Snow Pictures in the Mount Charleston Area

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This page last updated on 03/15/2020

03/13/2020 Trip Notes: On this day Jim and I took an impromptu drive up to Mount Charleston and Lee Canyon. We didn't even have our cameras; all these pictures were taken with my phone. As it was overcast it wasn't a great day for taking pictures. However they give you an idea what it is like up in the mountains after a night of snow. The temperature was just above freezing and the snow on the trees was melting and beginning to fall off the trees. Just 30 miles from the Las Vegas Strip and the valley, it gives you a glimpse of what the mountains surrounding Las Vegas can be like. Despite the poor weather, we still were able to get some fairly good pictures. The last picture, (Fig. 13), was taken of Mount Charleston from the highway a few days later.

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Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort

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This page last updated on 03/15/2020

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Directions: From US 95 northwest of Las Vegas, take SR 156 southwest for 17.25 miles into Lee Canyon until the road ends at a parking area beyond the entrance to the Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort (Fig. 01). Distance is about 35 miles from Las Vegas.

Description of Lee Canyon Ski Resort:  It is located in the Humbolt-Toiyabe National Forest and Spring Mountains National Recreation Area, commonly referred to a Mt. Charleston. Lee Peak is 11,289 feet, only a few hundred feet below Mount Charleston, the eighth  highest peak in Nevada. Lee Canyon is only about 32 miles northwest of Jim's house. Even though we have been there several  times in the past, it has always been in the spring, summer and fall months. Here are some pictures we took on a summer trip in July of 2016 (Lee Canyon Summer Trip).  Winter visitors are greeted with towering peaks of limestone sitting above 445 acres of terrain that serve as backdrop for their skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, or hiking adventure (Fig. 01). It has 860 vertical feet of lifts served terrain, 1,919 vertical feet of hiking routes, 24 serviced snow trails and 3 lifts, plus a tubing area, it truly is Las Vegas' mountain getaway spot (Fig. 02). Avg. Annual Snowfall: 129 in. Most people don't even know that there is  ski resort 35 minutes from Las Vegas. In the 2009-2010 it had over 180 days of skiing.

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03/13/20 Trip Notes: A few weeks later we took another drive across Deer Creek Road to Lee Canyon. Even though it was an overcast day, there had been more snow the night before and we still got some good snow pictures. Click here to see the pictures ... Snow Pictures in Mount Charleston Area.

02/24/20 Trip Notes: On 02/24/2020 Jim Herring and I decided to take a ride up to the Las Vegas and Snowboard Resort. Though it doesn't look it, Lee Canyon has had over 120 inches of snow this year. A new multimillion dollar two-story, 10,000-square-foot hillside property, located near the resort’s main lodge, (Fig. 05 &  09), features a heated terrace, patio dining space, bistro, expanded restroom facilities and a ski-in, ski-out bar. We spent over an hour watching people ski up and down the resort (Figs. 06, 07, 08, 10). Eventually we began to freeze and headed back to the car and headed home.

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Note: Every attempt is made to provide accurate information, but occasionally depictions are inaccurate by error of mapping, navigation or cataloging. The information on this site is provided without any warranty, express or implied, and is for informational and historical purposes only.

(Summer Visit to Las Vegas Ski/Snowboard Resort) 

Cathedral Rock Hike at Mt Charleston - 07/30/2019 Hike Notes

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This page last updated on 08/02/2019

(Fig. 01) Taken from the trail in the aspen grove

(Fig. 02) My hiking partner, Jim Herring and his daughter Christina

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07/30/2019 Hike Notes: Today, the last day of Christina's two week visit, we hiked Mt. Charleston's Cathedral Rock. It was a beautiful sunny day with a relatively strong breeze that made it 15 degrees cooler than in the city. It was in the mid 80's vice the 100 plus degrees in the city. Even though we had planned to have a picnic cookout in the Cathedral Rock Picnic Area after the hike, we found it closed due to the extreme fire danger. Against my better judgement, in spite of my equalism and balance problems, I decided to try this trail again. Surprisingly, I did better than I anticipated. As we climbed up this trail we found dozens of  butterflies (Fig. 04), flirting amongst the wild flowers along the edges of the trail (Figs. 05 thru 07). As we worked our way through the avalanche chute of quaking aspen trees we had many great views looking up at this imposing limestone rock (Fig. 08). Near the end of the run through the avalanche chute, the trail runs up under the Echo Cliffs (Fig. 09), tall limestone cliffs that lie just east of Cathedral Rock. In a shaded wooded section surrounded by Ponderosa Pines about halfway up the trail there is a wooden bench. There is a short detour to the south (left) that takes you to a seasonal waterfall (Fig. 10). Today there was merely a trickle of water flowing over the two stage waterfall. As the main trail continues up, following the old road through wooded and open areas with great views down the canyon and of the steep east face of Cathedral Rock to reach the summit of 8,585 feet, required an additional climb of nearly 500 more feet. As this was the halfway point, having climbed nearly 500 feet up, I decided to exercise good judgement and not go any further. I investigated the waterfall area and waited on the bench for Jim and Christina to continue the hike to the top and then return. Also spotted some additional wildlife, some Cliff Chipmunks (Fig. 11) and some birds (Fig. 12).

