Clockwise or counterclockwise? That is the question.
I’m straddling my bike at a southern trailhead of the River Mountains Loop Trail. Since it’s 341/2 miles long, and I’m bearing a heavy backpack, I want to circle the mountains in the right direction. By right, I mean most pleasant, which means the fewest grunts.
“It depends mostly on which way you want to approach the Three Sisters,” says a guy who has stopped to take a swig from his water bottle. These sisters aren’t nuns; they’re back-to-back mountain ridges between mile markers 6 and 8, with grades averaging 18 percent. The challenge is to crest them without stopping, he says. “Some riders call them the ‘Three Bi…..’.”
Got it; a bit of agony makes ecstasy all the sweeter.
It’s morning, and the Nevada triathlete has already completed the loop. The 12-foot-wide asphalt trail’s scenery attracts leisure hikers, runners and cyclists; its aridity and elevation changes attract competitive athletes. Train here, and other race terrain will feel like easy street.
Before I’m forced to ask which way’s easiest, a westbound trail-runner reports passing bighorn sheep. Clockwise it is.
The River Mountains Loop Trail rings rugged peaks that rise just 20 miles southeast of Las Vegas. Recently completed with mile markers and multiple trailheads, this trail gives Nevada an earthy spectacle to rival the Strip, a free hiking-biking jackpot of priceless views: hills, tunnels, the Las Vegas Bay, Lake Mead, Hoover Dam, even Strip casinos twinkling like toys in the distance.
Prohibition of motorized vehicles makes for safe, quiet, Zen-inducing conditions. Mountain bikes aren’t needed, unless you plan to attack the dusty red-rock foothills on Boot Canyon’s single tracks near the loop’s southern edge.
Although a portion of the trail served as a railroad bed, the RMLT is somewhat more rigorous, and vastly more scenic, than typical rail-trails. Changes in terrain, sweeping vistas and dramatic cloud formations overhead make a day trip here as rejuvenating as a big-ticket weeklong vacation.
Backpacking my belongings, I had bicycled some 25 miles from Las Vegas to Boulder City the day before, using designated bike lanes and a hike-bike greenway along Boulder Highway. My gear includes sunscreen and several water bottles, essential year-round in this environment.
Warning signs pop up near trail tunnels and culverts serving as drainage ditches: Rainstorms can trigger hazardous flash floods and wash rocks and mud onto the asphalt. But the trail’s blissfully clear as I ride. Near the trail’s southern segment, mountain bikers zigzag up Bootleg Canyon. Soon after, I wheel into movielike settings of scrub-spackled slopes plunging into the valley.
The landscape’s flocked with cactuses, sunrays, swaying palms and the Magic Tree, a cottonwood near mile marker 13 nicknamed for its ability to thrive in the middle of nowhere. Residents, most active early morning, include bighorn sheep, desert tortoises and skittering lizards. Midday, animal sightings will generally be the occasional dog on-leash. There’s Mojave Desert heritage, too, with interpretive signs.
At mile marker zero, Railroad Pass Hotel Casino’s sign flashes downslope. One of the only brushes with civilization along the trail, this 1931 landmark houses the nation’s longest-operating casino. One trailside kiosk describes 1908 mining camps abandoned after the gold-boom bust; another explains how Henderson, the town west of the loop, began as a camp for the dam’s Depression-era construction workers.
Rolling north toward Lake Las Vegas, breezy descents bookend the Three Sisters segment; its elevation gain of 500 feet in one mile creates a thigh-burner for those bicycling the trail counterclockwise.
At the north edge of the trail, glimpses of Lake Mead flash between hills, eventually giving way to spectacular panoramas of blue-mirror water. Boulder islands bear rings of calcium carbonate and algae indicating past water levels. I find them as entrancing as the two engineering marvels ahead: the dam and the sky-high Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, the concrete-steel arch bypass that opened in 2010.
At mile marker 24.5, a spur off the RMLT leads me onto the Historic Railroad Tunnel Trail, which runs 3.7 miles along an elevated railroad bed blasted through red, iron-rich rock. The trail overlooks the lake and passes through five railroad tunnels. The massive, beautiful tunnels, each about 300 feet long, once accommodated locomotives carrying supplies to the dam construction site.
Back on the RMLT, my final stretch edging Boulder City stays lively with desert-hill switchbacks, road underpasses and drainage channels. In one artfully built tunnel, a chorus of ear-splitting yodels echoes off the walls — the ritual chant of local skateboarders.
The trail’s elevation is about 1,600 feet, but the views supply plentiful incentive to push on — and to stay put for camping under the stars at Lake Mead’s Boulder Beach.
