Mount Charleston (Spring Mountains National Recreation Area)

Drive northwest out of Las Vegas and the road keeps climbing until creosote gives way to Joshua trees, then to juniper and piñon, then to tall ponderosa pine and fir. This is the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area, run by the U.S. Forest Service as part of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. Congress created it in 1993, and it covers about 317,000 acres, ranging from about 3,000 feet in the valleys to 11,918 feet at the top of Charleston Peak, the highest point in Clark County. Most locals simply call the whole area Mount Charleston.

The elevation is the point. Temperatures in the canyons commonly run around 20 °F (11 °C) cooler than in the valley, so the mountain is where Las Vegas goes to escape summer heat and, in winter, to see snow. That same height makes the weather quick to change: summer afternoon thunderstorms, cold nights in spring and fall, and snow and ice on the roads in winter.

Two paved roads climb into the range. Kyle Canyon Road (State Route 157), part of which is designated a Nevada Scenic Byway, leads to the Spring Mountains Visitor Gateway, picnic areas, campgrounds and the small village of Mount Charleston; Cathedral Rock Picnic Area near its upper end is about 30 miles from Las Vegas. Lee Canyon Road (State Route 156) runs to a ski area and campgrounds higher up. Deer Creek Road (State Route 158) links the two along the slope, passing overlooks with long views over the desert.

The range is an island of mountain habitat surrounded by desert, and some of its plants and animals live nowhere else. The Mount Charleston blue butterfly is one of them; the Forest Service closes certain areas to collecting to protect it. Near the summits, ancient bristlecone pines grow on wind-scoured ridges, some of the oldest trees anywhere.

The Visitor Gateway is the place to start. Its complex includes a visitor center, an education building, amphitheaters, picnic sites and links to more than 40 miles of trails, and staff can tell you which trailheads are open, since several have been closed for repairs in recent years. Across the highway, the Cliff Rose Trailhead gives a first taste of the trail network without much more driving.

Highlights