Goodsprings Cemetery

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Description and History: The Goodsprings Cemetery (Fig. 02) and is an old, continuing cemetery, consisting of 1.33 acres, that is located southwest of Las Vegas, Nevada seven miles from Jean, just before entering the town of Goodsprings.  Surrounded by a fence, a large white iron gate acts as the entrance (Fig. 01). A sign on the gate is labeled, Goodsprings Cemetery (Circa 1890). Being that the earliest marked burial, for that of a Anna Nimmer, dates to December 27, 1890, it would be safe to assume that the cemetery was in use long before A.J. Robbins donated the property to the town in 1913. In fact, because there are so many ‘unmarked’ graves, it was probably even earlier than that.

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(Fig. 03) Many of the ‘well known’ persons who actively promoted the settlement and responsible for placing Goodsprings ‘on the map’ are buried here. Probably most noteworthy is the entrepreneurial businessman George Fayle, a former Clark County Commission chairman. He built the Fayle Department Store, the Pioneer Saloon in 1913 and the Fayle Goodsprings Hotel in 1916. Though all his ventures, other than the Pioneer Saloon, eventually failed as the town began to decline, Fayle would not be around to suffer the humiliation. He succumbed to the Flu epidemic that swept the United States and western Europe in the early 19th century, and on December 9, 1918, was buried in the Goodsprings cemetery. To this day, his is still the largest headstone (Fig. 03) in the cemetery (Fig. 02). His wife, Jean Fayle, for whom the town of Jean was named, is also buried in the plot.

(Fig. 04) Another well know cemetery resident is Norman Price.  Norman built the Goodsprings Schoolhouse in 1913. The same schoolhouse entered into its 100th year of continuous operation this year. The Price family plot is in a grouping of very old fenced in crosses found in Row H. Norman’s grave is in Row G.

(Fig. 05) With literally dozens of unmarked graves going back nearly 130 years, many of which may have been unknown miners, combined with graves of veterans and persons who were buried as recently as a year ago, this place has quite an interesting history. Though I failed to obtain the name and information on the head marker, one of my favorites was that of a person who could have been a regular of the Goodsprings Saloon. Sprouting a Joshua Tree (Fig. 05) draped with various liquor bottles, beer bottles, beer cans and proudly displaying a freshly placed Jack Daniels bottle, it was truly one of the most eye-catching sites in the cemetery. [Click Here to Return to the Previous Page]

Colorock Quarry - Bitter Spring Backcountry Byway

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This page last updated on 04/14/2018

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10/22/2013 Trip Notes: The goal of today’s trip was to travel the entire length of the Bitter Spring Backcountry Byway Road (20 miles) all the way to the Lake Mead North Shore Road. Even though both Harvey and I have traveled and hiked a portion of this road on previous visits to the “Buffington Pockets” area, neither of us had been to the Colorock Quarry and Cabin area. The Colorock Quarry Road turns south off Bitter Spring Backcountry Byway Road, about four miles from the starting point. On our way to the quarry, we took a turnoff (Fig. 04) that came to a dead end (Fig. 02) over looking a large wash and the northern edge of the Muddy Mountain Wilderness Area to the south (Fig. 05). Turning around and looking north (Fig. 06) was a view of the mountains that lead into the Buffington Pockets.

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After driving back to Colorock Quarry Road, we continued driving southeast until we reached a marked intersection indicating that the quarry was straight ahead (Fig. 02). Before going to the quarry, we took the side road to the camping and trail area. Partially following a wash (Fig. 07), this road led to an area that contained several wilderness campsites and some hiking trails that led up and into some absolutely beautiful sandstone outcrops and ridges (Figs. 08 & 09). After coming back to the intersection, we continued on towards the quarry site.

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Initially, after being surprised at spotting a stone cabin (Fig. 10), we drove right by the quarry area. Not only were we amazed at the quality of this stone cabin, way out here in the middle of nowhere, we were surprised to find three more nearby cement foundations that may have originally supported wooden structures of their own. It seems obvious that the beautifully colored, flat stones that make up the 5-inch this outer walls came from the nearby quarry. Even though the work here appears somewhat extensive, it also appeared short-lived. There were no “trash dumps”, outhouses, or evidence of anyone having lived there for any great length of time. The (upper right) interior picture in the collage below (Fig. 11), shows the sun shining through the roof slats. The middle left picture is looking at the ridgeline through one of the cabins rear windows. The bottom two pictures are looking north (bottom left) and south (bottom right) at the wash that runs below the front of the cabin. Exploration of the wash south of the cabin proved it to be non-drivable with the Ranger, however it appeared that it would have made a nice hike. Heading back down the wash past the cabin, a road heads northeast, to the right (Fig. 02) to the quarry site. Other than a half dozen sandstone pieces that contained the ‘drill holes’ used to split the sandstone off of the cliff (Fig. 12 & 13), and the remnants of a set of foundations (Fig. 14) that may have supported some type of crane or block hoist, there really isn’t much else to support a long standing operation here. After hiking around the quarry area, we headed back to the Bitter Spring Backcountry Byway Road, and drove southeast into the Buffington Pockets. We really enjoyed this colorful area and gave up what looked like several good hiking opportunities in order to fulfill our primary goal of reaching Lake Mead's North Shore Road.

