Today we drove over the Spring Mountains towards Las Vegas. Our goal was to see Red Rock Canyon National park (or preserve), but we first found Spring Mountain State Park, which is the beautiful setting for Spring Mountain Ranch. This ranch was built on the site of settlers' trails to California, including a part of the Mormon Trail. The ranch house is full of historical items and photos. The owners over the years included Vera Krupp, a German actress and owner of that huge diamond Richard Burton bought for Elizabeth Taylor. Howard Hughes also owned the ranch for a few years, but never lived there. The grounds are beautifully kept and this is a stop well worth the making.
This area is known for its wild burros and horses. We did see 3 burros, but alas no horses.
Red Rock Canyon is simply magnificent! Fantastic vistas and an amazing variety of landforms and rocks surround this spacious canyon. The National Park Service has constructed a very nice 13 mile scenic drive, one way, all around the sides of the canyon, so you can see these this natural beauty without really worrying about traffic.
This is a view of what are called the calico rocks. These are the remnants of the desert of 180 million years ago, and are punctuated with striations of wind and water erosion over the centuries.
And then, ahh, the beautiful red rocks! These are some of the most fabulous views we have seen in all our travels. We did not even know about this until last night following Texas Hold'em at the clubhouse, when the activity director Nancy asked if we had been there yet. Thank you Nancy!Tomorrow we hope to get to Death Valley, as the wildflowers are supposed to blooming big time.
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