Highland Range Crucial Bighorn Habitat Area

             {Click on an image to enlarge, then use the back button to return to this page}

(Fig. 01)

(Fig. 02) The Highland Range is a small 10-mile range south of Henderson that is connected to the southeast flank of the McCullough Range with a ridgeline composed of metamorphic rock that extends into the northwest region of the Eldorado Valley. It contains and area that has been classified as the Highland Range Crucial Bighorn Habitat Area (green shaded area in (Fig. 02)). Only a few miles off US-95 and surrounded by power lines, this doesn’t appear to be an obvious destination for a hike. However, as one drives south on US-95 at the southern end of the Eldorado Valley, its jagged profile with multicolored volcanic rocks against the sky provides an enticing lure that is hard to resist. The washes and alluvial plains that lead to mountain ridges in this area are filled with scattered yucca, Cholula and barrel cacti, and are only further enhanced by the solitude provided by the 360 views of the surrounding rock formations. (Fig. 03) The McCullough Range, which acts as a backdrop to the Highland Range, includes 2 distinct ranges that stretch for more than 15 miles, starting from the 93/95/515 all the way to Nipton Road, southwest of Searchlight. The northern range that backs up to Henderson, is of volcanic origin and contains Black Mountain. The more expansive southern portion of the range where McCullough Mountain resides at an elevation of 7026 feet, is classified as the South McCullough Mountains Wilderness Area (Fig. 03).

(Fig. 04) 06/02/2015 Trip Notes: Today Harvey Smith and I decided to make another visit to the McClough and Highland ranges in Eldorado Valley. If you view and compare the pictures on these two pages, the effects of an addition three year of drought becomes much more evident. There are less animals, from lizards and jackrabbits to bighorn sheep. The vegetation has become more and more sparse and less green due to the lack of water over the past 12 years. Click here for pictures and a description of today's visit ... Eldorado Valley and the McClough and Highland Ranges.

(Fig. 05) 09/26/2012 Trip Notes: Today, my friend Harvey Smith and I decided to take a hike in the Highland Range at the southern end of Eldorado Canyon. The drive in from US-95 along the power line road to the point were we parked and began our hike was about four miles. Click (Fig. 04) to enlarge and see the details. Having arrived around sunrise, (Fig. 01) is a view west capturing the lower end of the range as the morning sun struck it, rising over the Eldorado Range behind us (Fig. 05). At an elevation of 2678 feet, he picture below (Fig. 06) was taken at the mouth of the valley wash next to the road where we park the truck. Hugging the right side of the wash, we headed for the ravine at the right side of the shaded area near the middle of the picture, and highlighted by the close-up in (Fig. 07) . Notice what appears to be a “path” outlined by a grouping of red barrel cactus pointing directly at the spot that we were heading to. From this same location I merely turned slightly to my right (west) and captured the view found in (Fig. 08).

(Fig.06)

(Fig. 07)

(Fig. 08)

After some rather difficult hiking up and down several cross washes that ran east to west across this alluvial plain, we finally reached an increasingly steep wash that had been worn right into the rock bed along a rising cliff. When we were finally able to climb out of this and up onto the top of the ledge, we were at nearly 3,000 feet. The relatively small elevation gain of  only 320 feet from our starting point, provided us amazing views and some of the most beautiful vistas we have ever seen. The grouping below (Figs. 09-12) show the South, North, East and West views from the top of this ledge. In one of the distant outcroppings off to the east, we were even afforded a rare sight for Nevada, a view of a natural arch (Fig. 13) .

(Fig. 09) View South

(Fig. 10) View North

(Fig. 11) View East

(Fig. 12) View West

(Fig. 13) Natural Arch

Because the hike up  along the plain was rather difficult, we decided to look for another route back, rather than having to retrace our original route. We actually found a trail down that appeared to have been made by the Bighorn sheep that frequent this area. Each of the pictures five below (Figs. 14-17) were taken from within or along the large wash on our return hike.