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Red Rock Canyon 13-mile Loop Gates
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So, what exactly happens when the loop road closes? Do they lock the exit and entry gates? Is it possible to get trapped behind the gate after hours say, if one ends up on an unplanned bivy? |
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The exit has those one way spikes that you can drive over on the way out but can't drive back in |
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It is so stupid how the Red Rock Scenic Loop Road closes at 5pm under pain of expensive citation. I'm out in RR right now and I took this picture at 5pm. The BLM is literally chasing people out in broad daylight. Got your rope stuck on descent? You're out of luck. This is what the BLM has in store for Calico Basin, too.  |
John Hegyes wrote: Daylight savings does kick in this Sunday so it’s really just a few days in Nov where it’s “broad daylight” at 5pm. Won’t look like this next week! |
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In my experience, they do not chase anyone out, nor do they ticket you. They merely reserve the right to based upon their written rules. |
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From what I've been told, closing the loop at a certain time helps the wildlife come down from the canyons and go on with their life without being startled by car headlights. Probably mitigates crime next to one of the largest population centers in the country. If there were no repercussions, us climbers would sure be driving out in darkness all the time. Daylight savings does make this a bit preposterous for a few days but that's a small price to pay. This time of year we all get to work on our climbing efficiency on those big routes! |
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Same experience as Alex regarding being chased out. Have had a score or more unplanned late exits across the years without a ticket and without even seeing a park ranger checking out vehicles parked past closing time. |
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Researching a late Dec trip to the area and found this looking for camping/entry passes, which bring up a similar question, how hard are days passes to get in late Dec? I can start reserving them tomorrow, but not sure if 140 passes a day will go fast. |
Devin Quince wrote: Reading the recreation.gov website ( recreation.gov/timed-entry/… ), it looks like you can still get in without a reservation before 8 AM. The gates open at 6 AM. The campground isn't far from the entrance, so getting in before the timed entry goes into effect shouldn't be that hard. Regarding late exits, the rangers seem pretty loose about enforcing this, but should we really be publicizing this fact? |
Devin Quince wrote: I've reserved plenty of passes same day when we couldn't get there before 8am for some reason. But the reservation system is meant to limit overcrowding on peak volume days. That means that holiday weekends, in general, will be fucked. You'll probably be fine if you're grabbing them the day they're available, though. |
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Rarely do the entry passes all get used up. If you book 3 days in advance that shall all but guarantee one to be yours. And short of that just come in at 7:40 without a reservation. I’ve always assumed leaving late was a risk I’d rather not take, and thus a late exit pass can also be purchased. It’s just that if I don’t have one, I usually don’t fret about it. If people abuse closing time too much and too often I’m positive they would crack down eventually. But as is, I have never been ticketed or chased out “on time” or even “late.” I think that while the rules are clear that someone higher up has an understanding that folks get lost, or meander around late, and they don’t mind too terribly much. Cant tell you how often I see just a random set of city slicker hikers heading into the canyon late in the afternoon having just left their car *after* closing hours. Surely never saw these folks getting ticketed. |
Alex Fletcher wrote: My recent experience as well. We were always hiking back to car late via headlamp. The one and only ranger we encountered was helping some poor soul who lost his car keys. |