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Colorado River Heritage Greenway Park and Trails

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Description: The Colorado River Heritage Greenway Park and Trails, also known as North Reach, was dedicated on July 27, 2012. This expansion of the Laughlin Riverwalk has 9 miles of trails for bicyclists, pedestrians and equestrian riders. It starts from a large park in Laughlin that contains picnic sites with shade shelters and fully developed restrooms and a highway pedestrian bridge (Fig. 01) overpass and underpass that provides access to the Colorado River, fishing piers and several more picnic areas along a 2-mile trail to the Davis Dam. Click here to learn more about the dam ... Davis Dam. In 2013 it was awarded AGO (America’s Great Outdoors) recognition. AGO’s major objectives are to engage, educate and employ young people and to reconnect Americans with their outdoor heritage and recreation opportunities on public lands. There are currently 4 trailheads located within the park’s 1,191 acres, the Bridge Trailhead, the North Reach Trailhead, the Equestrian Trailhead, and the Pyramid Canyon Trailhead (Fig. 02).

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	Riverwalk Exploration Trail – The Bridge Trailhead starts above the parking lot at the corner of State Road 163 and Casino Drive where there is ample parking, restrooms and water available (see Fig. 02). This trailhead  is the beginning of the Riverwalk Exploration Trail, and runs through the bridge that crosses SR-163.  The trail is a relatively flat 2 mile, hard surface trail that runs from the Bridge to the Davis Dam. Passing several picnicking and shade shelters with water available, this is a pedestrian, wheelchair and bicycle trail that is great for bird watching and a leisurely hike.
	The North Reach Trailhead starts north of the Bridge Trailhead and is reachable from westbound SR163 (Casino Drive north bound then left on SR163, take the 1st right) (see Fig. 02). There is parking, restrooms and water available. This trailhead is a short distance inside the Riverwalk Exploration Trail that leads to the Davis Dam. You can actually see a portion of the dam from this starting point (Fig. 03).
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	The Equestrian Trailhead is located on Davis Dam Road north of SR 163. There are vault toilets available, limited parking but NO WATER. There are corrals and parking for horse trailers (see Fig. 02). This is the starting point for the Horseshoe Trail, the Dam Overlook Trail, and the Desert Trail. The Trailheads start to the right of the facilities.                   Horseshoe (Loop) Trail –This is a 2.75 mile trail with native soil that provides moderate climbs. This more challenging hike, designed for horses, hikers and mountain bikes, has no available water stops.
	Dam Overlook Trail – This is a relatively short, 0.8 mile trail with native soil that offers a moderate climb to the top of a ridge overlooking Davis Dam and the Colorado River. Available for hikers and mountain bikers,there are no available water stops.
	Desert Trail – This 2.8 mile trail is on a relatively flat a packed surface. Because this trail runs through the desert, native wildlife may be encountered. Available for hikers, mountain bikers and horses, there are no water stops available.
	The Pyramid Canyon Loop Trailhead is located on Davis Dam Road across the River from Davis Dam. There is ample parking, restrooms, and water available (see Fig. 02). There are shelters with BBQ grills for picnicking. and with BBQ grills. The north trailhead to the Riverwalk Exploration Trail starts just south of the entrance to the Pyramid Canyon.
	Pyramid Canyon Loop Trail – This short half-mile trail is accessible from the picnic area located just below the Davis Dam, runs along the shoreline and provides shoreline access to three fishing piers (Fig. 04).                   (Fig. 04) 12/19/2013 Trip Notes: On today’s visit with the rock-hounds from the Henderson Senior Facility, we spent several hours hiking along the top of the dam and the Heritage Park’s trails, before ending the day with a barbecue picnic. The pictures in (Figs. 05 & 06) are of my hiking partner Mike at the top of the Dam Overlook Trail. (Figs. 07-10) give you an idea of the views available from the top of this hike. On the way down we took the Horseshoe Loop Trail which then ran up the river towards the dam. Along the way I spotted a group of Hooded Merganser ducks (Figs. 11-13) in the distance near the other side of the river. I think this is the first time I have ever seen these beautiful ducks. Click here to learn more ... Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus).                      (Fig. 05) (Fig. 06) (Fig. 07) (Fig. 08) (Fig. 09) (Fig. 10) (Fig. 11) (Fig. 12) (Fig. 13) 10/31/2013 Trip Notes: While spending the past week in Laughlin for a little "mini vacation", I took the time to visit both ends of the Heritage Trails park system. Though I didn't do any actual hiking of the trails here, this was more of a reconnaissance mission for a planned hiking trip in December.

