The closure notice concerns a specific trailhead. The key is distinguishing that trailhead from other routes near Ascaya.
There are two ways into Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area that matter if you live on the McCullough Range. One of them has been under a construction closure since late 2024. The other one, the one that actually runs along the ridge behind Ascaya, has been open the entire time.
The Notice Everyone Has Seen
The closure that shows up in every search result is real. The Bureau of Land Management has Nawghaw Poa Road and its parking area closed from November 12, 2024, through November 11, 2026 while it builds a permanent visitor contact station at the Petroglyph Canyon trailhead. The Petroglyph Canyon Trail and the 101 Trail have been rerouted, and parking for both has shifted to the shoulder of Democracy Drive, a good walk from where the paved lot used to sit.
That trailhead sits on the east side of the conservation area, reached off Via Firenze and Democracy Drive out near Inspirada and Anthem. It's the entry point people mean when they talk about the petroglyphs, the dry waterfall scrambles, and the roughly four-mile loop that ends at the rock art panels. It is a genuinely good hike. It is also nowhere near Ascaya's gate.
What's Actually Behind the Range
Ascaya sits near the top of the McCullough Range, and the north side of that range carries the McCullough Hills Trail, an eight-mile route connecting the McCullough Hills area on the east to Anthem Hills Park on the west. This is a separate trailhead system from Nawghaw Poa Road, reached from W Mission Drive rather than Democracy Drive, and it hasn't appeared in any of the BLM closure notices tied to the visitor contact station project.
The distinction matters: the construction zone is contained to the Petroglyph Canyon complex, not every nearby trail. Anthem Hills Park, the parking area that opens onto the north end of the trail system, has kept functioning as a straightforward way in the whole time.
Here's how the two compare right now:
| Petroglyph Canyon / Nawghaw Poa Road | McCullough Hills / Anthem Hills Park | |
|---|---|---|
| Vehicle access | Closed through November 11, 2026 | Open, unaffected by the closure |
| Parking | Temporary lot on Democracy Drive | Standard lot off W Mission Drive |
| What's there | Petroglyph Canyon Trail, 101 Trail (both rerouted) | McCullough Hills Trail, roughly 8 miles one-way |
| Dogs | Prohibited on Petroglyph Canyon Trail | Permitted on leash in most sections |
If a hike behind Ascaya has been on the list for months and kept getting pushed because of a closure notice, that notice was almost certainly describing the other trailhead.
The Route That Skips Both
There's a third option that avoids the question entirely. Ascaya's own amenity set includes several miles of maintained trail inside the gates, part of what the community lists alongside its clubhouse, pools, and courts. Longtime residents know the internal loop by name, the Ascaya Trail connecting into the Cloud Chaser Trail, a route built for a short morning walk or a longer hike without ever touching a BLM parking lot or a construction zone. It won't get you to the petroglyphs, but it will get you moving before the sun climbs, and it never requires checking a closure notice first.
When the Notice Actually Lifts
The current closure window ends November 11, 2026, just under six weeks from now. BLM has also been looking past this project. In December 2025, the agency held a public Trail Route Workshop at the Black Mountain Recreation Center in Henderson to gather input on the broader Sloan Canyon trail system, including evaluating unauthorized social trails for possible adoption. None of that changes anything about access this fall, but it suggests the agency isn't treating the visitor center as the last word on how this network gets used going forward.
Once the Nawghaw Poa Road lot reopens, the Petroglyph Canyon Trail returns to its standard footprint, restrictions and all. The canyon caps at twenty people at a time to protect the rock art, hours run 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and dogs still aren't allowed on that particular trail regardless of how the parking situation resolves.
The Window That Actually Matters
None of this is worth planning around in July. Temperatures in this stretch of the Mojave regularly push past 100 degrees in summer, and multiple trail resources flag the same guidance: go from October through May, and go early. That window opens now and holds through spring, which makes the next several months the actual season for using either trailhead, not a footnote to it.
For a resident deciding this weekend, the practical version comes down to three options. Head to Anthem Hills Park off Mission Drive for the McCullough Hills Trail, which has run uninterrupted through the entire Nawghaw Poa Road closure. Wait until after November 11 for Petroglyph Canyon, when the standard lot and trail return to normal. Or skip the drive altogether and use the miles of trail already inside Ascaya's own gates.
The closure notice is accurate. It describes the Petroglyph Canyon complex, not the McCullough Hills Trail near this community.
If you're weighing what a home along this stretch of the McCullough Range is actually worth, given what sits behind the gate and what's changing around it, the team at Darin Marques knows this ridge well enough to walk you through it.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
