Red Rock Canyon State Park

EVERY so often you come across somewhere close to home that's so magnificent it stops you in your tracks, leaving you wide-eyed and slack-jawed. Red Rock Canyon State Park -- where the southernmost tip of the Sierra Nevada meets the El Paso Range and just two hours north of downtown L.A. -- is one of those places. The 4,000-acre swath of spectacular desert scenery could easily be a double for the Southwest.

EVERY so often you come across somewhere close to home that's so magnificent it stops you in your tracks, leaving you wide-eyed and slack-jawed. Red Rock Canyon State Park -- where the southernmost tip of the Sierra Nevada meets the El Paso Range and just two hours north of downtown L.A. -- is one of those places. The 4,000-acre swath of spectacular desert scenery could easily be a double for the Southwest.

The view of Red Rock Canyon, in the Mojave Desert's El Paso Mountains, may very well seem like deja vu to visitors. Cliffs and canyons in these parts have appeared in the background of many Western movies over the years. A black-and-white movie of Red Rock Canyon would be dramatic: shadow and light playing over the canyon walls. But technicolor might capture more vividly the aptly named red rock, along with the chocolate brown, black, white and pink hues of the pleated cliffs.

Seventeen miles west of the Strip and two miles from where construction workers are hammering together yet another housing development lies the most spectacular sight in all Las Vegas: a 7,000-foot band of sandstone, riven into a series of canyons and crags, all painted with huge horizontal strips of crimson.

Site: The Ricardo Formation, Red Rock Canyon State Park Where: Off Highway 14 near Ridgecrest Lore: You've seen this place before. Look at the backdrop for the Hannassey ranch in "The Big Country" or the cliffs that Zero and Stanley climb in the movie "Holes." The dramatic crags of Red Rock Canyon have been a frequent star in movies over the years.

A controversial bill to preserve 8 million acres of California desert, much of it in San Bernardino County, stalled in committee Wednesday. Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.), the bill's sponsor, accused Sen. Pete Wilson (R-Calif.) of masterminding a procedural tactic that prevented the Energy and Natural Resources Committee from voting on the bill. Wilson, who was in California campaigning for governor, denied Cranston's charge that he called on Sen. James McClure (R-Ida.

Seventeen miles west of the Strip and two miles from where construction workers are hammering together yet another housing development lies the most spectacular sight in all Las Vegas: a 7,000-foot band of sandstone, riven into a series of canyons and crags, all painted with huge horizontal strips of crimson.

Driving for the pure fun of the road is one of my secret pleasures. Speeding along a highway going no particular place, windows down and the wind blasting my face, is an indulgence I usually choose not to resist. And of all the roads in my life, U.S. 395 is like a love interest that I never quite get enough of.

I enjoyed the article on Red Rock Canyon State Park ["Otherworldly, in a Reel World Kind of Way," Down and Dirty, April 8]. It is an amazing place, otherworldly and spectacular. However, I was dismayed that you ran the photos of this eerie and colorful natural phenomenon in glorious black and white. On the preceding page, you did run a rather dull photo of a Las Vegas bar in color. DAVID KOETH Bakersfield

A pilot and his passenger were found dead Sunday underneath the wreckage of a small plane that crashed near Koehn Lake in the Mojave Desert, authorities said. An air ambulance helicopter was used to lift the wreckage of the Long EZ, a type of home-built airplane, from deep mud near the dry lake, east of Red Rock Canyon State Park in the desert northeast of Los Angeles. The crash was thought to have occurred Saturday evening, said Kern County Senior Deputy Sheriff Richard Dixon.

Site: The Ricardo Formation, Red Rock Canyon State Park Where: Off Highway 14 near Ridgecrest Lore: You've seen this place before. Look at the backdrop for the Hannassey ranch in "The Big Country" or the cliffs that Zero and Stanley climb in the movie "Holes." The dramatic crags of Red Rock Canyon have been a frequent star in movies over the years.

The view of Red Rock Canyon, in the Mojave Desert's El Paso Mountains, may very well seem like deja vu to visitors. Cliffs and canyons in these parts have appeared in the background of many Western movies over the years. A black-and-white movie of Red Rock Canyon would be dramatic: shadow and light playing over the canyon walls. But technicolor might capture more vividly the aptly named red rock, along with the chocolate brown, black, white and pink hues of the pleated cliffs.

A controversial bill to preserve 8 million acres of California desert, much of it in San Bernardino County, stalled in committee Wednesday. Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.), the bill's sponsor, accused Sen. Pete Wilson (R-Calif.) of masterminding a procedural tactic that prevented the Energy and Natural Resources Committee from voting on the bill. Wilson, who was in California campaigning for governor, denied Cranston's charge that he called on Sen. James McClure (R-Ida.

Theater "Room Service," the classic comedy that was a Broadway hit in 1937 and a Marx Brothers film of 1938, closes at the Actors Alley at El Portal on Sunday. 5269 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood. Today-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. $16. (818) 508-4200. Jazz Trumpeter and film composer Terence Blanchard's five-day run with vocalist Jubilant Sykes and quintet closes at the Jazz Bakery, 3233 Helms Ave., Culver City, with 8:30 and 10 p.m. shows today-Saturday.

A bit of drive-by history is the subject of "The California Deserts: Today and Yesterday," which reveals changes in the desert landscape over 80 years by pairing then-and-now photos from archives of the Automobile Club of Southern California. The exhibit, running Jan. 24 through June 14 at the Palm Springs Desert Museum, includes scenes from Red Rock Canyon State Park, Joshua Tree National Park, Death Valley National Park, the Salton Sea and the Coachella Valley.