Cottonwood Valley Road - 10/29/2016 Trip Notes

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This page last updated on 04/14/2018

(Fig. 01)

Directions:  Cottonwood Valley Road, a.k.a. Goodsprings Road, is a north-south dirt road that runs between between Highway 160 (the road to Pahrump) and Highway 161 at Goodsprings. As a result it is accessable from either end. For the north end of Cottonwood Valley Road, from Las Vegas drive about 12 miles west on Highway 160 (Pahrump Highway) to the Cottonwood Valley Trailhead on the left, about a mile past the Midnight Trailhead sign. When approaching the south end of Cottonwood Valley Road, from Las Vegas, drive south on Interstate-15 to Jean. At Jean, exit the interstate and turn right onto Highway 161, towards Goodsprings and Sandy Valley. Go about 5,5 miles and turn right onto the Goodsprings Bypass Road. Turn right onto the truck route and follow the pavement around the east side of town. After about 3.2 miles the road forks. Turn right onto the dirt road, which is Cottonwood Valley Road. Continuing on the paved road takes you out to the Rainbow Quarry.

Description: This 11 mile, unmaintained dirt road is bounded by the Potosi Mountain Range on the west and the Birdspring Range on the east (Fig. 01). The majority of this narrow road is relatively well maintained, and sometimes travels through several wash areas that can be quite rocky. Along the length of the road it passes several side roads, but the Cottonwood Valley Road is usually obvious, straight ahead. However, a portion of the northern end of the road, especially near Cottonwood Pass, is quite washed out and rough, and definately requires a 4WD vehicle.

10/29/2016 Trip Notes: On this trip, Jim Herring and I rented a jeep and decided to first visit Goodsprings and then out to the large redstone crop out behind the town. We first drove up Pauline Road to the north end of the outcrop and hiked up Aztec Road for a look around. Pauline road was in must worse shape than it was on my previous visit. On the way out we encountered a small band of wild horses on the east side of the road (Figs. 02 & 04). Once we reached Aztec Road, a nice view northwest from the top looked towards the Mt. Potosi Range and the Contact Mine (center of Fig. 05), a place we had visited on a previous trip ... Contact Mine & Pauline Mine.  On the way back to the Goodsprings Bypass road to the the intersection of Cottonwood Valley Road, we passed a second band of different horses (Figs. 06 & 07). (notes continued below)
                                      

(Fig. 02)

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(Fig. 04)

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(Fig. 07)

Trip Notes Continued: After turning onto the dirt Cottonwood Valley Road, we headed north to Route 160. As we headed out it unexpectedly started to "cloud up" and get quite windy. Along the way out we had views of the Bird Spring Range on the right (background in Fig. 06), and the Red Aztec Sandstone outcrop and the Potosi Mountain Range on our left (Fig. 08). From the Goodspring end, this road parallels a pipe line. About a a third of the way out, the path of the pipeline crosses the road. We found some boulders here and decided to stop and have a picnic lunch (Fig. 09). See the location on the map in (Fig. 01). From our lunch spot we had a great view of the Mt. Potosi Range (Fig. 10). About a mile or so past here, the gas line crosses the road again and heads up Wilson Tank Road. For a relative short diversion, we should have taken this to the spring. After passing Wilson Tank Road, there were several roads that branched off to the west (800C & 800A) that lead to the Dawn and Ninetynine mines, both places that I had visited on a previous trip ... Cottonwood Valley Road & Mines - 02/13/2013 Trip Notes. Continuing on we headed to Cottonwood Pass, where we took a steep side road to the top of the red sandstone hill. The top of this hill provided great views in every direction. The view in (Fig. 11) is due north looking towards highway 160, the Wilson Cliffs, Cottonwood Valley and the Calico Hills in Red Rock Canyon park. After descending this viewpoint, the drive through Cottonwood Pass was a difficult drive. From here it was only a matter of another four miles to reach hyway 160 (Fig. 01). For more on the Cottonwood Valley area, check out the following links ....

Cottonwood Road - 05/25/2020 & 02/13/2013 Trip Notes - Bird Spring Peak

Re: The Old Spanish Trail

                                                                                                   

(Fig. 08)

(Fig. 09)

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(Fig. 11)

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  Cottonwood Valley - Summary Page

Spring Mountain Ranch - Trip Notes for 05/26/2016

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This page last updated on 06/15/2017

(Fig. 01)

05/26/2016 Trip Notes: This was the last scheduled Spring hiking trip for the Henderson Senior Center Rock-hounds before summer. Their yearly visit was also their year-end picnic. On this trip, the only hiking I did was a walk around "Lake Harriet", large reservoir that he named after the wife of Chet Lauck, (Lum of the "Lum and Abner" radio show). This beautiful reservoir provides views in every direction, like those seen in (Figs. 01-03). Besides being surrounded by reeds, the northshore is populated by patches of Yerba Mansa, a.k.a. Lizard Tail. Click here to read about this plant ... Yerba Mansa (Anemopsis californica). As I worked my way around the reservoir I capture several pictures of various plants and aquatic wildlife (Figs. 04 & 05). On the way back to the picnic area, I captures this picture of one of the property's original ranch houses (Fig. 06). By the time we got back to the picnic area almost everyone had finished eating. We quickly gathered up a few plates of food before everything was put away; not taking time to take any "picnic" pictures. Driving south on Blue Diamond Road on our way home we spotted a group of five or six burros along the side of the road (Figs. 07 & 08). This is a beautiful state park, and as usual, it made for another great day.  
                         

