Eldorado Valley & the Highland Range

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Directions:  From the Stratosphere Casino head northeast on Las Vegas Blvd about 3 miles and bear right to merge onto US-515/93/95 south towards Boulder City. Follow US-93/95 for 17 miles and then merge onto US-95 South (Veterans Memorial Hwy), headed towards Searchlight. Follow this road about 12 miles until a set of power lines cross the highway. At the power line turn right and head west on the power line road.  

06/02/2015 Trip Notes: Today, my friend Harvey Smith and I decided to spend a day riding his 4WD Rhino around Eldorado Valley and the McClough and Highland ranges at the southern end of Eldorado Canyon. For more information on this area, go to my page ... Highland Range Crucial Bighorn Habitat Area. The drive in from US-95 is along a very straight power line road (Fig. 03) that ends up winding its way (Fig. 04) to the top of a hill with five overhead power line transmission towers. This is actually the northern tip of an area that has been classified as the Highland Range Crucial Bighorn Habitat Area. The view from the base of one of these towers (Fig. 01), follows the power line as it runs due north up Eldorado Valley towards the El Dorado Solar Power Plant. Refer to the map in (Fig. 02).  After spending some time roaming around the top of this hill taking pictures (Figs. 05 & 06), we decided to head north up Eldorado Valley. Our initial goal was to locate and drive through McClough Pass, located at the upper left of the map in (Fig. 02). Unfortunately, before reaching the power line road that runs through this pass, we turned onto a 4WD road that was headed in the right direction, but ended up becoming more of a very rocky wash vice a road several miles short of the pass. It got so bad that we finally decided to abandon our goal and head back the way we had come. Scroll down to "Trip Notes (con't)" for more pictures.
                         

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Trip Notes (con't): When we got back to the "hill" (Fig. 07) from which we had started, we picked up another dirt road that ran southwest around the hill and into the heart of the Highland Range (Fig. 08). The further we drove into this area, the more we began to enjoy the unique geology (Figs. 09 thru 11). Notice the large "hoo-doo" like conglomerate tower in the middle of (Fig. 10). The views that we experienced here made up for our disappointment of not reaching McClough Pass during the earlier part of the day. The final picture (Fig. 12) features a grouping of odd and end pictures I took throughout the day.

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Pine Spring & McCullough Spring

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(Fig. 01A)

* The map above was taken from a Mineral Land Assessment Report (MLA 11-87) titled "Mineral Resources of the Sough McCullough Mountains Study Area, Clark County, Nevada" by Terry J. Close and published by the Bureau of Mines - United States Department of Interior.

Directions: Both of these spring locations boarder the eastern edges of the South McCullough Wilderness Area between the McCullough Range and the Highland Range (Fig. 01*). Though it can be entered from US-95 on the northern end, we decided to enter from Nipton Road (NV-68) on the southern end. From the Stratosphere Casino head northeast on Las Vegas Blvd about 3 miles and bear right to merge onto US-515/93/95 south towards Boulder City. Follow US-93/95 for 17 miles and then merge onto US-95 South (Veterans Memorial Hwy) for 36 miles to Searchlight. In the center of Searchlight, turn right and head west on NV-68 (a.k.a. as Nipton Road and The Joshua Tree Highway) towards Nipton, California. Driving past the Wee Thump Joshua Tree Wilderness Area, the "Parking & Staging Point” on (Fig. 01A),  is located on the right, about 16 miles west of Searchlight. The view in (Fig. 01) is a view south towards Nipton Road with Crescent Peak (5,994 feet) on the left.

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Area Description: The South McCullough Wilderness Area is a fairly large (44,252 acre) wilderness area that includes most of the southern part of the north-south trending McCullough Range and the large bajada to the southwest. The terrain is a north-south orientated, ridge of rugged 1.7 billion year old metamorphic rock deeply cut by canyons on the east and west sides. The base of the mountains are about 3,300 feet on the west side and 4,500 feet on the east side. Its many soft, rugged and rounded peaks and ridges include McCullough Mountain (7,026 feet). The lower elevation of Paiute Valley is dominated by typical Mojave Desert Scrub (Creosote Bush, Mojave Yucca, Banana Yucca, and other low-growing shrubs). Climbing to the higher elevations the vegetation is dominated by blackbrush, Joshua trees and more yucca. The higher elevations are dominated by singleleaf pinyon pine, Utah juniper, and a wide variety of cholla, pricklypear, barrel and hedgehog cactus species.

