Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area

I love hiking here! There’s a lot of different trails depending on what you want, but you’ll always have a good view of the strip.
I typically start at Shadow Canyon Access Point. There’s a small parking lot (i.e. You don’t have to park on the street) that fits maybe four cars. I’ve been there at all times of the day and have never seen it filled up. There’s also a dog stand thing that dispenses poop bags.
If you start there, the trail is paved for about .6 miles with little to no elevation. Then it reaches a water retention basin. From there you can branch off to the «back» where it’s unpaved and you’re in the dry hot desert!
I usually keep walking along the paved section where theres a steady but slight elevation climb. Warning: I’ve seen a rattlesnake here before!
I love the views of the strip it provides, and of the surrounding mountains. And when I bring my dogs, other dogs and their owners that I meet are super friendly (& most don’t mind that my friendly dog is off leash, theirs are sometimes off leash too).
It’s a perfect place for viewing sunsets over the strip!

Great Hike… We did a good portion in just under 2 hours.
I think you would be hard pressed to find this hike without 4 wheel drive.
The road up is pretty bumpy and that’s even if you are able to find the right path.
The hike is gorgeous and I think it is a pro that your cell phone often doesn’t have service. Keep that in mind though. I would definitely not do this hike alone.
Please see Ashley B’s review as she is right on the money!

5 stars for history. How lucky are we that we have 4000 year old petroglyphs right in our backyard. Literally. It’s at the south end of town, passed Inspirada.
A few years back attempted to find the trailhead by following the BLM directions that starts off LV Blvd, south of the M, well we followed the directions to a T, and they took us to a power plant in the middle of nowhere. (thank you very much dept of interior) I decided to wait until I could find someone that had done the trail before and just go with them. The few times I’ve hiked Black Mtn, there is a trailhead for Sloan Canyon, but it is for the entire conservation area, not just the petroglyphs area. Finally, 2 years later, I was able to find this place and it’s A LOT easier to find than I thought it was. This time I didn’t have a HVC, so we parked at Esselmont Park in the heart of Anthem, and followed the utility road a few miles, passed the water detention basin, until we came upon the trial head. This did add about 4 miles RT to «hike», but it’s the only way to do this if you don’t have a HCV.
I put hike in quotes, I would call this more of a walk. It’s totally flat, barely any elevation change, and only a few spots of minimal scrambling over some dry waterfalls. The entire hike is through a dry wash. It’s all rock and some sand.
Once you come upon the area where the rock art panels are, you can explore and check out the panels on both sides of the wash. They’re well preserved. It’s pretty impressive.
If you keep walking south on the wash, there is a trail that continues through the conservation area. There were a few turn around points, so you could make this into a 5, 7, or 9 mile hike. We ended up doing 12 miles only because we kept going farther back into the area (and burning off holiday calories).
The great thing about this is, no permit needed, well maintained trail, close to home and a crazy piece of history. Other side of Vegas. Love it.

Really nice petroglyphs site. Maybe not as spectacular as some sites out there, but still, VERY nice examples and plentiful. And for all intent and purpose, in the city.
As others have mentioned, need a high clearance 4WD or AWD (I did it via AWD with no issue). And as Ashley B mentioned, the normally listed route in is a slow, bumpy slog, with the quicker/​easier way in/​out via access south of the Executive Airport (where the airport road, Inspirada, turns into Bicentennial). These routes can be easily spotted on Google Maps, especially on satellite view.
Even though an easy, short, flat-​ish hike in, bring plenty of water since this is desert hiking: I went through almost 40oz of water in relatively cool, but sunny, weather.
Trail 100 is the fast route to the site (~2.2mi round-​trip), trail 200, longer, more elevation, but has the advantage of avoiding the «Indiana Jones and the Lost Ark sized rock» blocking the trail (as a hiker I passed referred it as), scramble over, which might be a bit of scare to some.
Scroll to bottom of this link to see the routes over/​around the big rock scramble:
And as others have said, avoid during rain since you might be subject to dangerous flash flooding in the canyons.

