Hiked February 15, 2026. Ninth hike of the year. Redstone is off of Northshore Road, about 6.4 miles north (east) of Northshore Summit Trailhead, and 15.5 miles east of the turn for Callville Bay.
I've hiked here many times, but not often enough that I've exhausted the possibilities. Today, I mostly headed southeast, trying to see areas I hadn't seen before. I succeeded.
"Redstone" is the same rusted "Aztec Sandstone" you find in Bowl of Fire and Valley of Fire. It's layered, but it's been uplifted, twisted, and shifted, and has crossbedding. The result is you get some fantastical shapes and "fins," and lots of windows and arches.
Unfortunately, the uplift is most apparent either looking to the northeast, or the southwest. That means you can only get the heart of the Milky Way against this background when it's in the direction of Las Vegas, so you get quite a bit of lighting on the horizon. Still, I may try for some nightscapes out here during the coming spring.
Most of the arches are relatively small, but at least one, I'd estimate an opening of 12-15 feet. Lots of thin layers of protruding sandstone, though. The thinest protrusions are where people haven't walked on them as much, which means the further from the parking area, the finer the fins. Relatedly, you should avoid walking on top of the thinner, finer structures, to preserve them for later visitors, who will hopefully also be careful. And, the fact is, even being careful, your footsteps will ground down some of the finer details. All you can do is try to minimize your impact.
Despite my substantial wandering, there are still additional sandstone structures I didn't get to, further to the east and southeast. Those, I can visit on a future date.
According to my Alltrails recording, I covered about 5.5 miles. Some of that was just rock scrambling, in the area closer to the parking lot, where the finer fins have already been impacted. The fair-sized arch, closest to the parking area, I've been to, before, but chickened out, this time, on climbing up to the opening. I guess part of it is, "Eh, "I've been there before, no need to go there, again."
The result of that was a lot of circling and criss-crossing, and lingering around interesting rock formations, so it wasn't continuous walking, by any means. I didn't measure my actual time in the field, but it felt like 3-4 hours, which is a long time for a relatively short distance. There's just a lot to see.
It was an enjoyable late morning/early afternoon. The temperatures were comfortable, and the weather, though occasionally windy in exposed areas, was perfect for hiking. Definitely a good use of my time!
Plenty more pictures below, but not a lot more to say. So just a bit of general information in blurbs, below, to accompany the pictures.
Lake Mead National Recreation Area is administered by the National Park Service (NPS). It was the nation's first national recreation area, established in 1964. It surrounds both Lake Mead (behind Hoover Dam) and Lake Mojave (behind Davis Dam), and the part of the Colorado River between them.
Standard private vehicle entry fees are $20 for one week. $15 for motorcycles. You can also use/buy an annual pass for just Lake Mead NRA ($45), a regular federal lands ("America the Beautiful") pass ($80), or a senior pass ($20/year, or $80 for life). Military or Gold Star families qualify for free passes. Currently, Non-US residents pay the same regular standard entry, or can buy an annual federal lands pass for $250.
Entrances are "cashless," meaning you can't pay with actual money. You need to use a credit or debit card. Of course, if you enter or leave particularly early or late, the entry kiosks are not staffed, and you don't have to pay. Same with the seemingly-recurring government "shutdowns." If the park is "shutdown," but access remains (the gates aren't locked), you can also enter and leave without paying.
Additionally, some entry kiosks are "temporarily closed" (unstaffed), so no fees are collected there, and portions of the park are accessed via roads or parking areas with no entry station (White Rock trailhead and Gold Strike trailhead occur to me, of the top of my head).
Pets are permited anywhere outdoors, and in campgrounds. I'm not sure about inside the facilities, except for service animals, which, of course, are permitted.
Launching and flying drones over NPS-administered lands is generally prohibited, and Lake Mead NRA is no exception. That doesn't mean I didn't have to listen to the annoying whine of a drone above the Redstone parking area when I got back to my car, however.
Oh, yeah, almost walked over this guy. Cute little guy, wound up tight, just a little bigger than a beverage coaster, trying to get some of that weak sunshine on his skin. It's just warming up, so reptiles are awakening. Keep your eyes peeled!
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