Cold Creek is an unincorporated community in Clark County, Nevada, United States located within the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area and approximately 28 miles by road from the Las Vegas city limits. Cold Creek is named for the stream that flows through the community. Cold Creek is a popular community for residents of Las Vegas and nearby locations to purchase second homes, away from large cities. The community's isolated location provides little light pollution coming from Las Vegas at night. Cold Creek has a homeowners association.

History

In the 1930s, Cold Creek served as a

dude ranch A guest ranch, also known as a dude ranch, is a type of ranch oriented towards visitors or tourism. It is considered a form of agritourism. History Guest ranches arose in response to the romanticization of the American West that began to occur ...

called Cold Creek Ranch. Stacy Irvin, curator of education at the

Nevada State Museum Nevada State Museum may refer to: *Nevada State Museum, Carson City The Nevada State Museum in Carson City is one of seven Nevada State Museums operated by the Nevada Department of Tourism and Cultural Affairs. The primary building of the museum ...

, says, “Dude ranches were popular after the law for quickie divorces was passed in Nevada. Women would stay there for six weeks in order to get Nevada residency and be eligible for a divorce." The ranch now exists as a historic site. In June 1981, the Mack's Canyon Fire burned 6,500 acres of forest on Bonanza Peak, just southwest of Cold Creek. The scar caused by the wildfire is still visible, with only sparse vegetation and plant remains populating the area as of 2023. Cold Creek Road

Infrastructure

Cold Creek is served by the

Clark County Fire Department The Clark County Fire Department (CCFD) provides fire protection and emergency medical services for the unincorporated areas of Clark County, Nevada, United States. The cities of Las Vegas, Boulder City, North Las Vegas, Henderson and Mesquite ea ...

with a fire station and has no commercial businesses. The community is primarily accessed by Cold Creek Road, a paved road which heads northeast from the community to intersect with U.S. Route 95 at the High Desert State Prison. Cold Creek is an off-the-grid community and relies on power from

solar panel A solar cell panel, solar electric panel, photo-voltaic (PV) module, PV panel or solar panel is an assembly of photovoltaic solar cells mounted in a (usually rectangular) frame, and a neatly organised collection of PV panels is called a photo ...

Wildlife

Located within the 275,575 acre

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...

(BLM) Wheeler Pass Herd Management Area (HMA), the Cold Creek Herd is one of the final remaining wild horse herds near Las Vegas. The herd is made up of descendants of 1800s

horse trade Horse trade may refer to: *Horse Trade Theater Group *Horse trading Horse trading, in its literal sense, is the buying and selling of horses, also called "horse dealing". Due to the difficulties in evaluating the merits of a horse offered for s ...

escapees and horses abandoned by Native Americans, Las Vegas settlers, ranchers, and prospectors in the area that moved to the Spring Mountains. BLM currently estimates a smaller population of 47-66 wild horses in the HMA, as, due to a drought and food depletion, BLM had previously removed and relocated 236 of the wild horses from the range. The Wheeler Pass HMA is also home to burros,

elk The elk (''Cervus canadensis''), also known as the wapiti, is one of the largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. The common ...

, mule deer,

coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecologica ...

bobcat The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the red lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to North America. It ranges from southern Canada through most of the contiguous United States to Oaxaca in Mexico. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUC ...

s, jackrabbits, and mountain lions.

Recreation

Cold Creek is located within the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area and has Cold Creek Ranch Historic Site. Parking lots serve multiple trails in the area which are popularly traveled on horseback. Willow Creek Campground, located west of Cold Creek, is accessible from the community via Wheeler Pass Road. Bonanza Trailhead and Group Camp, located south of Cold Creek, is accessible from the community via Bonanza Camp Road. File:Cold Creek Nevada 3.jpg, Cold Creek Canyon Trailhead File:Cold Creek Nevada 4.jpg, A spring in Cold Creek, with the Spring Mountains in the background File:Cold Creek Ranch Historic Site.jpg, Cold Creek Ranch Historic Site

References

{{Nevada Unincorporated communities in Clark County, Nevada