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Note: Every attempt is made to provide accurate information, but occasionally depictions are inaccurate by error of mapping, navigation or cataloging. The information on this site is provided without any warranty, express or implied, and is for informational and historical purposes only.

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Kyle Canyon Slots - Summary Page

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This page last updated on 06/09/2019

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Directions: This hike is located on the edge of the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area, about 30 minutes northwest of Las Vegas. From Las Vegas, drive north on Highway 95 to the Kyle Canyon Road Exit. Turn left onto Route and drive west 12.3 miles to Harris Springs Road. Turn left onto the dirt road and go several hundred yards and turn right onto the Kyle Canyon road, just before Harris Springs Road heads up the hill. Refer to the map in (Fig. 02). Marked in yellow ia the route we either drove or hiked. Travel another 1/2 mile to where the road ends. This is the Slots trailhead.

Description of Area: The Kyle Canyon Slots is a short .2 mile one-way walk through a narrow slot, then through a somewhat longer narrow canyon, followed by a second narrow slot. More than 100 feet high, the canyon walls are made of cemented alluvial materials, and as such, exhibit considerable differences in erosions. Once through the "slots" you are presented with the vastness of the Kyle Canyon wash.

06/03/2019 Trip Notes:  I have visited Kyle Canyon Slots three time, the first back in july of 2012 with Harvey Smith and again today with my friend Jim Herring. The picture in (Fig. 01) at the top is the road leading to the Kyle Canyon Slots. The shot is (Fig. 03) is just a few feet before entering the lower slot area. The view in (Fig. 04) is looking at the lower slot located on the map in (Fig. 02). In the canyon area between the two slots (Fig. 05) there is a large area open to the sky above that is filled with a variety of desert scrub and the few wild flowers. There were a few birds flying in this  semi-shaded area. After walking through this area you are confronted with the upper slot (Fig. 06). As you pass through the upper slot you enter the wide Kyle Canyon wash (Fig. 07). To the left you can see a trail that goes up the side of the wash. On my first trip, we hiked 187 feet to the top of this trail that provided us with a view of the wash below all the way to Mt Charleston in the distance (Fig. 08). On that same trip, after hiking up the wash for about a mile we then decided to make a rather strenuous climb up the north side of the canyon wall to get an idea of where we were in relation to the Kyle Canyon road and other landmarks. The panoramic picture in (Fig. 09) is looking back down into the wash from the top of this climb. (Notes continued below)

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Trip Notes Continued:  After walking around the area and taking pictures, we back tracked through the slots and decided to drive a little further up Kyle Canyon road to see if we could drive up to the plateau overlooking Kyle wash. A couple of miles up the road there was a turn-off the provided a dirt road that led to the top of the plateau on the south side of the road. Refer to the map in (Fig. 10). The elevation at the turn-off is 5,814 feet. The cement barrier about a quarter of the way up is 5,833 feet. The elevation at the top of this road is 5,908 feet, a climb of about 110 feet. Though there are several road at the top we decided to drive the route across the plateau to a point that exits back down to Kyle Canyon Road. Refer to the map in (Fig. 11). Though not close enough to the upper edge of Kyle Canyon wash, you can see from the map that this road parallels the wash. It slowly climbs to an elevation of 6,385 feet at the exit on the map. We were amazed at how many wild flowers we found along this road and stopped at several locations to take pictures (Figs. 13 thru 19). In places there were fields of Desert Globemallow (Fig. 12). I have never seen so many in one spot before. When we reached the end of the road, there was a locked gate. Luckily we were able to drive around it, only because I had a jeep.

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Note: Every attempt is made to provide accurate information, but occasionally depictions are inaccurate by error of mapping, navigation or cataloging. The information on this site is provided without any warranty, express or implied, and is for informational and historical purposes only.