Red Rock Canyon State Park

We spent a couple of days camping and hiking in Red Rock Canyon SP as we journeyed eastward towards Death Valley NP. Red Rock Canyon SP sits between the southern end of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range and the El Paso Mountains in the northernmost part of the Mojave Desert. This area abounds with colorful rock formations and a plethora of washes that meander for miles making for great hiking and exploring (bring your compass!). We enjoyed beautiful weather and moonlit nights during our stay and as you can see below there are still plenty of desert flowers in bloom.

We found this park to be a nice stop for a couple of days of hiking. The public lands surrounding the park are BLM managed and largely designated for OHV riding with hundreds of miles of trails. The park, however, does not allow OHV riding which ensures safe hiking and a quiet, peaceful setting for camping.

You may also see some unusual aircraft flying overhead if you visit this park. The Mojave Air & Space Port is about 25 miles south of the park. This facility is utilized by many firms to test very high tech and innovative air and spacecraft. During our stay the largest aircraft in the world (based on wingspan – 355 feet) made its first flight from the spaceport. The Stratolaunch, as it is called, is designed to launch rockets into space from an altitude of 35,000 feet. Cool stuff!