Red Rock Canyon State Park

Before heading all the way to Death Valley National Park, we took a one day stop at Red Rock Canyon State Park. There are so many things to do in this underrated park. The best thing about it is the “you do you” factor where you can go wherever you want to see whatever you want throughout the park.

There are miles of desert trails that take you on different hikes to see all that the park has to offer. Camel Rock and Turk’s Turban are only two of the many spectacular rock rotations you can get a chance to see at this state park. I had the most fun freely exploring the window rocks, overhang rocks, canyon inlets and buttes.

My brother, Carter, loves to rock climb and these are his favorite kinds of adventures, so I had a buddy to scamper up all the cool rocks with. We found our own “pride rocks” like from the Lion King and at the top, we had phenomenal panoramic views of the desert.

We only spent a day at Red Rock Canyon State Park, but it was plenty of time to check out all the things we wanted. If you do want more time to hike on some more trails, however, there are some camp sites available right at the bottom of the towering canyon walls. Some of the hikes are longer and you can choose to keep going on a lot of them, so the extra time might be nice.

My Favorite Parts:

There are so many fantastic things about this state park that brought it high up on my list of favorites:

The landscape is gorgeous with picturesque views and unlike a lot of the state parks in California with incredible red rock formations, cliffs, and more.
It’s completely different than what most people think a desert looks like, so it was surprise
There are almost no rules on where you can climb, explore, and hike, so if you see a cool rock or hole you want to explore, you can.
There are so many things for people of all experience levels to do ranging from easy to strenuous.