Overview | Harris Springs & Harris Mountain Roads | Off-Road Cycling | Mt. Charleston Wilderness | Spring Mountains, Nevada
This was a mountain bike off-road cycling adventure beginning at the intersection of
Kyle Canyon Road and Lower
Harris Springs Road and ending on
Harris Mountain Road at about 7000ft elevation for a total elevation gain of 2,800ft.
The important
Harris Springs and
Harris Mountain Roads system is one of the main access points for the
La Madre Mountains Wilderness (4 times the size of
Red Rock Canyon NCA Scenic Drive Area),
Harris Mountain and even the
Lovell Canyon area and a back door wilderness ascent to
Griffith Peak. We take time to show these important wilderness access points. The views from upper
Harris Mountain Road are spectacular. One can look straight down the canyon to see the entire
Sheep Range,
Fossil Ridge and
Gass Peak in addition to
La Madre Mountain and El Padre Mountain.
About 20% of the road had such deep gravel coupled with a dramatic ascent that it was necessary to walk the mountain bike. My turn-around point came about a mile or less from the
Harris Mountain Trailhead. The 2,800ft ascent took about 4.5 hours. The return trip descent took only 1 hr and 10 minutes! Those first few miles descent from the high point on
Harris Mountain Road were a bit challenging due to the rough rocky surface and steep incline. One might possibly travel this road in a passenger vehicle. I would not. I highly recommend a high-centered 4WD vehicle.
The terrain is very dry, populated by cacti,
Joshua Trees, Yucca,
Pinyon Pines and
Junipers. Bring lots of water and stick to mid-Fall through mid-Spring.
Additional Adventures in the Area
- This adventure shows the Griffith Peak Back Wilderness Trailhead at the summit of Harris Mountain Road. In this adventure I took the Wilson Ridge up to Harris Mountain summit. Wilson Ridge to Harris Mountain; Griffith Peak Back Wilderness Trail
- This adventures traces the Griffith Peak Back Wilderness Trail from the base of the Harris Mountain / Griffith Peak saddle to Griffith Peak summit. Griffith Peak Back Wilderness Trail
Directions to Start Point | Harris Springs & Harris Mountain Roads | Off-Road Cycling | Mt. Charleston Wilderness | Spring Mountains, Nevada
There are 2 access points to Harris Springs Road, which later becomes
Harris Mountain Road. Both are off
Kyle Canyon Road: One on
lower Kyle Canyon Road, the other higher up near
Charleston Village.
The first access is what I call “
Lower Harris Springs Road”. It is about 5 miles up
Kyle Canyon Road from that road’s intersection with
Hwy 95. There is an ample parking area on
Kyle Canyon Road (right side) just a few hundred feet beyond its intersection with
Harris Springs Road. Take this route if you are heading for the
La Madre Mountains Wilderness area and planning to ascend
La Madre Mountain and/or El Padre Mountain.
The second access point is what I call “
Upper Harris Springs Road”. It is an ample parking area on the left side of
Kyle Canyon Road a few miles before the
Spring Mountains Gateway Visitor Center. Take this access point if you are planning on ascending
Harris Mountain, entering
Lovell Canyon or perhaps shooting for the back door of
Griffith Peak. If you do take the upper
Harris Springs Road access, note that there are two unpaved roads stemming off from the parking area. Take the main road on the left. This will get you onto
Harris Springs Road and
Harris Mountain Road. The road to the right leads to an
interesting slot canyon which we explored on this page.
↓ Narrative Guide ↓
Narrative Guide | Harris Springs & Harris Mountain Roads | Off-Road Cycling | Mt. Charleston Wilderness | Spring Mountains, Nevada
During the initial 3 miles on lower Harris Springs Road we document 3 access points to the vast off-road network in the
La Madre Mountains Wilderness, which borders
Red Rock Canyon NCA Scenic Drive Area and
Calico Basin and is about 4 times the size of
Red Rock Canyon NCA Scenic Drive Area. Two of the access roads reach the hiking/running route to the summit of
La Madre Mountain and El Padre Mountain, the high points in the
La Madre Mountains Wilderness. It looks as if this road system is a favorite for ATVs and dirt bikes.
Further up
Harris Springs Road we document its intersection with upper
Harris Springs Road where we take a left and travel about a mile to the intersection with
Harris Mountain Road. If you go straight you end up in the town of
Harris Springs. A right turn puts you on
Harris Mountain Road. We took the right turn. About a half mile up
Harris Mountain Road, on the right side of the road, there are a few great camping spots.
Harris Mountain Road continues to wind upward above the canyon to the left. As you ascend the beautiful vistas open up behind. There are a few view point turn-outs at key scenic points along the way.
We made it to the 7,000ft point on this first trip. The last 2-3 miles the incline became fairly steep and the road condition more rocky, which slowed us to a walk. I believe the main Harris Mountain Trailhead was only a mile or less up the road from the turn-around point. The Northeastern ridge of
Lovell Canyon could be seen a mile or so ahead.
We wanted to document lower
Harris Springs Road on this day, which ate up about 2 hours. Next time we’ll begin on upper
Harris Springs Road, which should give us enough additional time to make the
Harris Mountain Trailhead.
Update
“Once you hit the Harris Mtn. road turnoff from Harris Springs Road it is over an hour drive in a 4wd vehicle to get to the trailhead. I timed the decent from the trailhead and it was 50 minutes. First time run. Just FYI for anyone wanting to run this.”
–Bryon Scheffel
