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      3 White Rock Hills/La Madre Spring Loop

      This circle will take you around the perimeter of the White Rock Hills with excellent views of the surrounding La Madre Mountains. You’ll see several agave-roasting pits and possibly bighorn sheep.

      Furthermore, it’s an unusually versatile trail with the opportunity for side trips to several springs. The entire loop is a bit long for children but there are no dangerous drop-offs if you stick to the main trail. Since it’s a loop hike you can start in either direction but I recommend counterclockwise, which feels a little less strenuous because you’ll encounter most elevation gain early in the hike, while you are still fresh.

      From the signed trailhead, walk north. Look on your left, up a small rise, for a roasting pit. Little more than a century ago American Indians still used such pits to cook the hearts of agave plants, which grow in the surrounding hills and are marked by tall flowering stalks. Unfortunately this pit isn’t well defined because people have trampled on it, but you can still see the faint mound shape, and the blackened rock and ash on the ground. This hiking route passes several more roasting pits in the Willow Springs area.

      The trail is well worn and easy to follow except in a few places during the first one-half mile where it crosses a few small washes. Ordinarily there are obvious paths across the drainages, but after a heavy rain or flood you might have to scout upstream to find the trail on the other side.

      Along the trail you will be in a pinyon-juniper plant community which includes scrub oak, Mormon tea, manzanita, Mojave yucca, and prickly pear cactus. In spring you’ll see wildflowers. Keep an eye out for scrub jays and rock wrens.

      From the trailhead it is a steady ascent of about 590 feet over about a mile and one-third, to a saddle, which marks the highest elevation of the hike. Vegetation becomes dense compared to that around the trailhead; up here pinyon pines and junipers grow higher than a person’s head, and even provide some shade.

      At the saddle you will find a spur trail on your left, marked by a cairn. Sure-footed adults willing to do some rock scrambling can take this path up the sandstone bluff to points commanding spectacular views of the La Madre Mountain range to the north and west. These are great places to take a break and enjoy a snack, giving you more time to take in the views. Bighorn sheep frequent this area, so be on the lookout for movement in the steep parts of the landscape.

      The White Rock Hills route takes hikers through a pinyon-juniper plant community which also includes Mojave yucca and prickly pear cactus.

      Once you backtrack down the spur to the saddle, the trail gradually descends into La Madre Spring Valley and the west side of the White Rock Hills. After about one and one-half miles you will reach a junction where the route turns left onto an old gravel road. But for an excellent side trip, go right instead, and follow the road less than a mile to La Madre Spring, which flows perennially.

      The spring feeds a shallow pond, about the size of a large, portable wading pool, which was created by a dam built in the 1960s. Surrounded by Baltic rush, bulrush, reeds and other water-loving plants, it is beloved by area wildlife including bighorn sheep and mule deer. You can sometimes see them of a morning or evening.

      If you’re skipping the side trip, or after returning from it to the junction, follow the old road about one-half mile to Rocky Gap Road — main route to Pahrump in days of yore — and go left. Continue down the gravel road for about one-half mile to the Willow Springs Picnic Area.

      A little below the parking area, look for the sign marking the point where the trail leaves the road and heads east. A little more than two miles farther along, you’ll see another spur trail on your left that brings you down to White Rock Spring. There is a bench where you can relax, watch for wildlife and listen for birds before heading up the trail a mere one-tenth mile to the parking area where you started. That’s one of the nicest and most unusual features of this hike. How many other opportunities are there to hike six miles, yet end the hike well rested?

      White Rock Hills/La Madre Spring Loop At A Glance

      Best Season: October–April.

      Length: Six-mile loop.

      Difficulty: Moderate.

      Elevation gain: 885 feet.

      Trailhead elevation: 4,875 feet if starting at upper White Rock Spring Trailhead.

      Warning: Flash flood potential in washes.

      Jurisdiction: Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.

      Directions: From Red Rock Canyon’s main entrance, follow the 13-mile Scenic Drive for 5.7 miles and go right. Follow this access road 0.5 miles to parking area. The trailhead for doing the loop in a counterclockwise direction is on the north side of the parking area.

      4 La Madre Spring Trail

      This route takes you directly to a perennially flowing, spring-fed stream and a small pond, manmade in the 1960s. Although many visit this spring as a side trip from the White Hills Loop Trail, this is a different, shorter route through sandstone and limestone hills.

      It’s a good hike for children, with no drop-offs or obstacles along the main route. Very young hikers, though, might struggle keeping balance on the uneven, rocky surfaces. And because it’s very rocky in places, everybody will be more comfortable in sturdy-soled hiking boots

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