Overview | Cheyenne Mountain | Las Vegas, Nevada
Cheyenne Mountain, elevation 3833ft with an elevation gain of 900ft, is one of the many desert hills surrounding
Las Vegas. Located in the
Summerlin area,
Cheyenne Mountain has a commanding view of
Lone Mountain, the
Las Vegas Valley and many surrounding high points.
Loop Trail Circling the Base of Cheyenne Mountain
The
Toove Trail, a 4-mile loop trail, completely circles the base of
Cheyenne Mountain. The
Toove Trail is child-friendly and used by hikers, trail runners, mountain bikers, rock climbers scoping out summit approaches, people walking their dogs and families with children. If you can walk 4 miles, you can probably handle the Toove Trail.
Las Vegas Parks at the Base of Cheyenne Mountain
The East side of
Cheyenne Mountain is bordered by
Cliff Shadows Parkway, and there are three
Las Vegas Metro Area Parks along the road: Buckskin Park (just above – North of – I-215 Cheyenne Road exit), Trigono Hills Park, about 1/4th mile further up
Cliff Shadows Parkway and, in about one more mile,
Open Desert Park (take a left – West – off
Cliff Shadows Parkway onto
Alexander Road and continue about 1/8th mile to the end of that road). All of these parks serve as access points for the
Toove Trail.
Various Summit Approaches for Cheyenne Mountain
As you circle
Cheyenne Mountain on the
Toove Trail, you’ll notice potential summit approaches from class 3 to class 5 climbing skill levels (class 3 – you need to use your hands; class 5 – sheer cliff, ropes recommended).
Cheyenne Mountain Summit Ridge
The summit itself is a 1.5-mile-long slope with a 900ft altitude gain from its North end near
Open Desert Park to its high summit South end at
Buckskin Park. The summit ridge is rather rocky and narrow in places. I refer to it as
The Razor’s Edge.
Views from Cheyenne Mountain Summit Ridge
Views from the summit ridge are incredible including
Lone Mountain, much of the Las Vegas Valley including the Las Vegas Strip, the
Sheep Range,
Fossil Ridge,
Gass Peak, the
Muddy Mountains,
Sunrise Mountain,
Frenchman Mountain,
Mt. Wilson in Arizona,
Summerlin Ridge, Blue Diamond Mountain, the
Rainbow Mountains on the West side of
Red Rock Park,
Potosi Mountain,
La Madre Mountain,
Summerlin Ridge and much more.
Best Time to Explore Cheyenne Mountain
It’s advised to explore
Cheyenne Mountain from Fall to Spring or very early on a Summer morning as mid-day Summer temperatures can easily rise above 110 degrees.
Directions to Start Point | Cheyenne Mountain, Las Vegas, Nevada
Take I-215 North from
Summerlin toward
Centennial Hills. Exit at
Cheyenne Ave. Turn left to cross over the freeway. Just beyond the freeway the name of the road changes to
Cliff Shadows Parkway. Take the first left into
Buckskin Park. It’s not well marked so you could easily miss it. It’s more a trailhead parking area than a park, and much of it is unpaved, so just look for a moderate sized parking area on your left almost immediately after crossing over highway 215.
Alternate trailheads can be found at
Cliff Shadows Trigono Park on
Cliff Shadows Parkway and
Open Desert Park further up
Cliff Shadows Parkway off the West end of
Alexander Road.
↓ Narrative Guide ↓
Narrative Guide | Cheyenne Mountain | Las Vegas, Nevada
Initial Exploration
On this day my plan was to begin at
Buckskin Park, completely circle the base of
Cheyenne Mountain and ascend to the summit ridge.
Getting from Buckskin Park to the Toove Trail at the Southern Base of Cheyenne Mountain
At
Buckskin Park you are immediately confronted with a large drainage channel that at first seems to block access to the trail circling
Cheyenne Mountain. However, there is an easy crossing near the base of the mountain, and you’ll soon find yourself on the
Toove Trail which circles
Cheyenne Mountain. I took a left on the
Toove Trail and circled
Cheyenne Mountain in a clockwise direction.
Southern Summit Approaches for Cheyenne Mountain
Buckskin Park is located below the summit of
Cheyenne Mountain 900ft above, so looking up, you are confronted with a pretty steep cliff. Summit approaches on the South side of
Cheyenne Mountain are class 5 due to the sheer cliff headwall immediately below the summit (see the slide show for summit approach views on all sides of
Cheyenne Mountain).
The Valley West of Cheyenne Mountain
Rounding the Southwest corner of the base of
Cheyenne Mountain the view opens up to a Western valley crisscrossed with trails and a higher ridgeline on the opposite side. That high ridgeline is
Summerlin Ridge with
Summerlin Peak. The reason I mention these here is that the
Toove Trail and
Cheyenne Mountain ridge give an excellent perspective for scoping out potential summit approaches on the Eastern side of
Summerlin Ridge.
Scoping Out the East Side of Summerlin Ridge
The West side of
Summerlin Ridge, accessed from the upper end of
Lake Mead Blvd., is mostly guarded by sheer cliffs which are curiously shaped like smaller versions of
La Madre Mountain, El Padre Mountain and Burnt Peak, thus my nickname for these features:
Little La Madre, Little El Padre and Little Burnt Peak. The slope along the East side of Summerlin Ridge, viewed from the
Toove Trail, is more gradual than the cliffs on the West side, so on this day I noticed a number of potential Eastern approaches to the summit area of
Summerlin Ridge (see the video and slide show on this page).
Summit Ridge Approaches on the West Side of Cheyenne Mountain
Continuing around the West side of
Cheyenne Mountain, though there were mostly cliffs, I noticed a couple potential class 3 approaches to the summit of the
Cheyenne Mountain ridgeline. As I neared the Northwestern edge of
Cheyenne Mountain, there was a fairly well-traveled split-off trail that headed for the summit ridge. I took this trail, winding my way up to the summit ridge. At the base of the ridge in a cliffy area, there was a small overhang camping area which looked like a great place to spend an evening watching the sunset and the stars as night deepened.
Cheyenne Mountain Summit Ridge and Northern Summit
The summit of
Cheyenne Mountain Ridge is rocky and narrow in places. There is a high point on the mid-summit ridge with a summit box. From there one can see another quarter mile of ridge continuing South to the higher Southern summit. That section of ridge is very narrow in places with some exposure.
Descending the Slope to Trigono Park and Return to Buckskin Park
I returned North, down the ridge, to the point I had first summited the ridge. From there, I took a class 2-3 slope down to the Eastern side of
Cheyenne Mountain landing on the Toove Trail just North of
Trigono Park. Continuing to circle
Cheyenne Mountain Southward on the
Toove Trail I noticed a number of more gradual slopes, potentially class 3, ascending to the Southern summit of
Cheyenne Mountain. Passing
Trigono Park I continued South on the
Toove Trail the final quarter mile to
Buckskin Park where I had begun.
Future Explorations of Cheyenne Mountain
Future explorations of
Cheyenne Mountain might include a class 3 approach up the Southern side to the summit, class 3 approaches on the Western side, the complete ridgeline from North to South, and a few Southeastern class 3 approaches between the
Trigono Park area and
Buckskin Park.