(Fig. 02

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Oak Creek & Wilson's Pimple Loop Trail - RRCNCA

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This page last updated on 04/14/2018

(Fig. 01)

Destination: Oak Creek/Wilson's Pimple Loop Hike Distance from Point of Origin: 27 miles.. Estimated (One Way) Travel Time: 35-40 minutes. Directions: From the Stratosphere Casino, take a right onto Las Vegas Blvd south (the Strip) to Sahara Ave. Turn right onto West Sahara Ave (NV-589) and continue to follow W. Sahara Ave for 10 miles until it turns into Desert Foothills Drive. Continue on for about 4.5 miles and turn left onto NV-159 W. Charleston Blvd. Continue to follow West Charleston Blvd NV-159 (which becomes aka Blue Diamond Road) west for about 9 miles and turn right to the trailhead and parking area (Fig. 02). Note: The trailhead can be reached from the south by driving west on Hwy 160 (Pahrump Highway) to Highway 159 (Blue Diamond Road). Turn right onto Highway 159 and drive north for about 7 miles, passing the entrance to Spring Mountain Ranch and the trailhead for First Creek. The next parking area on the left is the trailhead for Wilson's Pimple Peak hike.                        Area Description: From the hike's trailhead located on the west side of West Charleston Blvd, this pleasant 3.5-mile R/T hike crosses Red Rock Valley to the base of Mt. Wilson and back. As this hike runs across the desert valley floor, it transverses a variety of desert habitats (including Blackbrush Flats, typical Mojave Desert Scrub, and Pinyon-Juniper Woodland). Special Attraction or Point of Interest: Hiking to the top of the peak. It is reached using an old mining road and a steep use-trail. From the peak, there are grand views that spread out across the vast expanse of Red Rock Valley. Facing west is the towering east face of Mt. Wilson and Rainbow Mountain. Mt. Wilson is so close, it almost feels like you can reach out and touch it. In summary, Wilson's Pimple Peak provides a surprisingly scenic view for such a low summit. Primary Activity: Hiking, Birding and Photography. Secondary Activities: None. Elevation:  The elevation at the hike trailhead is 3,739. The elevation at Wilson's Saddle is 4,152, a gain of 413 feet. From the saddle to the summit of Wilson's Peak, elevation 4,390, is another climb of 238 feet, for a total hike elevation gain of 651 feet. Best Time To Visit: Fall, Winter and Spring. Hike Description: The Wilson's Pimple Loop Trail runs north and then west, eventually running up a canyon along the base of Wilson's Pimple and climbing onto a spot known as the Wilson Saddle. Once you reach the saddle you can take a .04 mile detour to the top of Wilson's Pimple Peak or continue the hike that runs around the back of Wilson's Pimple (aka Potato Knoll) to Oak Creek. It the follows the Riparian Woodland downstream along the far side of Wilson's Pimple, and finally loops back across desert flats back to the trailhead (Fig.02). Difficulty: The majority of the trail across Red Rock Valley is relative easy. However, the climb to the summit and the hike around the "pimple" can be considered moderate.. Facilities: None Estimated Round-trip Time: The complete round-trip hike, including the hike up and down to the peak, is about 4.3 miles and will take about 2.5 hours, depending upon how much time you want to spend taking pictures and enjoying the solitude and beauty of the surrounding area.

(Fig. 02)

12/22/2015 Trip Notes: This past week, Blake Smith, Robert Croke and I decided to drive out to Red Rock Canyon to hike the Oak Creek trail to Wilson's Pimple (Fig. 02). Even though the weather was discouraging, cloudy and windy, we still managed to have a good hike. The picture in (Fig. 01) was taken from the parking area at the Trailhead. The tan hill in the center, between the two cacti, is Wilson's Pimple. After walking through a barbed-wire fence, you walk down an old road towards and area that was the original Red Rock Campground. You then come to a heavy metal gate at the end of the Red Rock Wash. Looking left and right at the wash you can see a lot of desert willow and shrub life oak and other vegetation that provides a good habitat for desert birds. From here the narrow old road is quite rock in places as it runs northwest across the desert flats. About halfway out, the picture (Fig.03) of Bob and Blake was looking back toward the trailhead with the Blue Diamond Hills in the background. The vegetation through this area is filled with Blackbrush, Buckhorn Cholla, plus some Mojave Yucca and Joshua Trees. As we hike some more, Willson's Pimple began to  loom larger as it stood at the base of Mt. Wilson (left) and Rainbow Mountain (right). Eventually you reach a fork in the rocky old dirt road. Here turn left and follow the narrow dirt road up a hillside. Keep staying left up an open canyon on the south side of Wilson's Pimple until you reach the top of the Wilson's Saddle (Fig. 05). On the right you can see the start of the .4 mile trail that begins its 238-foot accent up to the top of the hill (Fig. 02). Unfortunately, it was so windy when we got here, we decided that there was no way we were going to attempt it on this visit. Now that we were now higher in the canyon, the vegetation began to change, with more Utah Juniper, Cliffrose, and Mojave Yucca becoming more common. From here we decided to continue to follow the loop trail down into the valley towards Ash Creek and around Wilson's Pimple. (con't below)
  