North Loop Trail - Summary Page

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Directions: The North Loop Trailhead is located up in the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area and Mt. Charleston Wilderness simply known as Mt. Charleston. It is off Deer Creek Road between Kyle Canyon and Lee Canyon roads, about an hour northwest of Las Vegas. From the Stratosphere, drive about 20 miles north out of town on US-95 to Kyle Canyon Road (NV-157). Turn left onto Kyle Canyon Road and drive west for 17.1 miles to Deer Creek Road (NV-158), which is just past the Mt. Charleston resort. Turn right onto Deer Creek Road and drive north for about 4.8 miles to the second paved turnout past Hilltop Campground. Watch for a paved parking area on the west (left) side of the road with a large trailhead kiosk. Park here, this is the North Loop Trailhead

Area Description: This North Loop Trail is located inside the Mt. Charleston Wilderness (Fig. 03), an area that is worlds away from Las Vegas. With its invigorating mountain air, ice cold springs and evergreen forests, this 56,018 acres is inside the Spring Mountain National Recreation Area and is jointly managed by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. The Mt. Charleston Wilderness extends along the crest of the mostly north-south Spring Mountains with towering cliffs, deep narrow canyons, steep hillsides and barren wind-swept summits. The landscape, ranging from 4,440 to 11,916 feet in elevation, showcases a variety of lifezones, plants and animals and is home to several endemic plants and animals. Its more than 18,000 acres of bristlecone pine trees is the most extensive stand of these trees in the Inter-mountain West. These ancient trees bring an added touch of beauty and awe, with at least one tree known to be nearly 3,000 years old. You can experience creosote bush, Joshua trees, pinyon pines, Utah juniper, sagebrush, ponderosa pine, manzanita, shrub live oak, white fir, limber pine, quaking aspen, and bristlecone pine. While hiking this area you may be able to spot white-tailed antelope squirrels, black-tailed jackrabbits, kit foxes, burros, elk, Palmer’s chipmunks, mule deer, mountain lions, golden mantle ground squirrels, rock wrens, red-tailed hawks, Stellar’s jays, mountain chickadees, juncos, broad-tailed hummingbirds, and white-throated nuthatches.

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Trail Description: The kiosk (Fig. 01) notes that this is a strenuous, 10.8-mile trail that starts out at an elevation of 8,440 feet along Deer Creek Road and runs out across hillsides and exposed ridges to the summit of Charleston Peak, elevation 11,918 feet (Fig. 04). Much of the trail is forested, so there is plenty of shade until the last half-mile above timberline. There are several high points and view points along this trail that provide stupendous views. It also runs 2.7 miles through forests and along ridgelines to the Raintree, the fabled old bristlecone pine that is thought to be the largest and oldest (some 3,000 years) tree in the Spring Mountains. From there the trail splits and heads to either Mummy Spring and Mummy Mountain or to Cave Spring and the top of Mt. Charleston.

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05/26/2016 Trip Notes: On this day, Blake Smith and I attempted to reach "Raintree", a Bristlecone Pine tree, estimated to be more than 3,000 years old. Unfortunately, we never did make it to this location. The good news was that we still had a great hike. Click here for pictures and a description of this hike ... North Loop Trail - Trip Notes for 05/27/2016.

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10/08/2013 Trip Notes: - Harvey Smith and I decided to head up to the North Loop Trailhead and hike to Mummy Spring and "Raintree", the oldest Bristlecone Pine in the Spring Mountains. This was a strenuous 6.1 mile round-trip hike that offered some really great views and prolific sightings of old Bristlecone Pines. Click here for pictures and a description of this hike ... Raintree & Mummy Spring. 
                                               

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10/03/2013 Trip Notes:  On today’s visit to the Mt. Charleston area we made this location our “lunch stop” for the day. While some enjoyed lunch and the views around the parking area, several of us hiked what were just the very early stages of this 13-mile trail. From the parking area and trailhead, the trail runs west along Deer Creek Road (Fig. 02) before turning and heading southwest along a ridge-line. Early on there were views of Mummy Mountain (and my hiking partner Bob) (Fig. 05). Not too far out we found some rocky ledges that beckoned to be explored. After climbing around this area (Figs 06 & 07) and taking pictures, we decided that we didn’t have the time to follow the trail any further out and started back to the parking lot. The picture in (Fig. 08) was one last shot of the view we had looking south back towards Kyle Canyon in the distance and the portion of Deer Creek Road that we had to travel in order to reach this stop. As this was only a "lunch stop", we didn't have time for any more. However, learning that this trail leads to Raintree, I can’t wait to go back here and try and reach this spot.
                           

