The Past, Present and Future of Red Rock

Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area (RRCNCA) covers 195,819 acres of dramatic sandstone cliffs, rugged mountains, and winding desert arroyos. Its landscape also preserves traces of the past, including rock art and other cultural resources left behind by Ancestral Puebloans and Southern Paiute communities.

For outdoor enthusiasts, the combination of intense desert sunlight and enormous sandstone formations creates an exceptional setting for recreation. Climbers from across the world are drawn to the area, particularly during the cooler winter season.

Red Rock Canyon was first placed under protection in 1936. In 1967, the Bureau of Land Management designated 62,000 acres as Red Rock Canyon Recreation Lands. Additional legislation during the 1970s and 1980s steadily expanded the protected area, eventually leading to its official designation as a National Conservation Area in 1990.

The Clark County Conservation of Public Land and Natural Resources Act of 2002 established the Rainbow Mountain Wilderness and La Madre Mountain Wilderness, which contain much of the backcountry climbing terrain in RRCNCA. Further legislation continued to expand the conservation area, with the most recent additions occurring as recently as 2014.

Red Rock also has a long and influential climbing tradition that reaches back to the 1970s. Climbers such as Joe Herbst, Joanne and Jorge Urioste, and Lynn Hill helped establish the area as a major climbing destination and created legendary routes including Rainbow Wall, Levitation 29, Epinephrine, and Crimson Chrysalis.

In later years, bouldering development expanded rapidly as well. Notable problems include Fear of a Black Hat, rated V9 and established by Jared McMillen, and Clockwork Orange, rated V12 and established by Ethan Pringle in the Kraft Boulders area.

Yet behind this celebrated climbing landscape is an ongoing responsibility to preserve access, protect natural and cultural resources, and make sure climbers have a meaningful role in decisions affecting the area's future.

The Need for Advocacy

Red Rock Canyon contains countless climbing routes, hiking paths, and cycling opportunities, attracting more than two million visitors each year. Its appeal is particularly unusual because it combines world-class traditional climbing, including remote canyon routes located within designated Wilderness, with excellent sport climbing and bouldering areas that can be reached after only a short walk from the parking lot.

This variety makes RRCNCA an important destination for climbers with a wide range of abilities. However, increasing visitation also creates growing challenges for sustainable land management.

In 2023, the Southern Nevada Climbing Coalition (SNCC), the local climbing advocacy organization representing RRCNCA, contacted Access Fund for advice on helping climbers develop a broader understanding of what it means to practice low-impact recreation.

The organization also wanted to find better ways to ensure that climbers were represented in land management discussions, something that had not consistently happened in the past. SNCC president Cory Statt explained that making meaningful progress requires stronger connections and greater collaboration.

As a result, SNCC established two new positions dedicated to maintaining relationships with land management agencies: a Bureau of Land Management liaison and a US Forest Service liaison.

Annie Ashenfelter serves as SNCC’s BLM liaison and is also an Access Fund member. She has an important role in representing climbing interests by participating in monthly meetings with the BLM concerning the management of RRCNCA.

Her work extends well beyond attending meetings. She maintains an ongoing exchange of information between the BLM, SNCC, and Access Fund, helping communicate important developments to the broader climbing community.

One recent example involved a cultural artifact at Cannibal Crag that climbers could potentially have damaged without realizing it because of the location of an existing route.

Following a site assessment involving Access Fund, the BLM, and SNCC, the organizations developed a plan to protect the artifact. SNCC moved the route anchors to lower the possibility of damage, while the BLM began preparing signs to notify climbers about the sensitive area.

Beyond cooperation on stewardship and land-management policies, Access Fund has supported SNCC and climbers in the region through Adopt-a-Crag events and financial grants.

Access Fund Conservation Teams have also participated in Red Rock Rehab, a community-led initiative organized by SNCC. The program includes two service days focused on repairing trails, removing graffiti from rock surfaces, and addressing informal paths by establishing clearly defined approach routes.

In previous years, volunteers have constructed 350 feet of new trail, closed and rehabilitated 312 feet of unofficial trail, installed ten new steps, and maintained 12,260 feet of existing trail.

This partnership is especially important to the future of Red Rock Canyon. According to Ashenfelter, the BLM and SNCC work together on programs that support both conservation and recreation while encouraging responsible stewardship of the landscape.

The Climbing Management Plan: A Long-Awaited Goal

One of Access Fund’s major priorities at Red Rock Canyon is helping bring the long-delayed Climbing Management Plan (CMP) to completion.

The CMP is intended to address a wide variety of climbing-related management concerns, including approach trails, authorization for new fixed anchors, routine bolt maintenance, and numerous other issues connected with climbing activities.

Access Fund has participated in several attempts to develop a Red Rock CMP over the past two decades, but the BLM has not yet succeeded in completing the process.

As the planning effort begins again, Access Fund is once more working alongside the BLM and SNCC. Murdock emphasizes that remaining involved throughout the entire process is essential.

SNCC and Access Fund are participating in every stage of the planning effort and intend to remain engaged until the Climbing Management Plan is finally completed.

Partnerships to Create Sustainable Climbing Areas

The recent change in administration has brought additional difficulties for national parks and public lands, including staffing reductions and budget cuts affecting land management agencies that were already operating with limited resources.

Access Fund has experienced these challenges directly. A federal grant that could have helped finance part of its Red Rock Climber Stewards program in 2025 and 2026 was canceled.

Rather than reducing its involvement, Access Fund is increasing its efforts and looking for alternative funding sources to continue the work required to protect the sensitive environment within RRCNCA.

As visitation has grown, trails throughout Red Rock Canyon have increasingly become intertwined with unofficial paths. The area's washes, rock basins, and scattered vegetation can make it easy for visitors to lose track of established approaches, increasing the likelihood that additional informal trails will appear.

In 2017, Access Fund received funding from Google to complete a detailed survey of trails in several of RRCNCA’s most heavily used climbing areas, including First Creek, Ice Box, Juniper, Oak Creek, and Pine Creek Canyons.

The project documented both official routes and social trails, creating baseline information that can be used for future monitoring and management.

Over time, the climbing community is expected to work with the BLM and RRCNCA to develop a sustainable trail strategy. The goal would be to emphasize clearly established approaches to climbing areas while reducing damage to native vegetation and fragile desert soils.

Such work could move more quickly if a long-term initiative such as Access Fund’s Climber Stewards program were established in Red Rock Canyon.

Stewards could analyze patterns of visitor use and update earlier trail data, providing information needed to design a more sustainable trail network. Access Fund Conservation Teams could then help construct the necessary infrastructure.

This approach would create essential recreation facilities in the climbing zones receiving the heaviest use while allowing unnecessary social trails to be closed and restored. It would also help prevent additional environmental damage and repair areas already affected by uncontrolled informal paths.

Andrea Hassler, Access Fund’s Stewardship and Education Director, has promoted a stewardship program based on successful efforts in places such as Indian Creek and the New River Gorge.

Under these programs, dedicated stewardship teams spend the busiest climbing periods at trailheads, providing direct education to visitors and helping climbers understand how to reduce their environmental impact.

The program can include climber coffee, crag conversations, visitor-use and resource monitoring, and volunteer coordination.

Access Fund Deputy Director Erik Murdock emphasizes the importance of having stewards physically present in the climbing areas. Direct, on-site engagement can help reshape the collective awareness of climbers and encourage a stronger sense of responsibility among the people who visit and climb in these places.