This is a great hike. It’s also a great way to get away from it all.
Sloan Canyon is a drive off to the South of Las Vegas, and yes, it is a drive. You’re going to need a high clearance vehicle and 4-​wheel drive. Do not come out here if there is even the tiniest speck of rain in the forecast. You do not want to be out here if there’s a possibility of flooding. The mountain is basically a flood channel and the wash through the canyon is part of the trail.
Warnings aside my husband and I went on a gorgeous, clear day. We unfortunately took the BLM website’s directions, which tell you to take 1 – 15 to Sloan exit, go down Las Vegas Blvd and take a very bumpy, hilly, dirt road, following the power lines for about 4 miles. You can avoid this by taking a shortcut through Henderson. Again, do not bring your car out here, my husband and I would have gotten stuck on multiple occasions had we not turned on the 4-​wheel drive.
So once you get to the pole marker out in the middle of nowhere (yes, really), you head west toward Sloan Canyon, you actually do encounter BLM signage for the Canyon further out, then the road dead ends.
You start your hike up the wash. You’ll see craggy rocks, and lots of wildlife! Birds, snakes, little lizards, desert mice, and lots of yellow caterpillars. Eventually you come to a fork, it goes left or right. My husband and I went left, and we wish we had gone right, so I suggest going right up the more rocky path. That’s called the 200 Trail.
IF you go left you keep heading down the wash and you encounter about four large-​ish rocks you have to climb over. The last one is the toughest as it is a huge rock crammed between a small space of the canyon walls. My husband and I scrambled up the left side pretty easily.
Once here you’re back on the wash trail, you have to keep going to see the petroglyphs, be on the look-​out!
When we came back we took the 200 trail. It’s like a shortcut and when you come out on it you are rewarded with an awesome view of the valley. Then you make your descent back down to the wash part of the trail.
Highly recommended for those a bit more adventurous. Just be sure to bring water! You’ll probably be in and out of cell phone coverage. And remember, the road out here is a rocky one. Drive a good, high clearance vehicle, and check your fluids before you leave!

I did my first rock art recording for the Nevada Rock Art Association at Sloan Canyon in 2006. It was my second and third times there but I haven’t been back until I went yesterday, 21 May 2013. This is a stellar place to see history with all of the petroglyphs left by the Indians. The rock art consists of about 1,700 figures on 300 panels and they are everywhere when you get into the canyon.
First, Sloan is not a place to go alone. Cell phone coverage does not exist for a good part of the hike. It’s about 1 mile from where you park to get to what’s called Petroglyph Canyon at Sloan. This one mile consists of walking up a gravel wash and climbing up or going around 4 dry waterfalls. Of course, if there’s a chance of rain, stay out. This would be a bad place to get caught in a monsoon downpour. The last dry fall is the one of most concern. There’s a chockstone blocking the way, but you can climb up a slippery rock slope to the left. Better yet, backtrack to the top of dry fall two and climb the rocks steps to the top of the ridge. This will get you past the chockstone and will be a safer route.
From here, explore both sides of the canyon both higher up and along the wash. There are rock art panels everywhere. Some of the figures are easy to understand. You look at a drawing of a bighorn and that’s what it is. Other figures are more geometrical and there’s no one who can tell you with any accuracy what they represent. When I was trained by the Executive Director of NRAF, she said whatever they look to you, that’s what they are!
With some money the Conservation Area got from the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act, the Bureau of Land Management has been increasing the number of trails for hiking throughout the Sloan Canyon NCA. Here, there are three trails. Route 100 comes from where you park and goes to the turnoff to trails 200 and 300. 200 is the Cowboy Trail and 300 goes to Hidden Valley.
As with any desert hiking, bring plenty of water and wear hiking boots for climbing the fry falls. Also, here and everywhere, respect the land and our history and don’t vandalize the rock art. Part of the reason I was there yesterday with a team from BLM was to try to remove scratches someone has made on some of the rock art and we were trying to restore it. Be considerate of Nevada’s past! Enjoy the art by photographing it. Don’t touch the rock art, trace over it with a paper, or use chalk or anything else to deface it. Oh, and, go and enjoy! This place is a treasure.
Last thoughts, you do need a high clearance vehicle to get here. 4 wheel drive is not necessary. Check the BLM website for Sloan to get directions.

I can’t believe how great this hike was. This is a hidden gem. We got a good workout hiking a few miles through mostly rocks and sand, but we also got to see petroglyphs! Driving up to the entrance in Torrance’s 4 wheel drive adventure vehicle (don’t try it in a compact or sedan), we were 1 of 3 vehicles that we saw in the area that day. We had to hike about a mile before we saw the first petroglyph, after that there were so many. It is a great place to take kids, I just hope that people don’t disturb the area and cause any damage. It is truly a must for nature lovers.
Enjoy.