text: Life is funny Sometimes the best adventures are unplanned My Shoreline Trail adventure was an unplanned adventurenn On a beautiful Spring afternoon I was hiking on the River Mountains Loop Trail from the Lake Mead Parkway trailhead which is by Mile Marker toward Mile Marker to admire the spring wildflower bloom Further into my hike there was this issue of dumping a now empty beverage cup There is an abundance of wildflowers on this segment of the River Mountains Loop Trail but not one single trash can The closest trash can was below me in the distant horizon of the Las Vegas Bay Overlook all the way across Lake Shore Drive I could not be a litterbug I did the right thing got off the River Mountains Loop Trail short of the wildflower bloom segment then literally hiked toward Las Vegas Bay in the distant horizonnn Now on the Las Vegas Bay Overlook I was mesmerized by the vista of the Las Vegas Wash emptying into Lake Mead It is a mesmerizing spot that the Wetlands Trail and Bluff Trail fall short of touching This view is lightning captured in a jar Immediately my mind went from the spring wildflower bloom to the solitude of the running Las Vegas Wash emptying into Lake Mead Was there a trail down below that I could hike Google Maps came to my rescue Below along the shoreline of Las Vegas Wash and Lake Mead an adventure awaited me on the Shoreline Trail My good deed of going out of my way to leave the River Mountains Loop Trail litter free paid off Instant Karma rewarded me with a new beautiful hike in Lake Mead I would leave the Las Vegas Bay Overlook then walk a few hundred feet alongside Lake Shore Drive to the road that leads to Las Vegas Bay and Shoreline Trailnn The following paragraphs portray a picture of the Shoreline Trail experience through words The Shoreline Trail starts at the former Las Vegas Bay boat ramp To reach the road that ends up at Las Vegas Bayyou will drive on Lake Shore Drive as if you were headed toward Boulder City for approximately two miles from the Lake Mead Parkway Fee Station There will be a sign for Las Vegas Bay directing you to turn left From here you drive on a downhill windy road toward Lake Mead On the way you pass the turnoff for the road to a campground and the Wetlands Trail Near the end of the road at Las Vegas Bay is a parking lot by a picnic area Due to the temporary closure of Las Vegas Bay on account of low water levels this is an underpopulated narea Past this parking area is the hill to the boat slip The Shoreline Trail starts at the sidewalk to the right of the boat slipnn The Shoreline Trail soon turns to the right on a sandy path bordered by rocks The landscape is riparian The scenery and aroma is wetlands To the right are the sandstone bluffs that include the Las Vegas Bay overlook where I learned about this trail The trail turns to the left heading deeper into the riparian environment Ahead is a rock monolith that only your imagination can describe To me it looks like a combination of a circular pyramid and large pineapple head Soon the trail steeply climbs along the edge of what looks like a sandstone bluff Straight ahead is the very spot where Las Vegas Wash empties into Lake Mead This is the spot that the Wetlands Trail and the Bluff Trail tease the hiker about touching From this very spot the Shoreline Trail continues through the riparian environment It is an environment ideal for birds I would set eyes on a roadrunner up on one of the bluffs The vistas are now of a very tranquil Lake Mead distant from the bathtub ring and motor boats To the right is a what looks like a tee pee and towering hills There is another breathtaking vista where you walk up a small climb that looks like you are about to touch Lake Mead AbruptlyThe Shoreline Trail turns right and continues along sandstone bluffs that look like an amphitheater The trail travels deeper into the riparian environment and seems to keep going and going like the Energizer battery Eventually it peters out into the riparian environmentnn I could be wrong but it appears that Shoreline Trail is a relatively new trail that is a work in progress What makes me say this is that none of the Las Vegas hiking literature mentions it and when I was hiking on it a man was doing some work along the trailnn The Shoreline Trail is currently a relatively short hike According to my Cardio Trainer app the length was miles and time it took to hike it was approximately minutes Keep in mind that I did this hike in conjunction with a lengthy hike on the River Mountains Loop Trail From my experiencethe ultimate Shoreline Trail experience would be to hike it after either a Wetlands Trail or Bluff Trail hike Wetlands Trail travels along the Las Vegas Wash just east of Lake Las Vegas and the Bluff Trail overlooks the Las Vegas Wash on way to Lake Meadnn I