Shaun Hunter
Photo Date: 
02/28/2018
Granted National Monument status in December of 2014, Tule Springs Fossil Beds currently is in the forming stages, and it is marked only by a sign and some fencing along its North Las Vegas boundary.
Shaun Hunter
Photo Date: 
02/28/2018
Parking is available along the roads, though access to the fossil beds is by foot only.
Shaun Hunter
Photo Date: 
02/28/2018
Though there are currently no marked trails, it is easy to follow worn footpaths of past visitors into the monument.
Shaun Hunter
Photo Date: 
02/28/2018
The Las Vegas Wash is sparsely vegetated, and signs that water once flowed through the area are clear.
Shaun Hunter
Photo Date: 
02/28/2018
Gass Peak rises in the north behind the Ice Age fossil beds.
Shaun Hunter
Photo Date: 
02/28/2018
Water erosion has created some interesting landscapes throughout the monument area.
Shaun Hunter
Photo Date: 
02/28/2018
Given protected status to prevent Las Vegas' quick-moving sprawl from taking over the land, its near proximity to the city has left it with signs of human disturbance such as fire pits and litter.
Shaun Hunter
Photo Date: 
02/28/2018
Fossils of Ice Age creatures like the Columbian Mammoth, dire wolf, camelops, large sloths and American lions have been found throughout the area.
Shaun Hunter
Photo Date: 
02/28/2018
While heading into the rolling buttes can feel like an escape from the city, the monument lies right next to the North Las Vegas sprawl.
Shaun Hunter
Photo Date: 
02/28/2018
Land formations within Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument.
Shaun Hunter
Photo Date: 
02/28/2018
Flora inside Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument.
Shaun Hunter
Photo Date: 
02/28/2018
Water erosion has made the land inside the wash a series of rolling buttes, while fossils are easily found across everything above the floor of the wash.
Shaun Hunter
Photo Date: 
02/28/2018
Landscapes inside Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument.
Shaun Hunter
Photo Date: 
02/28/2018
Gass Peak rises over the landscape inside Tule Springs Fossil Beds.