Come daybreak, before returning to Vegas, I’ll ride the loop counterclockwise.
Robin Soslow is a Florida-based freelance writer.
When you go
GETTING THERE
Spirit and American Airlines have nonstop flights between D/FW and McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas starting at $208. Get to River Mountains Loop Trail trailheads from the airport and downtown Las Vegas using bike routes (mostly on street) or new RTC public transit buses equipped with bike racks that stop in Henderson and Boulder City (respectively, about 15 and 25 miles from Las Vegas).
RIVER MOUNTAINS LOOP TRAIL
rivermountainstrail.com
702-365-2191
34.5-mile, mostly asphalt trail open to pedestrians and cyclists
Website features maps, what to pack and other information.
Trailheads include:
Equestrian Park, Henderson (restroom, water)
Railroad Pass Hotel & Casino Trailhead, Henderson
Bootleg Canyon Park, north end of Yucca Street, Boulder City
River Mountain Hiking Trailhead (near St. Jude’s Ranch for Children, Boulder City)
Pacifica Way, Boulder City
Historic Railroad Tunnel Trail, Alan Bible Visitor Center, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, 4 miles northeast of Boulder City (restroom, water)
Lake Mead-National Parks fee station near north park entrance (restrooms)
LODGING AND DINING
Boulder Dam Hotel
1305 Arizona St.; 702-293-3510
boulderdamhotel.com
In Boulder City’s historic district, the rustic, remodeled hotel was built during the construction of Hoover Dam. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places; has a comfy cafe. Starting at $82 a night.
El Rancho Boulder Motel
725 Nevada Highway, Boulder City; 702-293-1085
elranchoboulder.com
Vintage ’50s-era family-owned motel; clean, comfy rooms with kitchenettes. Starting at $65 a night.
Lake Mead National Recreation Area
nps.gov/lake/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm
Camping year-round, including scenic, easy-access Boulder Beach. Campsites and RV sites for low fees; pets allowed. Also backcountry camping.
The Dillinger Food & Drinkery
1224 Arizona St., Boulder City; 702-293-4001
thedillinger.com
Tasty choices include portobello sandwiches, butternut squash soup and cinnamon-dusted sweet-potato fries starting at $5. Serving lunch, dinner and drinks every day.
Boulder Dam Brewing Co.
453 Nevada Highway, Boulder City; 702-243-2739
boulderdambrewing.com
Great brews, bar food, daily “hoppy hours.” Awards earned for its brewpub and microbrewery. Open every day.
LEARN MORE: bcnv.org
Other things to see
Lake Mead National Recreation Area
nps.gov/lake/index.htm
Overnight camping, picnicking and boating. Fed by the Colorado River, this land was inhabited by American Indians and visited by early explorers before railroads brought settlers and prospectors. The dam was built to harness the river for farm irrigation and industries. Construction of Boulder Dam (renamed Hoover Dam) began in 1931. The reservoir created by damming the river became Lake Mead. This area was designated America’s first national recreation area in 1964. $10 per motorized vehicle; $5 walk-in.
Hoover Dam
www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam
Originally Boulder Dam, the concrete arch-gravity dam spans the Colorado River at the Nevada-Arizona border 30 miles southeast of Las Vegas off US Highway 93. Dam and power plant tours. Gallery and observation deck with views of the dam, Lake Mead and the Colorado River. Visitor center open daily (except Thanksgiving and Christmas) 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission $8, with tour starting at $11 ($9 seniors, juniors, military).
Nevada and Arizona Spillways flank the dam; they direct high water from Lake Mead around the dam through tunnels in the canyon walls. The spillways are so large that a World War II battleship can be floated in each one. Entrance, parking fees.
Boulder City-Hoover Dam Museum
bcmha.org
Small but fascinating museum on the first floor of the Boulder Dam Hotel (see lodging). Open Monday-Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m. $2 adults, $1 children and students, free for hotel guests.
Exhibits on how Valley the of Dead was rebranded Imperial Valley circa 1900, plans for a dam to control flooding that plagued farmers and to provide electric power to the region, and America’s largest manmade lake. Construction of the dam involved blasting through solid rock, diverting flow of the Colorado River and building the engineering marvel the height of a 60-story building. Archival footage and photos depict Depression-era jobless who moved to the Nevada desert to take $4-a-day jobs. These included high-scalers, who dangled from ropes above the canyon to pry and knock loose rock off tunnel walls, and puddlers, who spread concrete. Drinking, gambling and prostitution were outlawed within the city, which probably helped workers finish the dam under budget and ahead of schedule.
Boulder City ArtScape
publicartscape.com
Rotating works by local artists on display outdoors around downtown.