Boulder City plans to close popular stargazing, picnicking area

By Cassie Tomlin

Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2008 | 12:05 a.m.

From the top of Red Mountain at night, where the only sounds are distant airplanes and the humming of the highway, Las Vegas' sprawling blanket of sparkling lights curves around Railroad Pass and dissipates into Boulder City's dotted incandescence.

It's a peaceful place at the top of Bootleg Canyon, but the city has decided that the price of getting there, a steep drive filled with narrow, unpaved switchbacks, isn't worth it anymore.

Within a year and a half, the unmatched view from the top of the mountain is planned to be off limits to private cars or hikers — the dirt road to the top sealed off with a gate.

The city wrote into its contract with Greenheart Conservation Co. a measure that requires the company to build a visitors center, pave a road to the center and install an electronic gate to block traffic from the top of Red Mountain.

It was part of the contract for the Canadian "eco-tourism" company's Bootleg Canyon Flightlines, cables that opened this summer to zip passengers from the top of the canyon to the bottom at top speeds of up to 40 mph.

The attraction has the city expecting more traffic on the road built to lead to the antennas atop the mountain. The road has been traveled since at least 1963, when the Federal Aviation Administration put its airplane antenna there.

For safety, the electronic gate at a small dirt parking lot at the base of the mountain would only permit antenna maintenance and a shuttle Greenheart has promised for mountain bikers and hikers, which will cost an as-yet determined fee.

The City Council reserved the right to give the company 90 days to install the gate if traffic gets dangerous on the road. City staff are studying whether the gate should be expedited and are expected to have an answer by Dec. 31.

Traffic isn't heavy enough to close the road now, but accidents have been a concern on the "treacherous" path for many years, Roger Hall, parks and recreation director, said. Vandals have pushed flaming tires off the side of the mountain, and the road won't permit simultaneous uphill and downhill traffic in some places, he said.

Boulder City police said they didn't have a recorded accident on file on the road in at least two years.

City Engineer Jim Keane said walking around the gate would probably be possible, but not advisable.

"Mainly the gate is to deter cars, but we'd rather people not hike up there for security reasons with the antennas and everything else," he said.

Councilman Travis Chandler said he's driven the road for more than 20 years and thought a traffic light would be more appropriate.

"I just hate to see the access of that lost permanently to Boulder City residents," he said. "I've used and enjoyed it for many years. Sometimes I drive up. It's a great place especially if you're going to make a picnic out of it.

"I'd hate to see it go by the wayside for one trip every two hours."

Councilman Mike Pacini wanted to ensure the shuttle would be available for anyone, not just mountain bikers. The city and Greenheart are still sorting through the specifics.

The shuttle might be the only way to get to the top of the mountain, and Pacini said non-bikers should still get to see the spanning vistas.

"I would hate to take those views away," he said.

Cassie Tomlin can be reached at 948-2073 or [email protected].