Overview

The hike to Red Rock Springs and Hartman Tank is easy, nearly level, and runs only 2.5 miles round-trip, but there is no trail, and much of the hike is through dense vegetation with mud and water. The hike is unusual for this arid desert region because it runs along a stream, and while doing so, runs among colorful sandstone cliffs and provides the opportunity to see two species of desert toads, lots of birds, and other wildlife as they come in for water.

Red Rock Springs often have water that flows down the wash, part of which is fenced to keep feral burros from trampling all of the desert riparian meadow. Hartman Tank is an area of eroded and water-sculpted red sandstone that once may have been dammed to hold water for cattle (hence the name "tank"), but now is just a deep plunge pool where water collects at the bottom of a pour-over after storms.

Link to area overview map or hiking map.

The names and locations of these springs are problematic.

There are several springs in this area. The USGS topo map, the official repository of place names, marks "Red Rocks Springs" (plural) as a single spring, but that spot seems arbitrary because it is just a wet spot along the streambed. The topo map also lists Hartman Tank, where a tank usually refers to a reservoir, and may depict the location (incorrectly) as a tiny pond (which it is not).

The springs marked on the map here represent actual spots on the ground. Three names (Red Rock Spring, Red Rock #1, and Red Rock #2) were taken from a survey published in 1930. Red Rock #3 is a spring (listed as the only spring in the area on Google maps), but Google lists the name as Red Rock Spring, which is incorrect; the name used here (Red Rock #3) is made up. Aerial imagery suggests that there are more unnamed springs in the area. For example, Red Rock #4 is a bit south of the main springs area.

Watch Out

Other than the standard warnings about hiking in the desert, ... this is a fairly safe area, but be careful when wet sand sticks to the bottom of your hiking boots and you scramble on the rockpiles along the wash. Please be careful inside the 2.5-acre fenced area; the fence is intended to protect part of this rare and fragile desert ecosystem from trampling by burros, but trampling by people is also a concern. Consider using burro trails outside the fence when hiking out.

This is wild and remote country 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. It is a big place, but someone will eventually find you if you stay on a main road, but be prepared to survive alone for a day or two, or even longer on side roads.

While hiking, please respect the land and the other people out there, and try to Leave No Trace of your passage. Also, even though this hike is short, the area is remote, so be sure to bring what you need of the 10 Essentials. Cell phones don't work here.

Getting to the Trailhead

Red Rock Springs and Hartman Tank are located out in Gold Butte National Monument, south of Mesquite, Nevada, about 3 hours northeast of Las Vegas in a wild, remote, and scenic area.

From town, drive out to Gold Butte National Monument. From Whitney Pocket, continue south on the unpaved Gold Butte Road for 3.9 miles to Mud Wash North Road.

Turn right onto Mud Wash North Road and drive southwest and downstream for 3.2 miles to Mud Wash Road. Stay right onto Mud Wash Road, continuing downstream for another 4.0 miles to Little Finland Road, on the right.

The Hike

From the trailhead (Table 1, Waypoint 01), the route runs up the stream bed, over a post-and-cable fence, and up the streambed. There is a use-trail near the fence, but it quickly peters out and hikers are left to walk in the well vegetated wash. Always watch for snakes, and use extra care when you can't see your feet under the vegetation.

Depending on the season and recent rainfall, hikers may encounter water in the wash right away (even along the access road) or farther up. If not before, at 0.40 miles out, hikers encounter a sandstone ledge (Wpt. 02) with water flowing over the edge. There is a nice plunge pool here that retains water -- and the occasional duck!

Climbing past the sandstone ledge is easier than it looks on the right side (south), and upon gaining the top, a fence across the wash becomes evident. This is the lower edge of about 2.5 acres that is fenced to protect the fragile desert marsh from trampling by feral burros.

Hikers can pass the fenced area on either side, but it is somewhat more scenic to cross the wash to the northwest side, climb the embankment, and walk along the outside of the fence with an elevated position above the wash. Otherwise, hikers can slog their way up through the wet meadow.

Beyond the fence, hikers can drop back into the wash and walk up the wet streambed. At about 250 yards up from the fence, the wash forks (Wpt. 03). The main wash stays left, but a lesser wash comes in from the right. Up that wash, about 130 yards out, a cottonwood tree marks Red Rock #3 Spring (Wpt. 04). There isn't much water here, but the tree provides shade, and the ground is adorned with stream orchids in season. This is the spring marked on Google Maps as Red Rock Springs.

Returning to the main wash (Wpt. 03), the route continues north through a well vegetated area. About 130 yards farther up the wash, hikers encounter the spot marked on USGS topo maps as Red Rock Springs, but it doesn't look much different from places up and down the wash.

Continuing up the wash, hikers stay left at a fork and pass a pair of cottonwood trees (Wpt. 05), indicating that water is still present in the wash, not too far below the surface.

A short bit farther (200 yards) up the wash, hikers encounter a red sandstone outcrop that blocks the wash. This is Hartman Tank (Wpt. 06), and although there is no "tank" (i.e., reservoir) here, the site is scenic and well sculpted by floodwaters that occasionally careen down the wash and fill the plunge pool.

This is a good place to wander about, sit and think, eat a little lunch, wander a bit farther up the wash, and contemplate the forces of nature (wind and water) that created such a site.

When ready, follow your footprints in the damp sand back to the trailhead (Wpt. 01). Consider walking on the outside of the fenced area for easier walking and to avoid trampling the meadow area.

Alternatively, consider making a long loop by heading west to visit Red Rock #1 Spring. This is an interesting area were the wash runs into a deep, narrow cleft with pools of water and several cottonwood trees. Stream orchids also adorn this area. Burro trails on both sides of the narrow gorge make for fairly easy walking. Heading down this wash, hikers encounter a high waterfall. By hiking farther down the wash, hikers can loop back up the gorge and visit the bottom of the falls.

If hikers pick their spot carefully, they can make an easy loop back to the trailhead (Wpt. 01).