Exploring the McCullough Range

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

This page last updated on 11/20/2017

(Fig. 01)

(Fig. 02)

Area Description: The map above shows the area of the North McCullough Range that we explored. This area is huge and encompasses more than 45 thousand acres. This area of the north-south trending range is comprised of ancient metamorphic rock. Upon closer inspection, you will see that the peaks and ridges are rocky and rough, with heights spaning from 2,000 feet at the eastern base of the range to 5,092 feet at Black Mountain (refer to Fig. 02). The peaks are volcanic in origin, rounded to flat-topped, and have a steep eastern escarpment and a gradual western slope. In addition the North McCullough Wilderness Area is within the newly designated Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area which allows further protection and enhancement. There is a wide, deeply cut bajada on the east side of the mountains. The lower slopes are comprised of gently tilted alluvial deposits of unsorted sand, gravel, and cobbles.  Infrequent visitor use and the need for route finding skills provide great opportunities for solitude and four wheel exploring. The landscape ranges from approximately 3,000 to 7,000 feet in elevation and displays a thriving Mojave Desert filled with creosote bush, Mojave yucca, banana yucca, buckhorn cholla, catclaw acacia, apache plume, blackbrush and Joshua trees. As we explored the area shaded in yellow on the map in Fig. 02, we encountered several jackrabbits and one coyote.

11/11/2017 Trip Notes: Today Harvey Smith and I decided to explore the hills of the Northern McCullough Range. Our mode of transportation for the day was Harvey's 4WD Polaris Ranger (Fig. 03). Our starting point was from the backyard of some friends behind the Mission Hills development, upper right corner of (Fig. 02). Only a short distance from the start, encountered the view in (Fig. 01) above. As we reached the first ridge we looked down into the large bajada that borders the east side of the McCullough Range. As you can see, there are power lines in almost every picture. There are no less than 8 separate power lines that cross the entire area, some wooden old, some steel new ones (Figs. 05, 06 & 07). I assume that most of them originate at the Boulder Dam and wind their way into the Las Vegas valley. (con't below)
                                          

(Fig. 03)

(Fig. 04)

(Fig. 05)

(Fig. 06)

(Fig. 07)

Trip Notes Continued:  Once we reached the large bajada, looking due south, we could see off in the distance the panels of the large solar sites (center of Fig. 08) that border Route 95 south. (Refer to the map in Fig. 02). As we continued west towards the mountains and the Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area we made several attempts to get over the mountains for a view of Las Vegas. Unfortunately, both roads we tried to follow ended up as washes (Fig. 09) that dead-ended (Fig. 10). At one point we ended up at a place looking up at the back side of the array of TV and radio towers that can be seen from Henderson. I captured this picture with my 720-zoom lens (Fig. 11). (Refer to the map in Fig. 02) At one point we did reach a ridge that provided a view of the west side of Henderson (Fig.12). After more than two hours we headed back to our starting point (Fig. 13). As we approached the area of Mission Hills, it provided us a view of  Black Butte in the background, located on the northeast end of Las Vegas (Fig. 14). As you can see from these pictures, it was a sunny day that was in the mid 70's. Just another beautiful day to be out in the quiet wilderness, away from the sounds of the city of Las Vegas.

(Fig. 08)

(Fig. 09)

(Fig. 10)

(Fig. 11)

(Fig. 12)

(Fig. 13)

(Fig. 14)

Eldorado Valley & the Highland Range

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

(Fig. 01)

(Fig. 02)

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.
                         

(Fig. 03)

(Fig. 04)

(Fig. 05)

(Fig.06)

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.

(Fig. 07)

(Fig. 08)

(Fig. 09)

(Fig. 10)

(Fig. 11)

(Fig. 12)

Click here to [Return To The Previous Page]

Pine Spring & McCullough Spring

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

(Fig. 01)

(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.

(Fig. 02)

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.

(Fig. 03)

(Fig. 04)

(Fig. 05)

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.

(Fig. 06)

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.

(Fig. 07)

(Fig. 08)

(Fig. 09)

(Fig. 10) (Fig. 11)

(Fig. 12)

(Fig. 13) (Fig. 14)

(Fig. 15)

(Fig. 16)

(Fig. 17) (Fig. 18)

(Fig. 19)

(Fig. 20)

(Fig. 21)