Hidden Peak Summit | Rainbow Mountain Wilderness, Nevada
Overview Hidden Peak Summit | Rainbow Mountain Wilderness, Nevada
Adventure Slide Guide will appear here November/December 2024!
Great First Summit in the Rainbow Mountains!
If you’ve never summited one of the colorful sandstone peaks in the Rainbow Mountains, Hidden Peak is a great first summit. As far as the Rainbow Mountains summits go, Hidden Peak is one of the easiest, with a difficulty level around class 2 (basically a walk). The route is well marked with cairns, however, you might want to be comfortable with off-trail wilderness adventures. As you near the summit, staying on route may require a little experimentation and the ability to read the terrain.
Don’t let the low difficulty level of this adventure put you off. Even advanced climbers will find the views spectacular and the sandstone terrain like a bonsai garden. It’s a great place to introduce a less advanced climber to this beautiful kind of terrain. And more experienced climbers will discover Hidden Peak to be the gateway to the more challenging Monument Peaks just West of Hidden Peak’s summit.
Southern Rainbow Mountain Peaks Viewed Along the Way
In addition, the approach route along the Rainbow Mountains Upper Crest Ridgeline is a great introduction to all five major Southern Rainbow Mountain peaks. Along the approach route you will receive a birdseye view of:
More Spectacular Views Along the Way and At the Peak
See all these peaks from Mountain Spring Summit along the way. And, as you descend from the Rainbow Mountains Upper Crest Ridgeline trail to the base of Hidden Peak, view the incredibly beautiful Ponderosa Pine stand of Little Zion just below to the left (North). View all of these sights in the video on this page. In addition, along the way and from the summit of Hidden Peak view (this is a short list):
- The Las Vegas Valley and Strip
- Frenchman Mountain
- Sunrise Mountain
- The Muddy Mountains
- Lake Mead
- Red Rock Canyon
- The Calico Basin
- Blue Diamond Hill
- The La Madre Mountains Ridgeline
- Mt. Charleston Wilderness
- Lovell Canyon
- Nopah Range
- Panamint Range and Telescope Peak on the West side of Death Valley
- Potosi Mountain
Best Time of Year to Visit Hidden Peak
To avoid trecherous icy conditions on the sandstone areas and dangerous high Summer heat, it’s best to visit Hidden Peak during the Fall and Spring months.
Trailhead Directions | Hidden Peak Summit | Rainbow Mountain Wilderness, Nevada
Take I-215 to the Charleston Blvd. Exit in Summerlin, then head upward toward Red Rock Park. Pass Red Rock Park, continuing on Hwy 159. Pass the town of Blue Diamond, then turn right onto Hwy 160 toward Pahrump. Hwy 160 will ascend upward to a high point just before the town of Mountain Springs. Around that high point park at the Mountain Springs Trailhead on your right. The trailhead has no marking and is a hard right turn off Hwy 160 onto a dirt road and into an area that looks like an unimproved campground with scattered areas to park. If you are the first to arrive in the morning it’s not obvious that you are at a trailhead. To make the Mountain Springs trailhead even more difficult to recognize there is a large sign at the entrance “Residential Use Only”.
Narrative Guide | Hidden Peak Summit | Rainbow Mountain Wilderness, Nevada
Mountain Spring Trailhead to the Rainbow Mountains Upper Crest Ridgeline
Head up one of the two roads behind the Mountain Spring Trailhead parking area. I like the road to the right (East). Once you’ve ascended that first hill, watch for your first two waypoints:
- The communications tower further up the hill.
- The Rainbow Mountains Upper Crest Ridgeline (that ridgeline on the horizon to your right – East)
Pass through the opening on the left side of the communications tower gate, then descend the short hill, continuing past the motor vehicle barrier boulders. This puts you on the trail leading to the Rainbow Mountains Upper Crest Ridgeline.
Rainbow Mountains Upper Crest Ridgeline to Mountain Spring Summit
As you summit the Rainbow Mountains Upper Crest Ridgeline, take a left onto the nice trail on the ridgeline. That trail is well-established and easy to follow all the way to the Hidden Peak descent point. After that, the trail continues North along the entire length of the Rainbow Mountains, all the way to the Willow Spring area at the upper end of Red Rock Canyon. But the trail beyond the Hidden Peak area is faint and hard to follow in places. That’s no problem becaure your destination today is Hidden Peak.
Once on the Upper Crest Ridgeline Trail, the views will become incredibly expansive including all the great reference points noted above.
