Overview

The Ice Box Canyon Trail leads into one of the deep, narrow canyons that cut into the Red Rocks cliffs, climbing about 500 ft in 1.1 miles to a series of waterfalls in the Rainbow Mountain Wilderness Area. The canyon is beautiful, but the trail and canyon bottom are very rocky, so the hike is slow and strenuous, and hikers will need to stop to look around. The bottom of the canyon rarely gets full sun, resulting in almost perennially cool conditions, hence the name. High cliffs and water polished rock block further progress up the canyon. This hike runs through Mojave Desert Scrub community up into Pinyon-Juniper Woodland community, and also up where a few low-elevation ponderosa pine can be found.

Link to map.

Link to BLM Georeference PDF map file.

Watch Out

Other than the standard warnings about hiking in the desert, ...this strenuous hike requires hiking on a rocky trail and climbing over and around boulders in the wash after the trail ends. Be careful when high enough to fall and get hurt, and always watch for wet or icy rocks. Be particularly careful on the water-polished slickrock at the base of the falls.

While hiking, please respect the land and other people out there, and please try to Leave No Trace of your passage. Also, even though this is a short hike, be sure to bring what you need of the 10 Essentials.

Getting to the Trailhead

This hike is located along the Scenic Loop Road in Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, about 1 hour west of Las Vegas. Drive out to Red Rocks, pay the fee, and then drive about 2/3rds of the way around the Scenic Loop to the Ice Box Canyon Trailhead. Park here; this is the trailhead.

The Hike

From the trailhead (Table 1, Waypoint 01), the trail runs west to cross Red Rock Wash before climbing towards the mouth of the Ice Box Canyon. Early on, the trail is well defined as it leads up towards the mouth of the canyon. About 0.2 miles out, the trail intersects the SMYC and Dales trails (Wpt. 2). The SMYC Trail runs north to the Willow Spring Area, while Dales Trail runs south to Pine Creek Canyon.

Although it is not entirely apparent from the start, the trail does not follow Ice Box Wash up into the canyon, at least not initially. Rather, the trail climbs onto a rocky bench north (right) of the wash.

At about 0.8 miles out, the canyon narrows, the bench pinches out (Wpt. 03), and the trail drops steeply into the bottom of the canyon. From this point, there is not trail, but the route continues up the wash, climbing over and around boulders all the way to the end. If the bottom of the canyon seems blocked by boulders, look for paths through the shrub live oaks on south (left) side of the canyon to get around obstacles and pools of water.

After about 0.20 miles of scrambling up the wash, the route passes the remains of an ancient Ponderosa Pine. This majestic tree grew right in the bottom of the canyon, but it died and fell over. The living tree used to mark the end of the official Ice Box Canyon Trail, but now the huge log marks the end of the trail and serves as a monument to the memory of this grand old tree.

Just past the ponderosa pine tree, hikers can look up the canyon and see that it forks. The route continues up the wash for another 5 minutes to the fork (Wpt. 04). At the fork, cliffs block the northern fork of the canyon, while overhanging walls and a seasonal waterfall block the southern fork. The destination, however, is a few steps farther up the south fork.

In the bottom of the wash, a series of three water-sculpted pools block access to the base of this waterfall. To get up to the base of the falls, backtrack a few feet, climb the south wall behind a tree using a cleft in the rocks, then climb onto and traverse a ledge that leads into the base of the falls. The first pool is in the bottom of the wash at this point and is easy to get to, but be prepared for some serious slickrock scrambling to get to the second and third pools (Wpt. 05).

In the northern fork of the canyon, a waterfall blocks easy progress after just two or three minutes of scrambling. That route looks passable with some climbing, but I would want a rope for the down climb. I've heard that a "rabbit hole" somewhere in here permits access to the upper canyon.

Enjoy a cool lunch at the base of the falls, then when ready, retrace your steps to the trailhead.