Cottonwood Spring is a short 1 mile hike in Lake Mead National Recreation Area with some beautiful rock colors, some fossils in the rock walls, and lots of side canyons/washes to wander through. Lake Mead is filled with short, picturesque walks through the desert, but there are few established trails. Cottonwood Spring is one of them and on a warm spring day you’ll likely be on the trail with other hikers and maybe a horse or two. And for good reason. The hike leads down into a wash(canyon formed by flooding) and then up the wash to a small desert spring and established willow trees. Along the way, the color of the rock walls of the wash keep changing – red mixes with dark brown, grey, yellow, and green. You’ll also find several sections of wall glittering with minerals in the rock. As you get about half a mile into the hike, you’ll encounter a brief«narrows” – a trail winding through a section of rock with narrow walls. It’s not as dramatic as the famous Zion«Narrows» hike, but it’s a nice feature. Right before the narrows begin, you can look to the rock walls on the left and see some fossils(oysters and snails). Look closely in a yellow-brown rock wall on the left and you can make out fossilized«ripples» from long ago when this desert was under a giant lake. For those who want the short hike, the trail ends about 1 mile up at a pair of desert willows on the left side of the wash. For those who are more adventurous, another trail branches off to the right. Or you could try climbing into numerous other washes that run through the area and wandering. Or, if you need more cardio, you could climb one of the surrounding mountains. Directions: Get to Lake Mead and get on Northshore Road. Start watching the mile markers. The trail is not marked with a sign or parking lot. There’s only a pull off 0.2 miles after the 18 mile marker on Northshore Road. Park in the pull off at mile 18.2, walk across the road and you’ll find a trail that leads you down into Cottonwood Wash. For more detailed information, visit: (some details on geology and fossils in this review taken from that website)
