This is my favorite approach to La Madre Mountain due to the beauty of the terrain and the scenery. It includes a beautiful Spring ascent through La Madre Springs when the water was flowing and the wildflowers were all in bloom! In addition, there is a visit to the historic Miner’s Cabin above the La Madre Springs. The cabin has continued to fall apart in later years, so the pictures and video on this page represent some unique, vanishing views.
You begin in the scenic Willow Springs area (ample parking available), circle around between the La Madre Ridgeline Cliffs and White Mountain. Head up through the La Madre Springs area, pass an old Miner’s Cabin, then ascend to the summit of the La Madre Ridgeline (the cliff system at the back — North end — of Red Rock Canyon). At the ridgeline summit take a right and hike along the very summit of the La Madre Ridgeline to La Madre Mountain.
As you traverse the La Madre Ridgeline you’ll experience non-stop awesome views of Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area and the Calico Basin. You’ll look down upon Turtlehead Peak and its ridgeline leading North toward the La Madre Ridgeline. In the background beyond Turtlehead Peak that crescent-shaped peak across the Brownstone Basin is Damsel Peak. All the while, to the West there are amazing views of of the colorful Rainbow Mountains including Bridge Mountain, Rainbow Mountain, Mt. Wilson, North Sandstone Peak and North Limestone Peak. Look to the North to see Kyle Canyon. To the Northwest is the Mt. Charleston Wilderness. The amazing thing is that you can see all these scenic reference points at the same time as you traverse the La Madre Ridgeline, and the views continually become more spectacular and expansive!
The downside of this approach to La Madre Mountain is that it seems like a marathon distance. By the time you’ve made the round trip you may feel as if you’ve expended more exertion than during a marathon. This is due to the elevation gain (and loss and gain along the way). On this adventure I made it to the final approach to El Bastardo Peak. Thats still short of the complete La Madre Mountain summit. Later adventures in the area include:
You might see a pattern here. The most streamlined approaches to these high points on the La Madre Ridgeline are from Kyle Canyon Road to the North. By any route, making it to the summit of La Madre Mountain is a marathon effort. This probably accounts for the few people who have achieved this goal. However, the wilderness immersion and spectacular views all along the way are sure to create life memories!
From I-215 take the Charleston Blvd exit (at Red Rock Casino) and head upward through Summerlin toward Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. Take the Red Rock Canyon scenic drive past the high point overlook to the Willow Spring Picnic Area between White Rock Mountain and the Rainbow Mountains that border the West side of Red Rock Canyon.
View a more recent exploration of this route to the summit of the La Madre Ridgeline. During that subsequent adventure I further streamlined the approach.
At the upper end of the Willow Spring parking area take Rocky Gap Road for about 1/8th mile. Leave Rocky Gap Road and turn right at the intersection onto the White Mountain Loop Trail. Continue along the very good White Mountain Loop Trail (excellent for running), until it splits off to the left and upward to La Madre Springs (a well-marked intersection). Continue up through La Madre Springs along it’s beautiful cascading waterfalls. The trail gets pretty sketchy in places and is clogged with very thick brush. You’ll need to cross La Madre Springs many times in search of a way to continue upward. During some crossings as you walk over a thick layer of brush you cannot see the ground. You may wonder if the next step will cause your feet to drop through the brush into the stream! There is no real exposure to a dangerous fall. It’s just a lot of blind, unsure foot placements. Many hikers fail to make it to the historic Miner’s Cabin at the summit of La Madre Springs.
The historic Miner’s Cabin is a low, dilapadated structure with a roof a branches topping rough stone walls. Though you can’t really stand upright in the cabin, it’s interesting to look out the entrance to see the spectacular view that would have welcomed the miner every morning. There were still some historic rusted cans in the cabin at the time of this visit. Imagine what it might have been like to live there.
Continue slightly to the left and upward above the Miner’s Cabin navigating to the summit of the La Madre Ridgeline. A faint trail will appear, disappear and reappear, so keep your eye on the summit of the La Madre Ridgeline and stick to the most logical route up the center of the approach ridge. You’ve definitely left the Jurassic Era sandstone of White Rock Mountain, the Rainbow Mountains and Calico Hills. Now you’re ascending a more ancient Limestone terrain. You’ve also left the lower desert terrain and are in a beautiful Pinyon Pine forest. Along the way there will be one or two class 3 rock scrambles — the largest one is a rise of about 15-20ft half-way to the summit of the La Madre Ridgeline. See the slide guide and videos for views of this route.
At the summit of the La Madre Ridgeline take a right and head along the top of the La Madre Ridgeline staying close to the cliff edge on your right. That seems to be the most streamlined route. You’ll notice the North side of the La Madre Ridgeline is much more gradual that the vertical South side. The route along the top of the La Madre Ridgeline is fairly easy with little climbing or scrambling involved. And it’s and very beautiful!
The final few miles to the La Madre Mountain summit involves a rather marked descent just before El Bastardo Peak. That’s followed by another large dip as you descend the East side of El Bastardo Peak on your way to Burnt Peak. Then there’s another large dip between Burnt Peak and El Padre Mountain. There’s a final huge dip between El Bastardo Peak and La Madre Mountain. The center of that dip is the summit of the La Madre Mountain South approach through the Notch above the Brownstone Basin.
It took me a little over 6 hours to reach this adventure’s turn-around point at the base of El Bastardo Peak . The return trip was much faster: About 3 and a half to 4 hours back to Willow Spring.
Here is my initial exploration. It’s a lot of route experimentation and discovery until a good route was established.
See also the Northern approach to La Madre Mt.
The Front Door approach to La Madre Mt. is a direct ascent through the Southern Notch above Brownstone Basin.
