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| Burnt Wood at Satan's Escalator |
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| Wide View at High Point |
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| View North from Red Valley |
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| Matchweed covers the Desert |
The southern end of Nevada's Bird Spring Formation is found in the vicinity of Cottonwood Valley of the Red Rock Canyon NCA. The west side of the valley is bordered with Mt. Potosi. Our hike, today, explored the valley with these views to the right and left, plus views of the Wilson Cliffs escarpment and the Calico Hills to the north in the distance. Seven ladies plus David, our fearless coordinator, arrived at the Badger Pass Trailhead found south of Highway 160 and west of the Late Night Trailhead to begin our hike. We started up the trail in the direction of Red Valley then cut up to the dirt road.
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| Beginning on Cottonwood Valley Road |
This is Cottonwood Valley Road and we followed it for around a mile before turning onto a trail to the right.
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| David and Seven Ladies |
It was an overcast cool morning but the colors around us were vibrant.
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| View Back to Calico Hills |
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| Deadhorse Trail |
We followed this trail until it junctioned with the Deadhorse Loop. We turned to the left joining this loop until we junctioned with another dirt road that headed up into one of the rugged canyons of Mt. Potosi. We turned right on this dirt road and hiked up to a forked intersection. We took a sharp left turn then connected with the Escalator Trail. There used to be a sign here calling it Satan's Escalator! This trail led up a short hill where the views are colorful and wide. See the second photo. Since it was a bit windy up on the hill, we decided to continue down the other side before taking our break.
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| Trail Wash Crossing |
At the bottom of the first part of the hill, we turned right on Cottonwood Valley Road. Then, we turned left on another dirt road to head back into the direction of our cars.
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| Mt. Potosi Ahead |
Sometimes, you can see large wildlife in this area. Horses, burros, bighorn or deer.
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| Climbing the "Broken" Escalator |
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| Descending the Other Side |
Continuing straight, we dropped down on a trail with a red dirt floor. This is Red Valley. We took our break then continue for almost two miles on this trail to return to our cars. This is a nice bike trail with beautiful distant views of the Calico Hills. It was a nice moderate hike and the conversation never stopped! ... as you may imagine.
Today's route is indicated in the last photo below. In a previous hike, we did a longer version that contained more trail hiking.
6 miles; 800 feet elevation gain; 3 hours
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| A Break in Red Valley |
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| Hiking Red Valley |
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| Agave Roasting Pit in Red Valley |
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| Tracks for 6 and 7 Mile Versions |
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