Adventure Slide Guide to Appear Soon
If you’ve been up to Turtlehead Peak and looked toward Las Vegas, that huge mountain between Turtlehead Peak and Las Vegas is Damsel Peak.
So, prepare for a nuclear version of everything you experienced while summiting Turtlehead Peak when you ascend to the summit of Damsel Peak.
The closest approaches to Damsel Peak are at the upper end of Lake Mead Blvd. and Far Hills Ave. However, there is no official parking area for hikers there, you’re in the midst of massive ongoing residential construction and you have to cross private property on your way to the base of Damsel Peak.
A more secure place to park is at Gene’s Trailhead in the Calico Basin. However, the distance to the base of Damsel Peak is about 5 times as long. I prefer Gene’s Trailhead.
Though Damsel Peak is closer to the Las Vegas Valley and stands out more sharply than Turtlehead Peak, the difficulty in getting to it’s base and summit makes it more isolated. This isolation creates more of a distant wilderness experience. In my 5 or more adventures on and around Damsel Peak, I’ve never once seen another hiker! You may as well be a thousand miles from civilization as you’re exploring the slopes, ridges and summits, though you can see the entire Las Vegas Valley most of the time!
As you navigate the wilderness on Damsel Peak, you’re guided only by the shape of the approach gullies, ridgelines and summit areas. There’s something liberating about this. It’s always a matter of trial-and-error discovery and adventure on Damsel Peak. You may feel as if you’re the first person to stand exactly where you are standing at any given moment. And the variety is unmatched:
You’ll experience the following during your ascent and on the summit (this is a short list):
Study a map before your adventure so you can identify the many spectacular reference points!
Stick to Fall through Spring, avoiding brief periods of Winter ice and snow (these usually last no more than a couple weeks). Mid-Summer mid-day temperatures during the approach can easily reach 110 or more degrees! Even on the summit you may experience mid-day temperatures around 100 degrees or more.
This End-to-End summit adventure from the Southeast to the Northwest summit was the culmination of at least 5 earlier adventures. It helped knowing the entire mountain and multiple ascent and descent routes by the time I put it all together in this adventure. What’s the hurry? Have fun and come to know the entire mountain! View all the Damsel Peak adventures here.
From Hwy 215 in the Summerlin area, take the Charleston Blvd exit, turn upward (West) on Charleston Blvd toward the mountains. Charleston Blvd becomes Blue Diamond Rd. (159) as you leave the city. Take the Calico Basin exit off 159 (right turn) onto Calico Basin Road. Park at Gene’s Trailhead near the beginning of Calico Basin Road.
This is the best trailhead for this adventure because unlike the other major access points along the Red Rock Canyon 3 Basin Circuit, this trailhead does not close in the evening. Since the circuit is over 16 miles in length, you’ll want to know that your vehicle will not be locked behind a gate after sundown!
Normally, you can stand at the trailhead and view your entire route. Not here! If you start at Gene’s Trailhead you’ll only see fleeting glimpses of Damsel Peak for the first mile. So, I’ll describe that initial view of your route on the peak in a moment.
From Gene’s Trailhead, head around the right side of a large hill that stands between you and Las Vegas. That hill is Horse Peak and the unmarked trail is the Half-Wilson Trail. At the first high point you’ll catch a glimpse of Damsel Peak’s summit from the trail, but the entire peak only becomes visible once you round Horse Peak and enter the Brownstone Basin. At that point you can identify the shape of the peak and your route to the summit. To the lower right is the Southeast slope. That slope leads to a small pinnacle just below the Southeast Summit (huge when you’re actually there). Above is the Southeast Summit, then a saddle along the edge of a long, vertical cliff to the true and higher Northwest Summit.
Your route will be up the Southeast Slope, past the Southeast Pinnacle, around the outer edge of the Southeast Summit, across the long Summit Saddle above the huge vertical Western cliff, around the Eastern edge of the Northwest Summit and on up to the summit, down a nice fairly gradual slope to the Northeastern base of Damsel Peak, around the East side through Little Red Rock, back to the base of the Southeast Slope, then straight back across Brownstone Basin to Horse Peak, the Half-Wilson Trail and finally Gene’s Trailhead. All your main waypoints are in bold and itallics.
Once your round Horse Peak, there’s one more ridgeline to round before making a beeline to the Southeast Slope of Damsel Peak. That ridgeline is the base of the long Gray Cap Ridgeline which borders the West edge of the lower Brownstone Basin. Once at the base of that ridgeline (less than a quarter mile from Horse Peak), head directly for the Southeast Slope of Damsel Peak. You’ll cross a number of ridgelines and washes along the way. Angle your crossings to minimize the descents and ascents.
As you approach the base of the Southeast Slope of Damsel Peak identify the long approach ridgeline that ascends to the base of the Southeast Slope. I name this Toyota Ridge due to a red Toyota that met a horrible demise on that ridge separating its pick-up bed and cab by about 50 yards! Head up Toyota Ridge and begin ascending the outer edge of the Southeast Slope of Damsel Peak.
