Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area

The White Hills

Arctostaphylos pungens (Manzanita) & the La Madre Mountains

Agave utahensis

Pinyon-Juniper Woodland 

Pinus monophylla (Single-leaf Pinyon)

Red Rock Canyon beyond the woodland

Yucca schidigera

Cylindropuntia echinocarpa in Mojave Desert Scrub.

Click here for more photos of Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area in January 2016.

On the last Friday in January 2016, we went to Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. We hiked more than 6 miles around the White Rock Hills on the White Rock Loop Trail.  In the canyon between the hills & the La Madre Mountains, there was a Pinyon-Juniper Woodland. We saw quite a variety of plants. There were manzanita & a dozen other shrubs, 6 species of cactus as well as 2 species of Yucca & also Agave utahensis. The climb up through the canyon gave spectacular views & wasn’t difficult. The descent into Red Rock Valley was less interesting & the last 2 miles, along the lower edge of the White Rock Hills, through desert scrub, was exhausting. We hiked for almost 4 hours & never stopped to rest.