First Creek & The Grotto

First Creek Trail is a popular hike outside of Red Rock Canyon.  The trail head is located about 4 miles west of the Red Rock entrance. The special part of this hike is a little waterfall oasis called “The Grotto”.  About a mile into the hike start looking for a path that leads right towards the creek. Follow a path down to the creek and you will arrive at the grotto. It is a nice place to have a snack and listen to the frogs croaking. Once you are ready to leave, an alternate route is to follow the river back towards the road. Eventually it runs dry and you can find a path back towards the main trail. This hike is short and easy. Like most hikes in and around Red Rock it gets crowded.

First creek & The Grotto is a perfect hike for desert photography. You get many great views of the Mountains and red rocks. Along the trail you get all of the classic cactus and yucca flora. On this hike was the first time I really started to notice that when using a fisheye lens it is near impossible to get your shadow out of the image. It was maddening trying to shoot images with foreground in them and every time my shadow was in half of the photo. Shooting in the grotto is another challenge. It’s such a neat little area but because of its location down in the river the light is always a little off. It’s too bad because this is an area where the wideness of the 8mm lens really comes in handy. With some decent light there is potential for some great images. Following the river out is more interesting than the official trail. Make sure to keep looking back to get nice views of the river and mountains.

This is a hike I would recommend if you want something short and easy. It offers something you don’t get to see often on a desert hike, a grotto with a waterfall. I would advise going during the week or early to avoid the crowds. The grotto is a very small area so it doesn't take too many people to make it feel a little too crowded.