Rainbow Gardens, Lake Mead National Recreation Area

Rainbow Gardens is an area of pastel-colored badlands and upturned strata near the west end of Lake Mead, south and southwest of the distinctive peak of Lava Butte, a volcanic summit. This region is protected as the Rainbow Gardens Area of Critical Environmental Concern, and the northern section is contained within the proposed East Las Vegas National Monument, which includes additional lands to the north.

The rocks of the gardens are a complex mix of sandstone, siltstone, mudstone, conglomerate, limestone, gypsum, dolostone and basalt; most widespread is the Rainbow Gardens Formation, and this is, as its name suggests, also the most colorful, with strata in shades of grey, yellow, pink and orange, plus white. A similar region, albeit with different bedrock, is Rainbow Canyon, 15 miles east.

The badlands extend for over 4 miles and can be accessed from several starting points including from some of the residential streets of Lake Las Vegas in the south, and from Lake Mead Boulevard in the north, or, for a shorter hike, from Northshore Road, this accessing the southeast corner of the gardens; from here the hiking route follows a minor drainage, Lava Butte Wash, into a typical section of the gardens, below the south face of the butte. The round-trip here is about 3 miles, taking not much more than an hour.