Owl Canyon Loop - Lake Mead National Recreation Area

The Owl Canyon Loop Trail in Lake Mead National Recreation Area, about 45 minutes outside Las Vegas, takes you on a journey through three slot canyons, three tunnels, a scramble, and wide open desert views. Starting at the Owl Canyon Trailhead at 33 Hole Overlook, I took the park ranger's advice and set out to complete the loop counter-clockwise so I'd be climbing up the Bowl Step. Passing the eastern mouth of the White Owl Slot Canyon on the left - where most hikers head out and back - I continued on past Big Pillar, past the burned area, and into slot canyons leading to the Bowl Step. After climbing out of the Bowl Step the trail passes under the Lakeshore Road tunnel and meets up with the River Mountains Loop Trail, where the paved trail makes for easy walking and wide open expansive views of the desert and mountains surrounding Lake Mead. I cut off the River Mountains Loop Trail into White Owl Canyon and passed under the River Mountains Loop Trail tunnel where the first section of the White Owl Slot Canyon presented itself. Out of the first section and through the second Lakeshore Road tunnel on the loop, the narrow entrance to White Owl Slot Canyon, barely four feet wide, before the canyon opened up into 100-foot walls, the rock shifting from brown to white and back to brown. Exiting White Owl Canyon the desert took on another personality as the sun had started to set and the shadows grew long. Check out ‪@MattsAdventureLife‬ for more hiking adventures! Filmed at: Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Boulder City, Nevada - about 45 minutes from Las Vegas 0:00 Owl Canyon Trailhead 0:27 Owl Canyon Trail 0:56 Big Pillar 2:07 Canyon Approach 3:13 Slot Canyon to Bowl Step 3:48 Bowl Step 4:45 Lakeshore Road Tunnel #1 5:51 River Mountains Loop Trail 6:34 River Mountains Loop Trail Tunnel 6:58 White Owl Slot Canyon #1 7:28 Lakeshore Road Tunnel #2 7:50 White Owl Slot Canyon #2 9:15 Parting Shots of Owl Canyon 9:55 Final Thoughts #OwlCanyon #LakeMead #SlotCanyon #HikingNevada #LasVegasHikes