Calico Hills South, Red Book Point, Calico, Tank, Red Cap Traverse

Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, NV Red Rock Canyon

Distance: 6.1 mi
Net Gain: 3,100 ft
Time: 5-7 hrs
YDS Rating: Class 3
Route: Loop
Peaks: 5

Effort: 6/10
Personality: 8/10
Beauty: 6/10
Solitude: 5.2/10

What do these mean? →

Peaks on this hike

Summits listed in route order

Calico Hills South
4,322′ elevation · 142′ prominence
Red Book Point
4,608′ elevation · N/A prominence
West Calico Peak
4,850′ elevation · 168′ prominence
Calico Tank Peak
4,880′ elevation · 80′ prominence
Red Cap Peak (Turtlehead Junior)
4,920′ elevation · 320′ prominence

Route map + Trailhead

Trailhead Coordinates

36.147090, -115.418800

The directions link below drops a pin on the trailhead coordinates and lets Google Maps pick the route. If the drive has rough roads or access issues that GPS nav might get wrong, I cover that in my trip report.

Get directions

Trip report

Apr 12, 2018 — This super fun scramble through the Calico Hills of Red Rocks was my last hike to finally finish all the peaks in the Calico Basin. It hits the five peaks on the west side of the Basin: Calico Hills South, Red Book Point, Calico Peak, Tank Peak, and Red Cap Peak as a nice traverse with never-ending scrambling. From the ridge, there are nice views of Turtlehead Peak to the north and New Peak and Kraft Mountain to the east. This is definitely a choose-your-own adventure sort of scramble, and although I outlined our route (see map), it's unlikely you'll take the same one. We encountered lots of potential Class 4 and 5, but always were able to find a Class 3 way down, even if that required leaving the ridgeline for short spurts.

From the Red Spring Picnic Area, head up to Calico Hills South (Class 2+), route-find along the ridge (Class 3) and head down into the gully below Red Book Point. We chose a gully as the weakness to attempt the ascent and it worked (Class 3+), with only one section where a chokestone required some real thinking. From Red Book Point, head down the northwest side, keeping your eyes on the sandy Class 2 ascent you'll be making to get to the Calico Peak and Tank Peak saddle, where you'll likely encounter swarms of people relaxing at the end of the Calico Tanks Trail. We found a Class 3+ route to the Calico Peak summit, and a Class 2 route to Tank Peak's summit. From Tank Peak, continue along the west side of the ridge where there are a series of beautiful ledges wide enough to walk on comfortably, until Red Cap Peak comes into view. We took a weird route up a gully, down a gully, and then back up another gully to ascend Red Cap Peak, but maybe you'll find a more straightforward way (Class 3+). From the Red Cap Peak summit, continue north and find a gully that safely descends via the northeast. Follow Ash Canyon, and although a trail is marked on Google Maps, it's pretty useless. I've gone down Ash Canyon twice now and neither time have I found an obvious trail. Boulders block the canyon, but some easy route-finding will get you down (Class 2).

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Photos

45 photos

Starting up along the well-traveled trail from the Red Spring picnic area.
We randomly decided to head up the side of Calico Hills South at some point.
Looking back toward the Red Spring picnic area.
Calico Hills South summit over there.
One down, four to go! This one was the easiest.
Heading just below the ridge along the north side of Calico Hills South.
We en countered lots of obstacles. Chances are you won't find the same ones, but this is an example of the kind of stuff we found pretty regularly.
We ended up on the west side of Calico Hills South somehow, just below the ridge. You can see the Red Rocks scenic drive down there.
Jon coming down a chimney, yet another type of fun obstacle.
A random mini canyon along the way.
Looking down into the mini canyon we found somewhere along Calico Hills South's north end.
Will we get cliffed out if we go down from the north ridge of Calico Hills South this way? We gave it a go. Somehow there was a route. you can see Calico Peak in the distance here.
On the way up to Red Book Point. You can see the way we came down Calico Hills South's north end just above Jon's head in this photo.
Route-finding up Red Book Point. I thought this was the most fun part of the day. You can see the high point of Calico Hills South's north ridge on the left.
Red Book Point summit looking toward Calico and Tank (the two yellow-capped peaks).
Looking back from the Red Book Point summit toward Calico Hills South.
Another fun obstacle which took some Class 3+ chimney moves. Likely avoidable with some route-finding. Plus, who knows, you might end up going a totally different way.
Almost down from Red Book Point.
On the way up to the saddle between Calico and Tank, Red Book Point back there.
Almost to the Calico and Tank saddle. You can see people up there because the saddle is also the end of the very popular Calico Tanks Trail.
From the saddle (end of Calico Tanks Trail) looking down toward Red Book Point.
Heading up Calico Peak, Tank Peak on the right.
Calico Peak summit ahead.
There was a pretty Tank at the top of Calico Peak.
Calico Peak summit, looking back toward Red Book Point and even farther, Calico Hills South.
After summiting Calico Peak, we came back to the saddle and went up Tank Peak. Calico Peak is behind Jon.
Tank Peak summit looking toward Red Cap (the obvious red capped peak), Turtlehead Peak on the top right.
Looking back at Tank (left) and Calico (right). The saddle (end of Calico Tanks Trail) is that notch between the two. You can see the Calico Tanks Trail on the right down there.
A random dried up tank on the way up to Red Cap Peak.
Red Cap Peak ahead.
Heading up to Red Cap Peak.
A flat section with some water pools, Red Cap Peak a climactic last summit. Jon is pictured just above the final Class 3 move of the day.
Looking back at the pools (northwest) just before the summit block.
Red Cap Peak summit. Tank Peak center right, New Peak on the left.
Coming down from Red Cap Peak. Someone had set up a stack of rocks to get down from the steep slab.
We spent a few minutes looking for a gully that might take us down because the northern end of Red Cap was a sheer cliff. We found on on the northeastern side, which went down really smoothly.
Looking up toward the start of our descent gully.
Looking up our gully from the base of Red Cap Peak.
Continuing down Ash Canyon.
Ash Canyon ahead.
Some minor Class 2 boulder scrambles to get down Ash Canyon.
Looking back up Ash Canyon, Tank Peak in the center.
Continuing through open desert for a while to get back to the trailhead.