Mack's Canyon open campground — Hotel in Pahrump

This is beautiful, rustic, dispersed camping area. No water, no trash pickup, no facilities at all. If you're looking for a KOA, this ain't it.

As of July 22, 2022, no campfires allowed. DO NOT light a fire thinking that you'll be careful. That's both irresponsible and illegal. With years of drought, it is a tinderbox back there with only one way out. It would be very easy to get trapped back in that canyon if there was a fire.

The first mile is easy dirt road - but is also the most crowded.

After that, it's slow and careful going on a frequently rough road. There are some 1-lane tracks with steep drops and tight turns. I wouldn't take a camper back there. If you met someone coming the other way, it might be difficult and dangerous to back up.

That being said, my AWD Subaru Outback made it with no problems - so it's not a truck-only kinda deal. If you've got a little clearance you should be good to go.

Even at the peak of summer, it's cool and quiet. The stars are amazing. Take a tent, lots of water, First-Aid kit, and sanitary supplies....

Disclaimer: we didn't make it all the way to Mack's. We've got a long, low clearance ford transit pulling a Honda CR-V and had some bad luck lately with long, windy dirt roads. So we pulled off 73 well before Mack's and camped at one of the established sites closer to the highway.

Found a number of decent trails and followed them to the tops of mountains for some great views. Campsite is close enough for a day trip to Vegas or Hoover dam, lake Mead area. Temperatures are much cooler than in the city.

Not a lot of wildlife, some lizards and birds.

Very dry, and something in the air got my allergies going pretty good. An alarming amount of garbage. We cleaned out multiple bins of broken glass, cans, stone (a whole countertop's worth), automotive scraps, discarded camping gear, you name it, from our site over just a few days, and the whole area...

Small camp ground, once you reach the end of the trail. It probably gets full on weekends and holidays. Primitive camp: no facilities, bring everything and take everything with you. Right now they don't want you to build fires even in rings only with gas stoves... takes away from the camping experience and there really doesn't seem to be much danger of fires getting out of hand if they were allowed. Been living and exploring in Las Vegas area for quite awhile and the summers here can be deadly. Yet, here we are in late June and just got drenched with rain and hail ... and then it's warm again all in one day! Elevation makes the difference. Once you have explored all these areas in all seasons you begin to long for those huge forests of the Sierra Nevada's. My kids were ok with it.. just ok. and the wife was feeling real nervous about the phones not...