Overview

Hiking from Sandstone Quarry to Calico 1 is a nice short hike in a very scenic area, especially with friends who arrive in separate vehicles. Friends can leave one vehicle at Calico 1, drive to Sandstone Quarry in the second vehicle, and walk back to retrieve the first vehicle. The one-way Scenic Loop Road then forces hikers to drive past Sandstone Quarry where they can retrieve the second vehicle.

The trail runs south from the Sandstone Quarry Trailhead across fairly level terrain until dropping into Calico Canyon and beginning a long gradual descent, past Calico 2, down to Calico 1. There are some uphill sections, but this trail basically is a long, gradual descent. The sandstone crags above the trail are spectacular, and the cultural history along the trail is interesting. The trail runs through part of the 2005 Loop Fire, and hikers can assess the recovery of desert vegetation over the years.

Link to map. Link to BLM Georeference PDF map file.

Watch Out

Other than the standard warnings about hiking in the desert, ...this is a moderate hike without unusual hazards. However, falls from some places along the trail would result in serious injury or worse.

While hiking, please respect the land and the other people out there, and try to Leave No Trace of your passage. Also, even though this is a short hike, be sure to bring what you need of the 10 Essentials.

Getting to the Trailhead

This hike is located along the Scenic Loop Road in Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, about 45 minutes west of Las Vegas. Drive out to Red Rocks, pay the entrance fee, and drive up the Scenic Loop Road for about 3 miles to the Sandstone Quarry Trailhead. Park here; this is the trailhead.

The Hike

From the trailhead (Table 1, Waypoint 01), the trail runs south, away from the historical Sandstone Quarry area, running parallel to the Sandstone Quarry entrance road. Running at gentle grades, the trail angles away from the road, and at about 150 yards out, crosses a bit of white sandstone slickrock before dropping into Calico Canyon.

At about 0.24 miles out, the trail passes red sandstone outcrops on the left edge of the trail and arrives at a trail junction. Here, the main trail stays right on the hillside, while the use-trail to the left drops steeply into the bottom of the canyon.

At about 0.61 miles out, the trail passes a trail junction to the right, which trail crews have been trying to block off. The main trail stays left (straight) and descends somewhat steeply over red sandstone slickrock. Shortly after passing off the slickrock, the main trail passes the other end of the blocked-off trail and continues across the hillside.

Descending gently towards the bottom of the canyon, the trail passes to the right of large boulders (0.77 miles out) that crashed down from the cliffs above. These boulders have drawn the attention of passing people for a long time. Take a minute and see what they left behind.

The trail continues along the edge of Calico Wash, then climbs somewhat steeply over a low ridgeline that comes down from the west side of the canyon. Atop this low highpoint (Wpt. 02; 0.96 miles out), hikers get the first good views of the Calico 2 Trailhead area.

The trail descends off the highpoint and eventually reaches a trail junction where the Calico 2 Trail branches off to the right (Wpt. 03; 1.09 miles out). For people who need a toilet, the Calico 2 Trailhead is about 150 yards up the hillside to the right. Otherwise, the main trail bends left and descends along the hillside, passing some split-rail fencing intended to keep hikers from clambering straight up the hillside.

Opposite the fence, a use-trail branches left and heads down into the wash. A few yards farther out the main trail, hikers encounter a second fence on the right and a use-trail on the left that drops into the wash.

Shortly, the trail forks (Wpt. 04) where a sign indicates that the Calico Hills Trail stays left. This trail drops into the wash and heads downstream until climbing into the crags to run south parallel to the main trail but closer to the cliffs. This trail, however, stays right at the fork and begins to climb over a low ridge.

Atop the low ridge, hikers get big views down Calico Canyon, and Calico 1 Trailhead can be seen atop the ridge on the right in the distance.

The trail descends off the low rise at gentle grades to the wash, but stays on the hillside just above the wash. In this area, it is apparent that a wildfire burned the vegetation on the hillside and in the wash. This was the 900 acre, 2005 Loop Fire.

The shrub live oak in the wash has recovered nicely since the fire, but few shrubs survived on the hillside. Lots of dead wood in the oak trees and a few Joshua tree carcasses remind us how some species do well after desert fires and others do not.

Continuing along the wash, the trail runs along the wash until beginning to climb onto the next low ridge. At about 1.72 miles out, the trail merges with another trail coming in from the left (Wpt. 05). This is the other end of the Calico Hill Trail that forked off 0.6 miles back.

The merged trails now climb at a moderate grade to the crest of the next low ridge where they arrive at a junction with the Calico 1 Trail (Wpt. 06).

Turning right onto the Calico 1 Trail, hikers (often with a crowd of tourists) climb straight up the crest of the ridge to Calico 1 Trailhead (Wpt. 07).