Overview

Red Spring Boardwalk, or Calico Basin Boardwalk, is a delightful and fully accessible 1/2-mile hike in the Calico Basin area of Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. The boardwalk is not on the Scenic Loop Drive, so there is no charge to use the area.

The boardwalk loop starts in a picnic area, switchbacks gently up a marshy hillside beneath towering Velvet Ash trees, and then makes a wide loop around an alkali meadow to Red Spring, which is at the far side of the meadow. Shaded benches provide pleasant places to sit, rest, and watch swallows and dragonflies flying over the meadow.

An alkali meadow is a saturated or seasonally flooded area with somewhat salty water where only salt-tolerant plants can thrive. Here, Alkali Sacatone grass, Saltgrass, and Yerba Mansa are common, while the Alkali Mariposa Lily is rare. Because there is surface water here, this is a good place to watch birds and other creatures that come to drink.

Link to map.

Watch Out

Other than the standard warnings about hiking in the desert, ...this hike is fairly safe, even for kids. However, the boardwalk is elevated, so take care not to step off the side. While photographing a bird, I once backed up while looking through the camera and stepped off the boardwalk -- I fell into the mud with quite a thud, but I kept the camera clean!

The meadow harbors the rare Alkali Mariposa Lily, so please stay on the boardwalk so as not to trample the delicate vegetation.

While hiking, please respect the land and the other people out there, and please 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 in Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, about 30 minutes from downtown, but not in the Scenic Loop Road fee area.

Drive out West Charleston Blvd, turn right onto Calico Basin Road, and then drive into the Red Spring Trailhead. Park here; this is the trailhead. The parking area closes at sunset, so don't stay too late and get locked in.

The Hike

From the parking area, the concrete trail runs straight through the picnic area to the base of the boardwalk (Table 1, Waypoint 01). Beneath tall Velvet Ash trees, the boardwalk switchbacks up a marshy hillside to the edge of the alkali meadow with nice views out across the meadow and back down to the picnic area. This is a good place to stop and look for birds singing in the treetops.

Atop the switchbacks, the trail forks to begin the loop around the meadow. Hikers can walk in either direction and enjoy the scenery, but the photos here were taken staying to the left at the fork. Red Spring is located under the Velvet Ash trees in the far corner of the meadow from the fork, so neither direction is shorter.

Staying left, the boardwalk heads south along the edge of the meadow passing benches that invite people to sit peacefully in the sun or in the shade and watch violet-green swallows sallying back and forth across the meadow catching bugs.

Continuing on the boardwalk, the trail begins to loop to the right and passes more old ash trees. Shortly, the trail passes a trail junction where are the boardwalk spur to the left exits the area to the south. A fairly popular trail climbs the steep hillside to an overlook.

Continuing on the boardwalk, the trail heads due west to Red Spring (Wpt. 02). Shaded by tall ash trees, two benches invite hikers to sit and enjoy the cool spring environment. Lots of birds and flying insects make their home here among the lush vegetation. Rambunctious rock squirrels also live in this area, but for their own good, don't let them get your lunch.

Before the boardwalk was installed, people congregated at the spring and trampled all of the riparian vegetation. Now however, the habitat is recovering, and it is hard to see where the spring comes out of a natural sandstone tunnel. While possibly frustrating to hikers, this is a good thing for the habitat and the wildlife that comes to drink from this precious resource. The increase in vegetation has improved the birding experience, and keep an eye out for foxes.

The boardwalk continues, now headed north out from under the trees with grand views across the meadow towards red-and-white sandstone crags in the distance and gray limestone ridges on the horizon. Shortly, the trail forks again and a spur to the right ends on a platform more in the middle of the meadow.

Continuing straight, the trail arrives at an information sign (Wpt. 03) and petroglyphs on the left. The sign highlights one boulder, but look around for more petroglyphs including some at the base of the cliffs high above (although these are better seen from back in there Red Spring).

The boardwalk continues north crossing sandy soils on the edge of the meadow. This is a fun area to look for tracks in the sand. Watch for coyote tracks, kangaroo rat tracks, quail tracks, lizard tracks, and if you're very lucky: snake tracks or desert tortoise tracks.

Past the sandy area, the boardwalk bends to the right again and begins looping east back towards the top of the switchbacks. Information signs in this area speak about Native Americans, plants, wildlife, and geology in the meadow area.

The geology sign, however, does not speak about the Shinarump Conglomerate, an important marker of time in local geology (225 million years ago). These well-polished (often red) river gravels were laid down in braided rivers during a time after the ocean receded and before the sand dunes and dinosaurs arrived.

Finally, the boardwalk loops back to close the loop at the top of the switchbacks and returns down to the picnic area and the trailhead (Wpt. 01)