Hiker rescued in Keyhole Canyon, southeast of Las Vegas

Metro rescued an injured hiker Friday afternoon from a canyon in the western edge of the Eldorado Mountains, about 40 miles southeast of Las Vegas.

Las Vegas police and the Clark County Fire Department got a call at 12:54 p.m. saying the hiker, stranded in Keyhole Canyon, possibly had a hurt ankle. Metro Search and Rescue headed for the canyon, between Boulder City and Searchlight, about 2 p.m. and spotted the hiker about 20 minutes later.

By 4:22 p.m. police were walking the hiker down from the mountainside, department spokesman Officer Jesse Roybal said.

Metro often sends its air unit to rescue people from remote areas.

But Friday, Roybal said, the department’s aircraft were being inspected and couldn’t be sent out.

That’s after a pair of officers made a crash landing on a residential street near downtown Las Vegas on New Year’s Eve.

In what a Metro news release sent Friday called an “extensive review,” each of the department’s six helicopters will receive a detailed inspection and maintenance record check.

Roybal could not give the gender or age of the hiker, or specify whether the person was climbing or hiking at the time of the rescue, only that the person was on a hill.

Keyhole is a narrow canyon in the mountainside at an elevation of 2,854 feet. It has petroglyphs and pictographs. It is managed by the Bureau of Reclamation. Getting there can require a four-wheel-drive vehicle.

Contact Kimber Laux at klaux@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Find her on Twitter: @lauxkimber.