Sloan Canyon visitor station to expand days of operation through May
A new visitor contact station at Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area will be open daily starting Saturday.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management announced the expanded days of operation on Tuesday.
Since it opened May 20, the contact station at the southern edge of Henderson has been open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
The hours will remain the same but the facility will be open daily through May, when it will scale back to weekends through the heat of summer.
Advocates for Sloan Canyon waited years for construction of a paved access road, contact station and restrooms near the mouth of the conservation area’s signature feature: a canyon with more than 300 rock art panels and 1,700 individual markings left by native cultures over centuries.
The first visitor amenities were finished and opened at the 14-year-old preserve four months ago, only to be damaged by vandals in mid-June.
Congress created Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area in 2002 on 48,438 acres of dry desert and volcanic rock peaks where ancient inhabitants once hunted bighorn sheep.
The visitor contact station is on Nawghaw Poa Road, just west of the intersection of Democracy Drive and Via Firenze, at the southern edge of the Inspirada master-planned community.
From the station, a hiking trail leads up a dry wash and into what is known as Petroglyph Canyon, an area off limits to motorized vehicles and target shooters.
The BLM asks visitors to stay on marked trails and avoid climbing on or near the rock art, which can be damaged by the oils in skin.
Contact Henry Brean at hbrean@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0350. Follow @RefriedBrean on Twitter.
