Day 8 of 2024 Thanksgiving Trip to Las Vegas, Clark County Museum and Owl Canyon

by admin

The eighth and last day of my 2024 Thanksgiving trip to Las Vegas. With my flights home scheduled for 8pm, I decided to keep the day unhurried and flexible, checking out Clark County Museum in the morning before embarking on a short hike through Owl Canyon in the afternoon.

Owl Canyon

As mentioned in earlier posts, for this trip I had procured my rental car from a shop in Henderson, so I decided to spend most of my final day in that vicinity before returning the vehicle and making my way to the airport. With an evening flight to catch, I didn’t want to commit to a full day-hike; fortunately, the nearby Lake Mead National Recreation Area offered numerous shorter trails that seemed perfectly suited to my timeframe. After some research, the Clark County Museum caught my interest, promising an engaging morning activity. Then, with the remaining hours at my disposal, I planned to explore Owl Canyon, a popular trail in Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

Clark County Museum

At the price of a bus ride, this museum offered an exhibition room and some historic houses to explore.

Exhibit of Wolf Puppies

Expectedly, the museum’s exhibit began with some local geology, with this exhibit of a wolf family. I found the fierce countenance of the wolf in front greatly compromised the two comically cute puppies behind it.

From the museum’s exhibition room, I gleaned several fascinating insights about Las Vegas’s origins. The city initially emerged as a railway settlement, owing its early development to its strategic position between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. Beyond its gambling reputation, Las Vegas flourished partly due to Nevada’s lenient divorce legislation, which turned it into the preferred destination for Hollywood stars seeking marital dissolution. (I guess this speaks volumes of the moral degradation of the entertainment industry.)

In addition to the exhibition room, Clark County Museum featured a few historic houses. A common theme among those houses was that, they were in danger of demolition as Las Vegas developed into a metropolis, so instead they were moved to this museum, far out in the suburbs, for preservation. The houses served as temporal portals to distinct chapters in Las Vegas’s evolution, including its humbling start as a railway settlement to the transformative era of Hoover Dam’s construction.

Boulder City Train Depot Building
Cartoon Promoting Airlines Service to Los Angeles
Motel Room
With indigenous patterns decorating the closet.
Male Figure

I knew this figured was depicted to be preparing dinner, but with his lack of facial expression and the way he held the knife, it looked as if he was about to murder someone, presumably the visitors to the museum.
Decoration of a Boy’s Room
Toy revolver, cowboy books, toy horsehead, comic books and figure soldier.
Decoration of a Boy’s Room
I didn’t think either the teddy bear or the math problems fit that well to the rest of the room.

Owl Canyon Trail

It’s easy to comprehend this trail’s popularity. It’s relatively short (5.5km/3.4mi), with minimal elevation gain (80m/260ft). It travels through a fascinating slot canyon, with an aspect ratio among the highest of the slot canyons that I visited during the past week. I was fortunate to visit at the perfect hour of day, when suspended dust particles transformed shafts of light into magnificent god rays, a delicate display I hadn’t witnessed in slot canyons earlier this week. The convergence of accessibility and natural wonder made this trail a singular experience.
(I only ran into a few groups throughout my hike, I genuinely thought given the amazing slot canyons along this trail and its proximity to Las Vegas, it should be more popular.)

Outside the canyons, the trail offered some views of Las Vegas Wash and the mountains beyond.

Las Vegas Wash
Distant Muddy Mountains
Trail against Distant Muddy Mountain
Wash
Black Mesa beyond Las Vegas Wash

I hiked the loop in the clockwise direction, strolling through Owl Canyon first.

Owl Canyon
Owl Canyon
Owl Canyon
Owl Canyon
Owl Canyon
Owl Canyon
Rock Bridge
Delicately balanced.

Tunnels

Dual tunnels to channel water in case of flash floods, the erosion force of which created the sinuous Owl Canyon. The tunnel for the other canyon on this hike was much smaller.

Trail
After walking through Owl Canyon, there was this trail/road connecting onto a different “canyon”.

To conclude the loop, the trail followed a different, less exciting “canyon” back. While some sections of it looked like a slot canyon, others felt more like a wash. Hiking the loop clockwise meant there was a technical downclimb (p2 below), which I would rate as YDS class 2.

Canyon
Bowl Step
The only technical move throughout the loop.
Canyon
Canyon
Canyon

At a leisurely pace, I finished the loop hike in 1 hour and 45 minutes.
Next to the trailhead parking lot there were two overlooks, 33 Hole and Rocky Point. I checked out the former. In short, I didn’t like it.

With some time left in the day, I drove south towards Sunset Overlook. While the previous two overlooks merely bordered Las Vegas Wash, this vista opened magnificently onto Lake Mead, offering an extensive waterscape. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to wait till sunset to watch the spectacle which this overlook was named for, I nonetheless identified Promontory Point (p3 below), which was where I started this trip to Las Vegas a week ago. I guessed this unintentional symmetry should serve as a fitting conclusion to both the day and for this week-long trip to Las Vegas.

Fortification Hill before Mt Wilson
Fortification Hill
Hills to the Southeast
Towards the direction of Hoover Dam. I identified Promontory Point, which I hiked a week ago.
Hamblin Mountain across Lake Mead
Distant Muddy Mountain