Overview | Black Mountain North Loop | McCullough Hills | Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area, Nevada

Where is the McCullough Wilderness and Black Mountain?

The McCullough mountains form the most distinctive area of the Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area. They stretch from the city of Henderson in the Las Vegas Metro Area to the North to Primm South of Las Vegas. They’re divided into two wilderness areas: The North McCullough Wilderness bordering Henderson and Las Vegas and the South McCullough Wilderness. Black Mountain, elevation 5,093ft is the high point in the North, McCullough Mountain, elevation 7,026ft is the high point in the South. Between the Northern and Southern high points, around the city of Jean, the mountains dip down to around 4,000ft.

What is the Black Mountain North Loop?

Black Mountain, in the North McCullough Wilderness, has a beautiful 7.4-mile loop trail beginning and ending at about 3,000ft, just above the Anthem East Trailhead in Anthem. The trail ascends and descends approach ridges on the West (Las Vegas side) of Black Mountain, crossing the shallow saddle on the mountain’s double summit ridge. The trail is very good, except for a few very short stretches where it can disappear in the large volcanic boulders on and near the summit area. However, since the overall route is so clear, if there is any confusion it’s very brief.

First Exploration of the North McCullough Wilderness High Points

It’s the LasVegasAreaTrails.com strategy to begin a wilderness area by systematically traversing and documenting the official trails. While on the trails, I view the surrounding pathless peaks, ridges and canyons to plan adventures to those areas. So, on this website, you can find information to help you enjoy all the official trails in every wilderness area plus wilderness adventures beyond the trails. Along the Black Mountain Loop Trail, you’ll see where I’m imagining additional wilderness routes in the North McCullough Wilderness area.

Why Hike the Black Mountain North Loop?

1. Spectacular Views: All the way up and down the loop you’ll see spectacular views of Las Vegas and the surrounding wilderness areas including the Spring Mountains, Mt. Charleston Wilderness, La Madre Mountains, Rainbow Mountains, Potosi Mountain, the Sheep Range and Gass Peak. You’ll also see the Las Vegas Metro Area and Strip, in beautiful lighting as the sun is at a perfect angle, especially during the morning and mid-day hours. Once you arrive on the summit, add a spectacular Eastern view including the Eldorado Wilderness, Black Canyon, Arizona Black Mountains with Mt. Wilson as high point to the East. Northeast are the Railroad Mountains, further North the River Mountains. Below is the Searchlight area. To the South is the Southern stretch of the McCullough Mountains and far below, the solar complex on I-15.
2. Beautiful Rock Garden Volcanic Terrain: Beautiful dark, sun-polished volcanic rocks and boulders dot the terrain, interspersed with creosote, cacti, yucca and, in the upper regions, Joshua trees. The entire area glows!
3. A Great Intermediary Hike: If you’ve hiked lower trails up to 7-10 miles and are conditioned up to 4,000ft altitude, the Black Mountain North Loop is a great next step before ascending beyond 5,000ft.
4. Awesome Workout Course: The 7.4-mile loop, with about 2,000ft elevation gain creates an awesome daily workout course.
5. Jumping-Off Point for Future Adventures in the North McCullough Wilderness: You can extend the loop to the North and to the South taking in Arden Peak and Peak 4055 to the North and Fracture Peak and Ridge and North McCullough Peak to the South. These extensions will involve traversing a lot of pathless wilderness and some steep slopes, but will create a wider encounter with the North McCullough Wilderness.

What is the Best Time of Year to Hike Black Mountain?

Stick to late Fall through early Spring when the high temperature in Las Vegas is predicted to by from about 70-80 degrees, though you could expand that window a bit on either end. Mid-day temperatures in the Summer can reach dangerously high levels approaching 120 degrees! Avoid the few Winter days where their might be snow and ice on and near the summit area. Usually, the warning indicator is rain in Las Vegas combined with Vegas temperatures under 40 degrees. I almost forgot to mention, high winds can be a huge factor. They can create a wind chill effect dramatically lowering the temperature. And they can somewhat take away the peace of this mountain adventure, so watch the weather reports for a sunny, low-wind day (5-10mph tops in the Vegas area)!

Trailhead Directions | Black Mountain North Loop | McCullough Hills | Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area, Nevada

From the Las Vegas Strip area, take I-15 South; turn East on I-215, then take the St. Rose Parkway exit. From St. Rose Parkway turn left onto S. Eastern Ave. Next turn left onto Anthem Parkway, then left onto Somersworth Dr. Finally turn right onto Shadow Canyon Dr. After a very short distance, the Black Mountain Trailhead will be on your right. 

Narrative Guide | Black Mountain North Loop | McCullough Hills | Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area, Nevada

Getting Your Initial Bearings

A great feature of this loop is that you can see the entire loop from the trailhead area, and from most every point along the loop. Black Mountain is the distinctive highest point East of the trailhead. Notice the two approach ridges to the right and the left of the double summit area. The ridges are your loop route. For this adventure documented in the video I ascended the right (South) approach ridgeline and descended the left (North) approach ridgeline, through either direction works equally well. Even though the trail is well-marked and easy to follow, it’s always good to study the terrain to get a good idea of the overall route.

