Las Vegas: Bootleg Wash Loop

Cash in on big-money views above Lake Mead and the Vegas Valley on this rugged 4.6-mile loop in the River Mountains.

Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app.

Trail Facts

  • Distance: 7.4

Waypoints

BWL001

Location: 35.9837493896484, -114.862098693848

Head NW on old road draped with creosote bushes and mesquite

BWL002

Location: 35.9850807189941, -114.863899230957

Enter the pinched walls of Bootleg Wash

BWL003

Location: 35.9891700744629, -114.868301391602

R @ Y as path divides two rising mounds

BWL004

Location: 35.9936485290527, -114.869697570801

R @ Y for last 150-ft. ascent into narrowing canyon

BWL005

Location: 35.9978981018066, -114.867599487305

Bear E and take R @ junction of spider-web trails, known by mountain bikers as the Vortex

BWL006

Location: 35.998161315918, -114.866302490234

R onto dirt road as climb continues around N slope of Red Mountain

BWL007

Location: 35.9988288879394, -114.861297607422

Pause for views of The Strip and the Vegas Valley; curl S along dirt road

BWL008

Location: 35.9981803894043, -114.861396789551

Pass restricted, tri-coned summit of Red Mtn., (known locally as Radar Mtn.); go L for exposed, 700-ft. descent on River Mtns. Trail in widening gully with seasonal stream

BWL009

Location: 35.9928588867188, -114.850196838379

Vantage E over the glassy indigo waters of Lake Mead’s Boulder Basin

BWL010

Location: 35.9890594482422, -114.850402832031

L onto Lower Lake View multiuse trail; look S into parched Eldorado Valley, backdropped by serrated McCullough Range

BWL011

Location: 35.9873199462891, -114.847900390625

Turn R onto Lower Lake View Trail and traverse S flank of Radar Mtn.

BWL012

Location: 35.9833183288574, -114.854797363281

Lizards underfoot, Bootleg Canyon logo in hillside; close loop, return to car

Trending on Backpacker