Mountain Springs Peak v Horse Trail & Upper Cairn Trail - 5/10/25

View from escarpment Snack Cliff to Cottonwood Valley

Stratosphere Casino through small window near Snack Cliff

Desert Sunrise

Sunrise on Mt. Potosi

It was going to be a hot day in May so three lady hikers parked up at the Mountain Springs Pass Trailhead very early, still wiping the sleep out of our eyes. Watching the sun come up in the cool morning air, we climbed up the first hill and took the trail over to the bottom of the Cairn Trails circle. A left turn here, brought us around to a collection of agave roasting pits. There are nine pits that I know of just in this area. Passing the last one and connecting with the more travelled road above the springs, we found the beginning of the Mountain Springs Horse Trail that traverses the foothills of the escarpment peaks. We wanted to get this part hiked before the day began to heat up. There were many flowers that were there to admire and enjoy.

One of several agave roasting pits in the Mountain Springs Area

Susan likes to climb trees!

Mountain Springs Horse Trail across Foothills

Small wash route to escarpment Rim

About 2.2 miles into the hike, we turned right off the trail. (Sometimes this junction has a small cairn.) We turned and began hiking a vague path through the low scattered blackbrush. The terrain here is a small ridge that runs along a wash on the left side about 50' down to 10' away. When the ridge brush became a little thicker, we found a good place to drop into that wash and started up. Being careful not to let small wash forks take us up to the right, we followed our wash with indications of foot traffic and side paths. As we gently climbed for around 0.75 mile, there were familiar landmarks. At this point, I'm afraid I got anxious and turned too soon up a wash on the left. No matter. I've done this before! At any rate, we gained the ridge on the left side of the small wash and began our climb up toward the escarpment rim. 

Best scramble in small Wash

Charleston Peak from ascent Ridge

Susan climbs the ascent Ridge

Kay and Sue peek over the side of Cliff

This was the most challenging climb of the morning. We took our time and went slow. We followed the most obvious track through the scarce brush and recognized landmarks. There is a little bit of a trail beginning to form over the years. Reaching a small cairn, we veered to the right and traversed over to the escarpment rim trail just above the Snack Cliff. Here, we found the small window with the view of the Stratosphere Casino and took our break on the cliff overhang. What a view! Most prominently, we saw the Hidden Peak and Monument Peak bench stretching out from left to right in front of us. After our break, we continued along the escarpment rim trail up to Mountain Springs Peak. There are a few forks to the trail in this section. The best rule, if you want to hit the peak, is to stay on the trail that is closest to the rim on the left. We did until we didn't. Missing the last fork, we ended up hiking up to the peak from the other end of the summit. No worries. It just happened! Anyway, we took our photos at the peak, remarked on the triumvirate of survey markers and continued down the trail along the escarpment. As we hiked, we noticed the abundance of Claret Cup cacti blooming. Other new flowers included indigo, primrose and Utah penstemon. Agave spears popped up left and right.

Hiking up to find small window at Snack Cliff

Hidden Peak and Monument Peak from Snack Cliff

Susan and Sue take their break on the Snack Cliff

Black Velvet Peak (L) and Windy Peak (R)
from Mountain Springs Peak

We hiked down the escarpment rim trail toward Windy Peak and made sure to take a right fork on the ridge when it appeared. The left fork offers a spectacular view of Black Velvet Peak down below but we needed to hit the high point ahead to junction with the Upper Cairn Trail. This junction is marked by a small unassuming double cairn to the right. After turning right, a small trail marked by many small cairns appears. The trail follows the top of the ridge all the way back down to the Cairns Trails Circle. Small cairns mark the way and sometimes it behooves the hiker to pay close attention to the indicated route as, sometimes, the trail crosses over rock slab.

Wilson Peak, Monument Peak and Calico Hills from Mountain Springs Peak

Three Lady Hikers on Mountain Springs Peak

Mountain Springs Peak Trail

Mountain Springs Trail approach to
Upper Cairn Trail junction from North

With a small cheer, the lady hikers arrived at the Upper / Lower Cairn Trail junction! We hiked down to cross the  circle and stay on the trail. At our favorite crossing location, we crossed the big gully and turned right on the old dirt road. The road took us around to the shortcut trail and down that first hill of the radio relay tower road. When we parked the car in the morning, there were only a couple of campers at the trailhead. On the return, they were gone and many other cars were there. Since we only saw one other hiker all morning, these cars, most likely, belonged to bicyclists. One great morning! And, the heated wind had only just started its engines! Good planning ... if I may say so myself! 😉

Stats: 6.6 miles; 1500' gain; 4.75 hours

Mountain Springs, NV from Upper Cairn Trail Descent

Upper Cairn Trail atop the Ridge

Sue crosses the Gully

Reverence Heights Loop - 5/6/25

Trail circling toward Summerlin Peak Above

Cliffhanger Trail

Buckskin Cliff Shadows Park

Red Barrel Cactus after Rain

The Reverence Heights Loop Trail began as a bike trail located within the Red Rock Canyon NCA boundary. The trailhead is found in the Buckskin Cliff Shadows Park. Three Lady Hikers started out from the park on the trail that curves around the south end of Cheyenne Mountain, the Toque Trail. Taking the lower fork as we continued around, the trail leads straight down to cross the large wash below. The trail led us up to bend around to the left and along the back of the homes built along the Red Rock boundary below. The homes are beautiful! Try not to stare! We made our subversive observations of the amazing pools and architecture and continued our hike without stopping to a large gully crossing where we could stop out of sight of homeowners.

