River Mountains Loop: Perfect Conditions All Week

67 degrees, AQI 34, wind at 2 mph, zero chance of rain. If you're within an hour of Las Vegas right now, you have no excuse.

The River Mountains Loop is hitting 100/100 today, and the three-day forecast shows 85°, 86°, 86° with basically no rain across all three days. This is what spring in the Mojave looks like when everything cooperates at once.

Quick context: the River Mountains Loop is a 34.5-mile paved trail that circles the River Mountains between Henderson, Boulder City, and Lake Mead. Multi-use — hikers, trail runners, cyclists, and the occasional horse share it. If you're on foot you're doing a section. If you're on a road bike or gravel bike, you're doing the whole thing in 2.5 to 4 hours depending on your pace. Trailheads at Henderson's Wetlands Park, Boulder City, and Railroad Pass. Start wherever.

Riley's coming on this one. Dog-friendly, paved, water fountains at the trailheads. He handles the heat better than most people expect, but I keep him hydrated and we stay off pavement after noon in summer. Today at 67 degrees, we're fine all day. He loses his mind a little when he spots the bighorn sheep near the Lake Mead section. That's his issue to deal with.

The elevation profile: 2,100 feet of gain over 34.5 miles sounds manageable, and it mostly is — the climb is distributed enough that it never feels like a sustained grind. Except the section between Boulder City and Railroad Pass. That one will remind you what 2,100 feet means. It's not a wall, it's just real. Budget for it.

Best approach for a day hike or partial loop: park at Henderson's Wetlands Park trailhead (free parking, bathrooms), head toward Boulder City first while the air is coolest, then come back through the southern section toward Lake Mead. The Hoover Dam views from the ridge on the southern route are worth stopping for, and they're better in afternoon light anyway. An out-and-back to the dam overlook is about 12 miles round trip — solid half-day.

Bike version: the full 34-mile loop takes most riders 3 to 4 hours. Road tires are fine, the surface is paved throughout. The southern section near Lake Mead Recreation Area has brief on-road segments where you're sharing with vehicles — it's signed and not sketchy, just pay attention.

No permits. No access fees. Park and go. This trail is the reason Henderson residents have one of the better outdoor situations of any city in the country, and most of them only use the first three miles of it. The rest of the loop is yours.

What to bring: more water than you think. It's the desert. There's no shade on most of the exposed ridge sections. At 67 degrees you still sweat through a 6-mile hike, especially on the return. A liter per hour is not an overcorrection out here.

The forecast for Saturday and Sunday looks identical to today. If today doesn't work, the weekend does. Get out of the city.