As you head up the outer edge of the Southeast Slope of Damsel Peak, you’ll quickly find yourself in Limestone Plate territory. The series of huge limestone plates are slanted in the same direction, and crossing each plate requires ascending over a low limestone shelf, most are about 4 feet high. By now you can see the Southeast Pinnacle which is, from this perspective, a beautiful limestone cliff shaped in the same angle and direction as the other limestone plates. You want to aim for rounding the lower base of the Southeast Pinnacle. You’d be cliffed out on the upper (outer) side, though the view is spectacular from that observation point.
There’s one challenging steep vertical ridge to cross on your way to the Southeast Pinnacle. See the video where I discovered a nice ascent crack after attempting another ascent crack that ended in a dead-end. Continue upward and round the lower base of the Southeast Pinnacle cliffline.
A nice summit approach gully appears once you round the lower base of the Southeast Pinnacle. Take that gully all the way up to the Southeast Summit. Your ascent of that gully will be pretty experimental, sometimes traversing above the left side, sometimes descending into the gully, and ultimately ascending along the base of the huge cliff that lines the right side of the gully to the Southeast Summit. Don’t get discouraged as the terrain of steep loose rock, boulders and brush seems daunting. Once you’ve rounded the lower base of the Southeast Pinnacle, your quickest way back home is to keep going forward. The Southeast Summit is actually about 2/3rds of the entire adventure and to turn around at this point is longer and more difficult that continuing upward!
From below, everything looked like a vertical cliff on the South and West side of Damsel Peak. So, you may fear being cliffed out at the Southeast Summit. When you actually reach the top of the approach gully and begin to round the Southeast Summit, you’ll be surprised to discover a nice generous pathway to help you along that next stretch. The drop-off to your left is frightening, but the pathway is wide enough to calm your fears as you continue around the Southeast Summit. And, better yet, the terrain is more level and easy to navigate than what you experienced ascending the Southeast Slope!
My suggestion is the stay high as you round the base of the Southeast Summit. There is one frightening steep scree slope on the West edge of the Southeast Summit that ends in a vertical cliff below. But I could see the route getting easier beyond that scree slope, and there were only a couple steps I needed to carefully place to cross the slope. Once across, you’ve got it made! It’s easy going all the way across the Summit Saddle to the Northwest Summit! Enjoy the spectacular views while navigating a comfortable route with no frightening exposure! It’s all a class 2 walk for the rest of the day, and about 90% downhill!!
As you look ahead at the true, Northwest Summit, it all looks like an impassible cliff. However, when you get to the base of that cliff, you’ll find you can easily wind your way around and up the right (East) side all the way to the top! In fact, a trail will eventually appear. Once on the Northwest Summit you can clearly see the entire route you took along the Summit Saddle from the Southeast Summit. And, all the view mentioned above are visible in living color!
Looking downward from the Northwest Summit to the Northeast, notice a nice wide wash running along the base of Damsel Peak. That’s your next target. That wash will take you all the way around the East base of Damsel Peak, through Little Red Rock and back to the base of the Southeast Slope. And the great thing is that there’s a nice gradual ridgeline that will take you all the way from the Northwest Summit down to that baseline wash! It’s so much easier that your earlier ascent of the Southeast Slope, and faster. I made it down at a comfortable walk in about an hour, compared to the earlier 3-4-hour ascent!
When you reach the baseline wash you’re done climbing. It’s just a walk (or run) all the way back to Gene’s Trailhead! And the wash will take you throug the edge of beautiful Little Red Rock with its huge, uniquely sculptured Jurassic Era Aztec Red sandstone formations! As you find yourself back on Toyota Ridge, look across at the Brownstone Basin.
From Toyota Ridge, notice the long Gray Cap Ridgeline bordering the West side of the Brownstone Basin. Make a beeline straight for the lower base of that ridgeline. You can also use Blue Diamond Hill beyond in the distance, as a directional point of reference. Head toward Blue Diamond Hill and the lower edge of Gray Cap Ridgeline. The terrain over the intervening ridges and washes is surprisingly easier on the way back as you’re overall heading downhill.
Once you round the lower edge of Gray Cap Ridgeline, Horse Peak again comes into view. You’ll notice the now familial Half-Wilson Trail rounding the left base of Horse Peak. That nice trail will take you all the way back to Gene’s Trailhead.
Funny thing, I thought the route night be around 30 miles. In actuality, my wilderness app clocked in at about 16 miles. But what an incredible day! Damsel Peak End-to-End is a life memory. You’ll never look at Damsel Peak from below in the Las Vegas Valley in quite the same way. It has now and forever become a familiar old friend!
David Smith has devoted the better part of one day each week over the past 20 years to experiencing a mountain trail running adventure. He began in the Pacific Northwest with the Columbia Gorge and Cascade Mountains; then moved to Southern California and experienced the Angeles Crest mountains; then the Northeast where he experienced the Hudson River Valley and Minnewaska; finally in 2016 to Las Vegas where he is experiencing and documenting Red Rock Canyon, the Spring Mountains (Mt. Charleston area), Death Valley and beyond!
Return often to experience one new adventure each week! From the home page scroll to “Most Recent Adventures“. More about David Smith…
The trail adventures on this website require proper conditioning, preparation and safety precautions. There are many factors beyond our control including weather conditions, unstable ground, loose rocks, insects and snakes, people you may encounter, your own level of physical conditioning, the potential of getting lost just to mention a few. While this site offers guidance, helpful tips, direction and training, the reader assumes full responsibility for whatever may occur during their trail adventure. Have fun and be safe!
