Hiking
Mud Wash Narrows
Gold Butte National Monument
Overview
Gold Butte is made up of mostly sandstone outcroppings, jagged limestone peaks, and some granite on its southern end. Mud Wash, as it meanders its way down from the interior region of Gold Butte National Monument to the Virgin River cuts through a different layer than the rest of the monument. The wash narrows and cuts through a layer of conglomerate rock creating the Mud Wash Narrows just before reaching the Virgin River above Lake Mead.
The narrows are quite different than the rest of the monument and are a good out and back hike. Before becoming a monument, the narrows were part of a popular off-road loop but are now closed to motor vehicles.
Getting There
Reaching Gold Butte starts by taking exit 112 off Interstate 15. This is about 70 miles east of Las Vegas, or 10 miles west of Mesquite Nevada. From exit 112, head south for 3.1 miles on NV-170 toward Riverside. Just after the road crosses the Virgin River, turn right onto Gold Butte Road.
Route Description
Navigation is easy on this outing. From the trailhead, walk down the wash. In just a minute or two, it turns right, narrows, and enters the conglomerate rock layer. Springs feed a small stream here that is easily hopped over. It is absorbed by the ground again not too far down into the narrows. The deepest part of the canyon is near the start.
There are numerous solution pockets in the wall that are neat to see, and that our preschooler loved to poke her head in.
Continuing down, the canyon begins to slow open as the walls widen and change from cliffs to slopes. Return whenever motivation dictates. Once the canyon opens, to my eye, it becomes a fair bit less interesting.
Photos
Maps
11S 745404E 4038482N
36°27'37"N 114°15'41"W
11S 745237E 4038417N
36°27'35"N 114°15'48"W