Mountain Spring Summit
Mountain Spring Summit is a very brief loop-trail detour to the right of the Rainbow Mountains Upper Crest Ridgeline Trail. It’s the high point past the Windy Peak summit descent trail split. From Mountain Spring Summit you can see all five of the major peaks in the Southern Rainbow Mountains along with peaks in the Northern Rainbow Mountains:
Descent Ridges to the Rainbow Mountain Peaks
Note that each peak in the Rainbow Mountains has a descent ridgeline from the Rainbow Mountains Upper Crest Ridgeline to the peak’s summit. In fact, Mountain Spring Summit is the high point on the descent ridgeline to Black Velvet Peak below.
Climbers most often ascend to these peaks from the canyons below. Descending to the peaks from above avoids the brush, boulders and complicated routes in the canyons below. However, the routes to the summits from above are much longer. So, summiting the Rainbow Mountains involves either some complicated navigation and climbing from below or a marathon route from above.
Note especially the look of Hidden Peak just to the North, along with what you can see of its descent ridgeline from the Rainbow Mountains Upper Crest Ridgeline. You’ll need to refere to this reference view in a bit.
Mountain Spring Summit to Hidden Peak Summit Approach
From Mountain Spring Summit, loop back down to the Rainbow Mountains Upper Crest Ridgeline trail. There are some beautiful limestone formations along this next stretch of the trail. As the trail loops around, to the right and downward toward Hidden Peak, watch for a spectacular arch in the limestone. You have to look back to see the arch. If you miss it you’ll see it on the return trip.
As you round that last bend just before descending toward Hidden Peak, note that the Rainbow Mountains Upper Crest Ridgeline continues ahead to the North. The trail along the ridgeline becomes more difficult to find from this point, but it’s there! The main trail you’re on is now descending toward the popular Little Zion area you can now see below to your left. If you’re going to Little Zion, just stay on the main trail. However, since you’re heading to Hidden Peak, you want to angle off the trail and to your right toward Hidden Peak. Remember the reference view of the descent ridgeline you saw from Mountain Spring Summit. That view will help you move toward the sandstone approach to Hidden Peak.
Sandstone Approach to Hidden Peak
As you angle off the Little Zion descent trail toward Hidden Peak, you’ll soo reach the sandstone area near the base of the peak. Here you will discover the good series of cairns that will guide you all the way to Hidden Peak summit. On that initial sandstone plateau, be sure to get a big-picture view of Hidden Peak’s summit and its approach. Identify a ridgeline descending to a saddle, an ascent ramp ascending from the saddle up the North side of Hidden Peak and a tree-lined gully splitting off above the ramp about midway on the North side of Hidden Peak. That gully is the final ascent gully to Hidden Peak’s summit.
Now follow the line of cairns. You’ll begin by crossing the sandstone plateau to the beginning of the descent ridge. At the beginning of the descent ridge the cairns will guide you around and down a narrow ramp ledge that will place you on the descent ridge. From there, continue down a nice gully to the saddle at the base of the descent ridge. Here you can see that fine wide ramp leading upward along the North side of Hidden Peak’s summit. Begin ascending this ramp.
Final Approach to Hidden Peak’s Summit
About half-way up the summit, to your right, there’s that tree-lined gully you originally saw from the sandstone plateau above. Take a right above the ramp to ascend that gully. The going is pretty easy. Near the summit of the gully, take a left to top the last brief rise to the summit of Hidden Peak! The view from the summit is spectacular (reference points noted above) and there’s a summit box to sign.
Monument Peaks
Those two massive peaks you see just West of the summit are two of the four Monument Peaks (the other two are below, just to the West beyond the peaks you can see). My first thought upon summiting Hidden Peak was “How can you get from the summit of Hidden Peak to the Monument Peak summits?” At first glance, it appears the intervening distance to the Monument Peaks is a huge vertical drop-off. A climber friend, John Garner, saw the video on this page and noted that there is a route from the summit of Hidden Peak to the summit of the Monument Peaks. Though more difficult than the route you took to Hidden Peak summit, the route to the Monument Peaks does not exceed the class 3 level of rock climbing. Here is John’s description:
“The route to Monument is one of prettiest in Red Rock. All class 3 with one 3+ tough spot right near the peak just before the neatest looking tinaja in area I’ve seen. There’s a canyon (Mustang Canyon I think) you descend a little ways that is just north of Hidden Peak. Once down you traverse east then go right (south) wrapping around till you can’t go any further then start heading up and up and up. We got caught in a quick but aggressive snow storm on the east side of monument dome and it was epic. Some amazing views on that route, 100% worth it!!!”
I have not yet explored this route to Monument Peak so I cannot vouch for its difficulty level. That will be a future adventure!
Conclusion
The route to Hidden Peak summit is totally spectacular all the way, and very possible for a good hiker and aspiring Rainbow Mountains climber. Experience a huge sense of accomplishment and enjoy!