02/27/2015 Trip Notes: Today, Harvey and I decided to explore the area around the south eastern portion of the South McCullough Mountains, with the goal of locating the McCullough Spring (Fig. 01A). From the staging area we headed north towards the Powerline Road, which then runs northeast along the edge of the Wee Thump Joshua Tree Wilderness Area. On our way to McCullough Spring we decided to search out Pine Spring.

Pine Spring: About five miles from our staging point (Fig. 01A), we located the cross roads of Pine Spring Road and Wee Thump North Road on the northern boundary of the Wee Thump Joshua Tree Wilderness Area (Fig. 01A). Heading west on this unmarked road, it begins to climb towards the foothills of the South McCullough Range (Fig. 03). At about about 1.5 miles out, the north fork (Pine Spring Road, proper) runs out to Pine Spring, while the south fork runs another 1.5 miles to a trailhead at the edge of the wilderness area. Not knowing which road to take at the time, we ended up taking the south fork and followed it about 1.5 miles to the end. The road in this area is rocky and a bit washed out. At the base of a hill, the road curves to the northwest and runs up a sandy wash. The area was filled with singleleaf pinyon pine and Utah juniper and a variety of cactus (Fig. 04). When we reached the end, we climbed a few of the nearby ridges and were rewarded with some wonderful scenic views (Fig. 05). Not finding the spring, we finally headed back to the fork in the road and took the fork to the right. In addition to the spring, there is a watering trough and a small horse coral. Unfortunately, even though this was the correct road to the spring, we didn’t take it far enough, and as a result never did locate the spring. We did see two feral cows, several jackrabbits, some roadrunners, and several other birds while driving along this road.

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Trip Notes Continued: After looking at a more detailed map while creating this page, I estimate that we were less than a quarter of a mile from Pine Spring. I also learned that this road takes you to a trailhead for climbing McCullough Peak. Maybe we can find this spring and make the 6-mile R/T hike to McCullough Peak on a future visit. Having spent considerable time looking for the spring, we finally headed back to the Powerline Road and headed north for about eight miles until we reached the intersection of the the unmarked McCullough Spring Road. (there was a large cairn at the entrance) and a BLM marker that indicated that the road ended in about 3.5 miles.

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McCullough Spring: As this road leaves the left side of the Powerline Road, it heads north west. At about a mile and a quarter the road splits. We ended up taking the road to the right as highlighted in yellow on (Fig. 02) for about another two miles. Figure 06 was a pit-stop we made for a snack on the way up to the spring. After the split, the road heads north as it begins to climb through the foothills of the McCullough Range, providing the views shown in (Figs. 07 & 08). On the way we encountered two groups of cattle roaming the hillside along the road (Figs 09 thru 11). The largest group we near the large coral (Figs.12 & 13) just before the spring. There was a large trough in one end of the coral that was filled with fresh running water that was fed from an underground pipe (Fig. 14). On the left side of the road, between the coral and the spring, there was an active beehive (Fig. 15). A short distance beyond the coral we located McCullough Spring. Flowing right out of the base of a not too tall cliff Fig. 16), this year-round spring flows into a manmade pool, spilling over the side and eventually disappearing beneath the sandy wash several feet beyond (Fig. 18). Driving several hundred feet up the wash from the spring we climbed up a small hill which provided a nice view looking back towards the area of the spring (Fig. 19). Had we known at the time that if we continued riving this wash it would lead us back to the beginning of the intersection that we first encountered (Green route shown in (Fig. 02), we would have returned this way. Unfortunately we didn’t know this was a round trip loop. The last two pictures (Figs. 20 & 21) are a few of the views we had on the way back to the Powerline Road. All-in-all these mountains provide a rugged, rocky landscape filled with a wide variety of beautiful trees and desert flora.

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Highland Range Crucial Bighorn Habitat Area

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(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).

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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.