Overview

Macks Canyon Spring is a good place to bird the arid western montane forest where water brings in birds from far and wide. Macks Canyon Road starts in Pinyon-Juniper Woodland and runs up into the Pine-Fir Forest at an elevation of about 8,000 feet, providing a good range of habitats to bird along the way.

Macks Canyon Spring provides a small amount of water that seeps from the hillside and trickles downstream along the base of the hill. A post-and-cable fence surrounds the spring area and keeps feral horses and vehicles out of the spring, and as a result, a dense stand of Scented Shootingstar and Western Columbine grow on moist soil covered with mosses. Ponderosa Pine, White Fir, and Rocky Mountain Maple trees surround the spring area providing good cover for birds to come in close and survey the area before dropping in to drink and bathe. Wild Rose and Blue Elderberry provide shrubby cover closer to the trickle of water.

Location

Macks Canyon is located up in the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area, about 45 minutes northwest of Las Vegas.

From town, drive north on Highway 95. From the outskirts of town, drive north about 14 miles to Lee Canyon Road (Highway 156), on the left. Turn left onto Lee Canyon Road and drive southwest on the paved road 13.4 miles to Macks Canyon Road, on the right.

Drive out Macks Canyon Road for about 4 miles to Upper Macks Canyon Group Camp Site.

Behind Upper Macks Canyon Group Camp, a primitive camp area with zero facilities (not counting rock fire rings), Macks Canyon Spring seep from the hillside on the left (east) side of the road.

Hours

Always open.

Fees

None.

Specialties

Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Northern Flicker, Gray Flycatcher, Clark's Nutcracker, Common Raven, Mountain Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Pygmy Nuthatch, Western Bluebird, Hermit Thrush, American Robin, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Western Tanager, Chipping Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Cassin's Finch, and Townsend's Solitaire.

Other Species: golden-mantled ground squirrel, Mt. Charleston chipmunk.