Overview

Ice Age Fossils State Park was established in 2017 and opened to the public in 2024. This small (315 acre) state park is tucked up against the much larger (22,650 acres) Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument. Together, they protect the paleontologically rich Upper Las Vegas Wash, but in particular, the State Park protects the major paleontological excavation sites.

The Las Vegas Wash Trail doesn't explicitly visit paleontological sites; rather, it explores the environment and presents geologic evidence showing how the landscape has changed over the millennia. As described by the State Park, "hikers will experience the natural forces that created and reshaped this landscape."

The Las Vegas Wash Trail is a 1.5-mile, partial-loop trail that begins and ends at the Monumental Mammoth and loops out through the Upper Las Vegas Wash. The wash is dry most of the year, but it can be muddy after rainstorms. Two structures provide three shade-stops along the trail.

Presented here is a description of the trail, but doing the loop in reverse. For a more detailed description of the trail, see Las Vegas Wash Trail.

Link to Trail Map or State Park Map.

To appreciate this trail, it is useful to understand the basic geologic history of this area (adapted from the State Park website):

At the coldest time during the last Ice Age, some 25,000 years ago, the Las Vegas area was wet and green with marshlands covering much of the valley. On this well vegetated landscape, herds of ancient bison, horses, camels, Columbian mammoths, and other large creatures, collectively referred to a megafauna (i.e., big animals), roamed across Las Vegas. All of these creatures are now extinct.

Over time, the climate changed to become warmer and dryer. The wetlands began drying up, leaving behind spring-fed streams and riparian corridors with desert vegetation in dry areas. By the end of the last Ice Age, roughly 12,000 years ago, the megafauna were disappearing. Around this time, humans arrived, or at least began to leave their marks, in the Las Vegas Valley. These early humans walked among the remaining megafauna.

The land continued to warm and dry as time moved on. The riparian corridors were replaced by the desert washes and desert plant and animal communities that we see today. Larger streams carved into the valley floor, creating deep washes, like the Las Vegas Wash, with pockets of badlands along the banks. The land continued slowly being shaped by nature for several thousand years before it became a State Park.

Watch Out

Other than the Standard Warnings about hiking in the desert, this trail is fairly safe and short, but there are stairs and other places where hikers could trip and fall, so alway watch your footing. If the weather is stormy, watch for flashfloods in the wash.

While visiting the area, please Respect the land and the other people out there, and try to Leave No Trace of your passage. Also, even though this area is not remote, be sure to bring what you need of the 10 Essentials. Please pay attention to the special State Park trail rules.

Getting to the Trailhead

Ice Age~ Fossils State Park is located on the north edge of the Las Vegas urban area. From downtown, drive north on Highway 95 towards Reno. Towards the northwest edge of town, take Exit 91A onto Clark County 215 (Northern Beltway). Now driving east, continue 3 miles to Exit 41 (Decatur Blvd). Turn left onto Decatur and drive north about 3.2 miles to Ice Age Fossils State Park, on the right. There is no big entrance sign, but watch for the Monumental Mammoth, which is big enough to be seen from a distance. Turn right into the parking lot. Park here; this is the trailhead.

The Hike

From the trailhead (Table 1, Waypoint 10) at the edge of the parking lot adjacent to the Monumental Mammoth, the Las Vegas Wash Trail starts by heading due north around the east (right) side of the Monumental Mammoth. Trail runs out into the desert a few yards to the trailhead information kiosk and a few 10s of yards to a Trail Rules sign. The trail continues northeast past an information sign to shade structure.

The shade structure sits at the edge of bluffs overlooking Upper Las Vegas Wash, and just beyond, an information sign provides information about Ice Age Tule Springs. There is no trail junction sign, but adjacent to the sign, the Las Vegas Wash Trail splits (Wpt. 11) to begin the loop. In the official clockwise direction, the trail continues by dropping over the edge of the bluffs to wind down a canyon.

However, some hiker might want to walk the trail in the counter clockwise direction. In this case, hikers should turn right onto a trail well marked with stones that runs along the top of the bluffs.

Staying right atop the bluffs, the trail runs northeast with views down into a badlands area of eroding mud hills. Before long, the trail arrives at the edge of Las Vegas Wash with grand view to the north. The trail passes another information sign, then arrives at a second shade structure (Wpt. 15) with two information signs.

At this shade structure, the trail turns north and descends over the edge of the bluffs following an old road. Now following the south bank of Las Vegas Wash, the trail soon arrives at a trail junction (Wpt. 06) with a large sign. Here, the Las Vegas Wash Trail intersects the Big Dig Trail. The Big Dig Trail comes down Trench K, from the right, then turns right to run east along the banks of Las Vegas Wash (straight in this view). In contrast, the Las Vegas Wash Trail turns left to head out into the bottom of Las Vegas Wash.

Turning north, the Las Vegas Wash Trail crosses Las Vegas Wash to the north bank (Wpt. 14), then turns left to head upstream (west). The trail runs along the north back, passing two information signs, and comes to three short steps (Wpt. 13) where it drops into and crosses the North Branch of Las Vegas Wash.

Just across the narrow North Branch, the trail continues southwest across Las Vegas Wash, crossing the Main Branch, and finally climbing out of the wash onto the south bank at another information sign (Wpt. 12).

Passing the sign, the trail begins winding up a side canyon through a landscape of eroded badlands where layers of tufa and gravel are eroding out of the bluffs.

After winding up the canyon, the trail steeply climbs out of the canyon to arrive back at the shade structure (Wpt. 11) where the trail forked to start the loop.

At the shade structure, the Las Vegas Wash Trail passes a sign seen before (Ice Age Tule Springs), and turns left. The trail crosses the service road seen before and continues southwest over mud flats and through grassy swales to the Monumental Mammoth to end at the trailhead parking lot (Wpt. 10).