Fog in the small Peaks

Circling around above houses and Roads

Large cairns mark the Junctions (Reverence community below & Cheyenne Peak beyond)

Lone agave Bloom

Next, the trail led around the corner and along another small peak. Circling around the east end of this peak, we could see more homes being built and the close proximity to the west end of Lake Mead Parkway. The trail is challenging in some spots because of rocks and polished limestone slabs. Finally out of sight of the roads, we climbed to a saddle where there are 2 or 3 large piles of rocks (cairns). Taking note of the last one situated near the top of a saddle, we continued up the highest trail to the left. This climb took us to another saddle and, again, we turned onto the highest trail to the left. A beautiful part of the loop hike, this trail ran along a rock ridge fin, sometimes steeply, to a saddle that is a nice place to stop for a break, as we did.

Starting up next to ridge Fin

Hiking up along ridge Fin

Hiking up along ridge Fin

Saddle break Spot

This is an amazing place to view some of the city and to feel close to the small mountain peaks behind us ... one of which is the famed Summerlin Peak. When we began the hike, the area was covered by thick fog. Reaching the break saddle, we noted that the fog had burned off and the sky was beginning to turn blue in a few places. We took our photo and continued down over the saddle about 50' to connect with a trail switchbacking to the left. I call this the Cliffhanger Trail simply because as it rounds the next small peak, the trail hangs off the side of the mountain for a short distance. (One of the more fun parts of the hike.) Dipping down on the other side of the peak, we began a series of long switchbacks to return back to the ridge fin side of a bowl.

Hiking around the Cliffhanger Trail

Heading back after Switchbacks

Trail back to Cairn Junction

Summerlin Peak from return Trail

Meeting the ridge fin trail, we returned down past the fin saddle and down to the large cairn junction. Here, we turned to drop down the other side of the ridge on the return trail. Essentially, the return trail runs parallel to the trail we initially took above the backs of the homes. But, this trail is more interesting in its small challenges and is more picturesque. This trail took us back to the other end of the homes and with a little bushwhack helping us along, we junctioned with an old road/trail to start a little descent. When a trail crossed our path, we turned to the right and began retracing our steps from the beginning of the hike. Back at the cars, we all agreed that the hike was just the right amount of work for the day! I love this hike and I hope that these instructions will help you in following the route. Just, please, be respectful of the homeowners in the area.

Stats: 5.7 miles; 1050' gain; 3.5 hours

Return Trail

Cactus garden on return Trail

Star Carlton Bluff from Toque Trail Return

Arnight / Knoll Loop (from Red Rock Scenic Loop exit parking) - 4/29/25

Taking a break on a big Boulder

If you have been wondering, well, my old computer hard drive got corrupted ( I guess it couldn't keep up with the updates anymore) and I was forced into a new computer. A lot of my old pics and maps will have to be recovered from the exterior discs but it's not as easy as it sounds. I'm working on it. Doin' the best I can here! The photos on this entry were taken by Susan R. Thank goodness for that!

Strawberry Hedgehog

The Lady Hikers set out on an oldie but goodie loop trail in search of some spring blooms. Particularly, we were looking for open blooms of the Strawberry Hedgehog Cacti. For a couple of weeks now, we have been passing many of these prickly plants with large buds on them. We would always say, "Any day!" And, Wow! We found a treasure trove of the plants in the area between the Red Rock Scenic Loop and the Red Rock escarpment while hiking on the Arnight Trail and the Knoll Trail. Both trails can be accessed from the Oak Creek Canyon Trailhead ... the last trailhead on the Red Rock Scenic Loop. This area can also be reached from the parking lot at the end of the Red Rock Scenic Loop at SR 159. So four of us parked there and hiked out one of the many trails there to get to the Oak Creek Canyon Trailhead where there is a small park bathroom. After a brief stop here, we continued out the Arnight Trail. Our hike loop is indicated on the sign here. One of the things that makes the Arnight Trail stand out is the fact that it is very rocky ... even more so than most of the other dirt trails in the park. So, we stepped high and sure as we climbed up the gradual hill and through a few wide washes.

Narrowleaf Goldenbush

Finding the Knoll Trail junction to the left, we started up. None of us had hiked this trail for a few years so it was pleasantly "new." The Knoll Trail is pretty and we soon found a very large slanted boulder on the right of the trail where there is also a spur trail to Juniper Canyon. We sat up on the boulder and had a break then returned to the Knoll Trail and continued out in the direction of Potato Knoll that you could see in the distance. We could also see the Oak Creek Canyon Trailhead pretty far away down the hill. We followed the Knoll Trail until we came to a large trail sign. Several trails spoked out from the sign and we chose the Middle Oak Creek Trail to continue back to the cars. Eventually, this trail brought us back to a very familiar trail junction coming out of the adjacent Oak Creek Canyon on the right. From there, a turn to the left followed soon after and we were on our way back to the cars. Fun morning!

Stats: 5.4 miles

Kay points out the Knoll Trail Junction