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Bristlecone Pines (Pinus longaeva)

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Picture Notes: Taken on 10/08/2013, the pictures in (Figs. 01 & 2) are of “Rainman”, the 3,000 year-old Bristlecone Pine found along the Mt. Charleston North Loop Trail. The stand of Bristlecones in (Fig. 03 & 04) were located just above Lookout Point, elevation 9,480 feet, on a hike of the Bristlecone Pine Trail back on 09/20/2012. The final grouping of shots (Figs. 05-07), were captured along the North Loop Trail to Mt. Charleston.

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Description: Bristlecone Pines (Pinus longaeva), a.k.a Great Basin Bristlecone Pine, only live in scattered, arid mountain regions of six western states. The name bristlecone pine refers to the dark purple female cones that bear incurved prickles on their surface. These species of pine trees live longer than any other known organism: over 5,000 years. Bristlecone pines generally grow on dolomitic soils in isolated groves just below the tree line, between 5,600 and 11,200 foot elevations. The oldest bristlecones usually grow at elevations of 10,000 to 11,000 feet. Because they are well spaced, they grow free of competition from other plants and the ravages of insects and disease. Because these pines exist in exposed, harsh environments consisting of cold temperatures, dry soils, high winds, and short growing seasons, they grow very slowly. The really ancient trees have a fittingly gnarled and stunted appearance, especially those found at high altitudes. As the tree ages, much of its vascular cambium layer may die. In very old specimens, often only a narrow strip of living tissue connects the roots to a handful of live branches. The bark is a reddish-brown, with deep fissures; and contains thick, scaly, irregular, blocky ridges. Branches contorted, pendent; twigs pale red-brown, aging gray to yellow-gray. Young branches resemble long bottlebrushes because of persistent leaves, closely spaced green pine needle whorls, and uniform needle insertion angles. They come in bundles of 5, and are 1 to 1.5 inches in length. Because the needles can live for forty years, the tree doesn't need to expend much energy on adding new needles. This helps the tree survive through years of stress. The male flowers, or catkins are red-purple in color. The female cones are ovoid, or egg-shaped, and dark purple to brown when mature. Each cone is 2.5 to 3.75 inches long and take 2 years to mature. These ancient trees don't grow very tall, the tallest being 60 feet, but usually less than that. The girth of the largest tree, the Patriarch, is 36 feet 8 inches, but this tree is comparatively young at only 1,500 years. The average age is 1,000 years, with only a handful of trees over 4,000 years. The trees put more energy into surviving then growing big. A bristlecone trunk may grow less than 0.01 of an inch in girth per year.                         The gnarled bristlecone pine wood is very dense and resinous, and thus resistant to invasion by insects, fungi, and other potential pests. The tree's longevity is due in part to the wood's extreme durability. While other species of trees that grow nearby suffer rot, bare bristlecone pines can endure, even after death, often still standing on their roots, for many centuries. Rather than rot, exposed wood, on living and dead trees, erodes like stone due to wind, rain, and freezing, which creates unusual forms and shapes. When they finally fall, it's because the supporting roots finally decay or are undermined by erosion.                             The bristlecone pine has an intrinsically low rate of reproduction and regeneration, and it is thought that under present climatic and environmental conditions the rate of regeneration may be insufficient to sustain its population. Because of this, the species are on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list. Bristlecone pines are protected in a number of national parks such as the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in the White Mountains of California and the Great Basin National Park in Nevada, where cutting or gathering wood is prohibited.

Habitat: Bristlecones only live in scattered, arid mountain regions of six western states, with the oldest being found in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in the White Mountains of California. Nowhere are there more bristlecone pines than in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in the White Mountains of California near the Nevada state line, part of Inyo National Forest. This area is known for some of the oldest trees on record, several approaching 5,000 years. Unfortunately, the shortest route to the White Mountains for Southern Nevadans is 233 miles. However, if you are satisfied with seeing some magnificent specimens that are only 3,000 years old, you can visit "Rainman", elevation 9,968 feet, on Mt. Charleston's North Loop Trail or at Lookout Point, elevation 9,480 feet, at the top of the Bristlecone Pine Trail.

The Dating Process: Dendrochronology is term given to the dating of climatic changes through study of tree ring growth. The analysis of Bristlecones, based upon the comparison of long slender half-inch core samples taken from dead ground wood, standing dead wood and living trees, has proven essential to the building of accurate tree-ring chronologies dating back to almost 9,000 years into the past. This process has proven so accurate that it has even been used to recalibrate the C-14 (carbon dating) process.

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