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Notes con't: The next picture (Fig.06) was taken looking east, back at the trail that led up to the saddle with the Blue Diamond Hills in the distance.  From Wilson's Saddle, the trail began to descend rapidly towards Oak Creek (Fig. 07). You can see Bob leading the way in front of Blake and myself (Fig. 08).  The view in (Fig.09) was looking back up the trail towards the saddle. Reaching a halfway point around the 'Pimple', we got a nice view looking north toward the Calico Hills of Red Rock Canyon (Fig. 10). At the bottom of the ravine the trail split; to the left and up into Oak Creek Canyon, and right down toward the creek. After a short distance we found a nice big flat boulder (Fig. 11) where we stopped to enjoyed a picnic lunch with a great view (Fig 12). Just a few hundred feet beyond this spot we crossed the creek for the first time. After hiking uphill from the creek for several hundred yards on the north side of the creek, the trail then started to descend once again down to the creek where we had to cross over to the south side once again. See the pictures in the collage in (Fig. 13). We were all amazed at how much water there was in the creek this time of year. We would all love to hike this again in the spring after the winter snow melts. There is so much vegetation here, we are sure that the area surrounding the creek would be abundance with spring blossoms and wild flowers. Once back on the south side of the creek, we followed the loop trail along the base of Wilson's Pimple through the heavy vegetation (Fig. 14) and then another old dirt road that ran southeast out across the valley floor back to the trailhead (Fig. 15). Except for the winds, it was a great day with many outstanding mountain views (Fig. 16).

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Spring Mountain Ranch - Trip Notes for 09/10/2015

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(Fig. 01)

09/10/2015 Trip Notes: This was the first outing of the fall season for the Rock-hounds from the Henderson Senor Center. Because most up us hadn’t done any hiking all summer, we were all glad that this was a relatively easy hike. In spite of this, combined with the heat, we were all tired by the end of the day. Mary and I did it all. We started with the “Overlook Hike”, spent quite a time slowly walking around Lake Harriet. Along with the fabulous views (Fig. 01) with the patch of cat-o'-nine-tails, or cattails (Fig. 02); there were also a few ducks (Fig. 03). We then hiked the old jeep road out to Sandstone Canyon (Fig. 04). On our return we stopped by a couple of the out buildings, a couple of board and batten bunkhouses (Fig. 05) and the ranches' original  blacksmith shop (Fig. 06). After taking a tour of the main ranch house, we walked the 0.75-mile loop trail that runs east from behind the Ranch House, down a wooded gully,passing under a number of Fremont's cottonwood, shrub live oak, pinyon pine, Utah juniper, and velvet ash trees along the way along to a deep wash/creek (Fig. 07). As we hiked the wash we spotted two donkeys in the wash and walking along the opposite side (Figs. 08 & 10). Hiking down the wash afforded us some different view of the Wilson Ridge (Fig.11 & 12).

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Spring Mountain Ranch - Trip Notes for 05/29/2014

(Fig. 01)

05/29/2014 Trip Notes: Because this location is usually marks the last scheduled hike of the season, it has become kind of a tradition to have a ‘pot luck’ bar-b-queue picnic at the end of the hike. Even though I was not signed up for this hike, I decided use the opportunity to introduce Connie to many of the people that I had hiked with over the past several months. Because this beautiful spot is only about 30 minutes from our home, Connie and I try to come here to enjoy the beautiful surroundings at least a couple of times a year. It is almost always 10-15 degrees cooler than the city, and as you can see from (Fig. 01), today was just a beautiful, clear sunny day.  With Connie still recovering from hip surgery, instead of hiking, we just spent the morning talking with friends and chowing down on grilled hot dogs, beans, and the many salads and desserts provided by everyone in attendance. Not only does this final stop of the season allow all of us to give special thanks to Linda Groft, our trip organizer, and Bill Terrance, our van driver, for their continued dedication and service, time is often taken to celebrate birthdays and special occasions of those in attendance (Figs. 02 – 06). for one of the few pictures I captures all day, I did find someone in the pasture adjoining the picnic area that appeared to be looking for a handout (Fig. 07 & 08).   As usual, the day was a fitting end to yet another hiking season full of pictures, memories and lasting friendships.

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