Anthem East Trailhead to the Black Mountain Trailhead

This stretch is a half-mile long asphalt pathway, part of a large network of asphalt trails in the Anthem area, popular with the locals for hiking, jogging and biking. At the upper end of the asphalt pathway there is a huge floodwater retention reservoir. As you circle above the reservoir you’ll pass a large official Sloan Canyon Wilderness entrance sign. Above the reservoir is the official Black Mountain Trailhead, trail 404, clearly marked, but with smaller signs. A right turn onto the trailhead will put you on the counterclockwise loop I took, which seems to be the indicated loop direction. Continuing past that intersection will put you on the clockwise loop, probably better taken after doing the counterclockwise loop.

Black Mountain Trailhead to the Final Summit Approach

The trail is distinct and very well marked. You’ll immediately notice a lot of volcanic rocks all around, beautifully sun-polished. The action of the sun polishing the stones creates a surface referred to as “desert varnish”. Notice the plants dotting the terrain. At this altitude these are primarily creosote shrubs, evenly spaced due to a poison their roots emit to prevent other creosotes from competing for the scarce water in this desert environment.

The angle of incline will steadily increase, as does the size of the volcanic boulders. There are a few great vantage points along the way. Be sure to stop and turn around to see the spectacular views expanding behind. On the way up, you’ll notice a less distinctive trail, 402, branching off to the right. Observe the network of branching trails along the East base of the North McCullough mountains. This network of trails will provide approach and return routes for future adventures all along the North McCullough mountains leading to many of the ascent and descent ridges.

Final Summit Approach to the Summit

Below the summit, the incline dramatically increases. Still, it’s a walk…but what a walk! The trail is good, but now you’re weaving around and over huge sun-polished black volcanic boulders. There is no climbing or rock scrambling involved, just stepping up through a boulder stairway that would better fit a person about 10ft tall! You may need to grab the edge of a boulder to steady yourself at times, but you’re still walking…and high-stepping. Joshua trees begin to adorn the landscape about 5-600ft below the summit. Now you’re in a beautiful desert rock garden! Soon, as you look up, you will be able to make out the summit flag waving in the breeze not far above. Remember to turn around often to see the spectacular scene behind!

Closer to the summit, the flag disappears behind the surrounding boulders, then suddenly reappears when you’re almost there!

Along the Summit Ridge

You’ll first arrive at the South summit with the summit flag, summit record box and rock shelter. The rock shelter was welcome to me as it gave me a short rest from the high, cold winds that day. A spectacular 360-degree view opened at the summit. In addition to the spectacular theater view I’d enjoyed all the way up the mountain on the West side, now there was an East-side view just as spectacular. The River Mountains, Frenchman Mt. and Lake Las Vegas now appear to the North. The Railroad Mountains are below to the Northeast along with the The Fortress, Rattlesnake Mountain, The King, The Queen and the Jack. Below to the East is Black Canyon, the Eldorado Wilderness and further off in Arizona, the Black Mountains with Mt. Wilson as the high point. 

From the South summit you get your best view of the Northern McCullough Mountains stretching to the South including Fracture Ridge and Peak and North McCullough Peak. Those could form a great future South Loop adventure with a return potentially along the baseline trail system.

There’s a Trail 404 sign at the rock shelter pointing you across the saddle and toward the North summit. I sort-of followed that trail along the West edge of the summit ridge, though it may have been along the ridgeline center or somewhere else! Sometimes it seemed I was on a trail, sometimes the trail disappeared among the huge beautiful lava boulders. But it was not hard finding my way across the saddle to the North summit. A future extended loop to the North might include Arden Peak with its communication towers and one further peak, Peak 4055. The return might be down the Arden Peak approach ridgeline, though it’s questionable if the road along that ridgeline is public or private. We’ll find a public route in the future.   

Descent to the Trailhead

The descent ridge on the Black Mountain North Loop is similar to the ascent ridge. The incline is steeper and the boulders larger near the summit. I lost the trail very briefly a few times on the way down, but staying toward the center of the ridge and looking to the right and left quickly revealed where the distinct trail was. And there were a number of trail markers along the trail on the way down. The ridge is pretty obvious. It drops off to the right and to the left. Just stay around the ridgeline center.

There’s a kind of plateau half-way down. From that plateau you can see the reservoir below and the trail leading to and around the upper end of the reservoir. After the plateau area, the trail makes its final descent, crosses a shallow gully, then heads to the upper end of the reservoir. The trail is distinct and easy to follow all the way along the lower areas. Above the reservoir you’ll see the Black Mountain Trailhead sign leading up the North side of the loop. Continue past that intersection and follow the East Anthem Trail back to the trailhead.  

Summary

I’d call the Black Mountain North Loop a “must hike” experience. It’s a great conditioning hike before attempting higher elevations in such as in the Mt. Charleston Wilderness. And it’s a great way to keep some element of altitude conditioning through the Winter. Views throughout this loop are unmatched!