Overview

Red Bluff Spring Saddle campsite is a quiet, undeveloped campsite way out in the desert in the middle of Gold Butte National Monument along Red Bluff Spring Road. This is a good place to stop for the night when driving the Gold Butte Backcountry Byway loop.

There is no water, and there are no toilets, no trash cans, and no picnic tables. Bring what you need and take it home when you leave. There is truck parking a couple of miles west on Interstate-15 where campers can dump trash without taking it back to Las Vegas.

This campsite, suitable for several pickup campers, is located on backroads that offer plenty of privacy. The camp area is small, so it is suitable only for one party. This is a scenic place to visit and commune with the scenery of this wild and rugged region.

Link to map.

Watch Out

Other than the standard warnings about hiking in the desert, ... this is a wild and remote area without services of any kind (no restrooms, no water, no gas, no food). Bring what you need to survive. Be prepared and be self-reliant. Someone will find you eventually if you stay on a main road, but be prepared to survive alone for a day or two. Cell phones only work along parts of the paved road.

While visiting Gold Butte National Monument, please respect the land and the other people out there, and try to Leave No Trace of your passage. Also, this is a remote area, so be sure to bring the 10 Essentials, even if you leave them in the car.

Be sure to bring trash bags to clean up after people who care less about wild places than you do.

Getting to Red Bluff Spring Saddle Campsite

Red Bluff Spring Overlook campsite is located out in Gold Butte National Monument at the northeast end of Lake Mead, about of 3-1/2 hours northeast of Las Vegas in a wild, remote, and scenic area.

From Las Vegas, drive out the paved Gold Butte Road 21 miles to Whitney Pocket. Continue south on the unpaved Gold Butte Road for 20 miles to Gold Butte Townsite.

From the Townsite, turn right onto the signed Red Bluff Spring Road (Table 1, Site 0806) and drive north 7.5 miles to the campsite on the right.

This campsite can also be reached from Mud Wash Road (Site 1685) and driving south 7.1 miles on Red Bluff Spring Road to the campsite at the top of a long, steep hill. This route is shorter and somewhat quicker, but southbound Red Bluff Spring Road requires a 4WD vehicle.

Red Bluff Spring Saddle Campsite

Red Bluff Spring Saddle campsite is a quiet place on a high saddle out in the wide-open desert. Tramp Ridge lies about 4 miles east and Lime Ridge lies only 0.4 miles west. Views north stretch to the Virgin Mountains in the far distance.

This probably isn't really a place to set up housekeeping, but this is a good kick-off point for ATVs following some of the 500 miles of open road in Gold Butte National Monument. Red Bluff Spring Road runs north-south, and there are several rough side roads that lead to the edges of Lime Ridge and Tramp Ridge.

The campsite is quite rocky, so it will take some ground clearing to make a good tent site. Consider sleeping in the bed of a truck or on a cot.