Hike Arrow Canyon Arrow Canyon Wilderness Area BLM, NV

Nov 04, 2019 — Tara and I hiked through Arrow Canyon on the way to Swamp Cave, the name of a climbing crag toward the end of the canyon. The road leading to the trailhead was just rough enough for a 2WD to have some issues, so we walked a fair amount. I marked the attached trailhead as the end of the decent road before it deteriorates. Regardless of where you start, follow the dirt road to the official Arrow Canyon Trailhead, then enter the wash. Arrow Canyon winds through tall cliff faces and along the gravel bed before it opens up for a bit, and then narrows into the pretty part. The narrows of Arrow Canyon really are spectacular, and if you continue all the way to the end, you'll get to the base of the historic 1930s Arrow Canyon dam.

Tara and I did not continue to the base of the dam (therefore, no pictures at the base), but I returned on another day from the west side in order to get to the top of the dam. To reach the top of the dam coming from the west, navigate to here (36.75242, -114.81415), accessible via most non-4WD vehicles. Hike along the road past this point, which winds around a bitto the dam, but enters a no motor vehicle zone. There are apparently petroglyphs hidden amongst the silt buildup behind the dam, but we didn't know to look for them at the time. The dam was actually much larger than expected, and a fixed rope was in place. We opted not to down-climb because the bottom was just thick mud.