North Peak (Limestone) via Lovell Canyon Road - 3/14/22

Snow-capped Griffith Peak from North Peak (Limestone)

North Peak (Limestone) - L / Bridge Mountain - R

Bridge Mountain / North Peak Trail Ridge

Rocky Gap Road at Lovell Canyon Road TH

Rocky Gap Road! Quite a road ... especially on the west side of Red Rock Summit. There are many websites that have dedicated themselves to informing the public about the dangers and excitements of running this road but, as far as the history goes, eh, not so much. It was an old pioneer trail turned road used to get from the Pahrump side of the Spring Mountains to the Las Vegas side of the Spring Mountains until SR 160 was built out of SR 16 that was used back in the 1920's. There is no doubt in my mind why it is named Rocky Gap! One website I found shows a video of a car traveling the west side of Rocky Gap Road where we hiked. The link is  https://www.dangerousroads.org/north-america/usa/8558-rocky-gap-road.html. The section we hiked is found from around 3 minutes to 14:30 minutes. Other websites show photos of the road, including what is known as the "Rock Garden" but I have included a few photos here as we experienced them.

Chilly Breeze this Morning

Rocky Gap Road

Rocky Gap Road

Crossing Rainbow Wilderness Boundary

Rocky Gap Road, aka Potato Ridge Trail, is rated 7A 7 and is 8.2 miles long from Lovell Canyon on the west side, over Red Rock Summit, to Willow Springs Picnic Area on the east side. While the east side is a whopping 5 miles with a gain of around 1900', the west side is only 3 miles with a gain of 1173'. Therefore, it goes without saying that the climb up the road from Lovell Canyon to Red Rock Summit is easier. None of us had ever hiked the road from the west so it was a no brainer to use this side to climb a long unvisited (by us) peak called North Peak (Limestone). We looked forward to learning a thing or two about the legendary road, including the "Rock Garden." We would definitely park the roadster at the bottom of the road off of Lovell Canyon where we saw many holiday campers along the road having a great weekend.

The Rock Garden on Rocky Gap Road

The Rock Garden on Rocky Gap Road

Approaching Red Rock Summit

Red Rock Summit View

The road begins with a long switchback to climb the initial berm. Once up, the road levels out and moves along in an innocent fashion. The slope is easily hiked and we paced at around 2 mph. We passed the Red Rock Canyon NCA boundary sign as we approached 2 miles in. Another tenth of a mile put us over the Rainbow Wilderness boundary. Then ... all **** broke loose! The Rock Garden begins just over the wilderness boundary. Our mouths dropped open in awe! Bedrock lined the right side of the road tilted upward at a 35 degree angle. Boulders, no, big boulders lay in the middle of the road. There were go arounds through the adjacent wash that appeared even worse. And, the road is falling off the hill in a couple of places.

Bridge Mountain / North Peak Trail

Bridge Mountain / North Peak Trail

Ridge Outcroppings on Trail

Enjoying the Climb

The worst of it lasts for about 0.2 miles. After that, we continued on up to Red Rock Summit where the trailhead for North Peak (Limestone) and Bridge Mountain Trail is located. We turned to the right and began hiking up a trail that follows a ridge. Views all around us were mountains with snow patches. We could see east Rocky Gap Road as it descended toward Willow Springs. The trail climbs steeper than the road does so we slowed down a bit. Finally, after a couple of switchbacks, we came to the trail junction. Veering straight right puts hikers on their way to Bridge Mountain; still another 2 miles away. Turning to the left, you are on the quarter mile trail to North Peak. Both of these peaks can be seen from near the junction. See the second photo of this entry and the photo below.

Trail Junction

North Peak (Limestone) on Approach

Scramble to the Limestone Peak

Well said, Lauren and Ian.

Both the main trail and this smaller one are well maintained. They are much clearer than eight years ago when I last hiked them. The trail signs are also a welcome addition. That said, there are a couple of trails very close to each other that lead out to the limestone peak. Either way, the trail ends at an easy scramble up on top of the outcrop. We scampered up and were met with views in every direction. Unfortunately, the BLM was doing some prescribed burning at Spring Mountain State Park and there was a lot of smoke blurring the distant views. Regardless, the beauty is there to behold. North Peak (Sandstone), Bridge Mountain, Snoopy's Nose, Wilson Peak and the rest of the escarpment, the Calico Hills, and the La Madre Range.

North Peak (Sandstone) from Limestone Peak

Bridge Mountain and the Sandstone Bluffs

Ralyn and Kay on the Peak

Descent off of Peak

After photos and signing the log book, we scampered back down the limestone and hiked back down to Red Rock Summit. The hike up the trail and down only took about an hour and 45 minutes. Down Rocky Gap Road, we went. As we descended the Rock Garden, we took a group photo. Each of us were standing on our own large obstacle rock. Next, we came to a couple of Jeeps making their way up the road. They were a few old fogies like us having a great time. In total, the hike down through the canyon seemed short. The whole day seemed short, fun, and exciting!

Stats: 8.4 miles; 1985' gain; 4.25 hours

Descending the Trail - Rocky Gap Road from Willow Springs Below

Fearsome Foursome in the Rock Garden

Trailhead Sign