UT, go south on either road #1009 or 1069. From Highway 389 between Pipe Spring National Monument and Fredonia UT, go south on Antelope Valley Road toward Tuweep, then turn west into GC-PNM. Once you are in the monument, choose your own adventure.

Best Time to Go

Spring and fall would be ideal. Summer will be very hot, while winter weather will be quite variable.

Maps and Books

The Arizona Strip Visitor Map shows recreational information for the Arizona Strip Field Office, Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, and surrounding areas (Grand Canyon, North Kaibab National Forest, etc). There is a good map of Gold Butte and part of Grand Canyon-Parashant on a kiosk in a parking area near Whitney Pocket. I took several photos of sections of this map (it has road numbers on it which were very useful). The Delorme Nevada Atlas and their Arizona Atlas can be helpful for getting to these areas. For information on other hiking opportunities close by, see the Hiking Nevada as well as the Hiking Arizona Falcon Guides.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in Issue 57 of TrailGroove Magazine. You can read the original article here for additional photos and content.