Overview | Lee Peak & Charleston Peak from Lee Canyon | Mt Charleston Wilderness | Spring Mountains, Nevada
Route Summary
Starting in
Lee Canyon across from
Upper Lee Meadows, ascend
the gradual mid-ridge that begins there and connects with the
Mt. Charleston North Loop Trail a little over a mile below
Lee Peak. Take a right on the
North Loop Trail to the final summit approach for Lee Peak summit. Deviate from the
North Loop Trail to
ascend to the Lee Peak Summit, then descend again to the
North Loop Trail. Continue on the
North Loop Trail to
Charleston Peak summit. Take the
Mt. Charleston South Loop Trail from Charleston Peak summit to the junction below Griffith Peak summit. Descend to the
South Loop Trail and descend to the
South Loop Trailhead just above
Charleston Village. From there take a mountain bike stashed earlier at that trailhead and return to
Upper Lee Meadows via
Deer Creek Road and
Lee Canyon Road.
Why This Route?
- Variety: If you’ve done the Mt. Charleston Loop a number of times this is a way to summit the main peaks on the loop via a new route.
- Lee Canyon / Kyle Canyon Experience: This route will give you a sweeping experience of both Lee Canyon and Kyle Canyon.
- Variety of Terrain: You’ll experience both pathless wilderness and established trails moving through total solitude to one of the most popular populated trails in Southern Nevada. There there’s the mountain bike experience on 3 scenic mountain highways.
- Connections: You’ll experience first hand how two major canyons and wilderness areas are closely connected.
Non-Stop Spectacular Views!
A 5th great reason for taking this adventure route is the spectacular views you’ll see along the way. Here is a
short list you will see from multiple awesome perspectives:
Best Time of Year
Definitely July to early August when the days are longest giving you more light, the snows have melted and yet the terrain at these altitudes (between 8,000 – 11,919ft) remains relatively cool.
Conditioning
The main reason I’m giving conditioning guidelines here is that you enjoy your adventure and the spectacular views along the way vs. being uncomfortably exhausted and possibly worrying how you are going to get back home! It’s the difference between enjoying yourself totally immersed in nature for a day of wonder vs. torturing yourself and wishing you had not attempted this.
This route is NOT recommended unless you have a long standing base conditioning of 4×5-miles/week running plus 1 day 15 miles endurance adventure = about 35 miles/week. Be altitude conditioned up to 11,500ft. In addition, have wilderness navigation skills, ability to traverse long steep loose rock avalanche slopes and familiarity riding a mountain bike along steep mountain highways with many curves. Have a well-maintained mountain bike with night lighting and a reflective vest.
It’s also recommended to have previously accomplished each of the main sections of this adventure before combining them all into one adventure.
On the other hand, if you’ve done the
4-Peak Circuit Adventure the
Lee Canyon Mid-Ridge you’re ready for this adventure.
Directions to Start Point | Lee Peak & Charleston Peak from Lee Canyon | Mt Charleston Wilderness | Spring Mountains, Nevada
Take
Hwy 95 North from
Las Vegas. Turn left onto
Lee Canyon Road (Hwy 156). Continue on
Lee Canyon Road about 16 miles. You’ll continue on
Lee Canyon Road past the intersection with
Deer Creek Road. Park across from the
Lee Canyon Meadow where there is a long paved parking strip.
↓ Narrative Guide ↓
Narrative Guide | Lee Peak & Charleston Peak from Lee Canyon | Mt Charleston Wilderness | Spring Mountains, Nevada
We’ll break this adventure down into 7 phases:
Phase 1: Upper Lee Meadows to Lee/Kyle Canyon Upper Rim via Lee Canyon Mid-Ridge
The mid-ridge takes you from
Upper Lee Meadows at the base of
Lee Canyon to the connection with the
Mt. Charleston Upper North Loop Trail on the upper rim of
Lee Canyon / Kyle Canyon.
On this, my 3rd ascent of the
Lee Canyon Mid-Ridge, that route is well refined and streamlined. This approximately 3-4 mile stretch which ascends about 3,000ft is pure wilderness with no trails. However, it is pretty straight forward: Stay as close to the center of the ridge as you can and follow the guidelines below and you will remain on course throughout. The entire mid-ridge by the course I’m describing is an easy class 2 ascent and descent (meaning no hands needed). However, there are some cliffs and rocky bluffs one could encounter with dangerous off-course consequences.
The mid-ridge can be divided into 2 equal parts: The Lower Mid-Ridge and the Upper Mid-Ridge, separated by a feature I will call “The Gully Gap” in the cliff line.
Lower Lee Canyon Mid-Ridge
The
Lee Canyon Mid-Ridge begins about a quarter mile from the parking area on the East (left) side of
Lee Canyon Road. Ascend the brief but steep avalanche slope immediately above the parking area to arrive on a wide open forested area with a gradual incline. Angle upward and a bit to the left to quickly find an old abandoned unpaved road that will take you up to a large green water reservoir, which is the beginning of the
Lee Canyon Mid-Ridge, just to the left (East) of the reservoir.
The key during the lower half of the
Lee Canyon Mid-Ridge is to skirt all rocky obstacles (bluffs, cliffs) to the right (West) while remaining as close to the middle of the ridge as possible. From the water reservoir begin ascending the center of the mid-ridge. Disregard the faint trail that ascends the West side a little below the center because this will later cause you to ascend a steep avalanche slope to regain the center of the ridge.
In the beginning you’re on the very center of the mid-ridge. The ascent is at first rather steep, but after 2-300ft of ascent the angle of ascent will decrease somewhat. The views on the center of the mid-ridge are incredible. To the East (left) is the
Foxtail Canyon area with
Mummy Mountain and the
Lee Canyon / Kyle Canyon upper rim as a backdrop. To the right (West) is the base of
Lee Canyon (ski area,
Bristlecone Pine Trailhead) with a backdrop of the
Sisters South,
Sisters North and
Black Rock Sister;
Macks Peak and
McFarland Peak.
You’ll encounter some rocky bluffs and cliffs on the lower half of the
Lee Canyon Mid-Ridge. Skirt them to the right (West) as high as possible without any climbing above class 2. And always return to the center of the ridge as soon as you are able after skirting the obstacles. Eventually you will reach a large obstacle, a cliff line about 50 yards long. Hug the base of this cliff line where there is a narrow pathway between the cliff to your left and the steep avalanche slopes to your right. There is no dangerous exposure here.
Half-Way Gully Gap
After about 50 yards along the base of the cliff you will see an obvious break in the cliff line to your left. This is what I call “The Gully Gap” which allows you to again ascend to the middle of the mid-ridge. There is a brief little 3ft class 3 ledge, but otherwise the Gully Gap is pretty easy, though steep. Incidentally, if you turned right and descended the Gully Gap you would land at the summit of the
Lee Canyon Eastern ski run just above the ski lift which is in operation year-round.
But you’re angling up (left) through the Gully Gap back to the center of the mid-ridge. Once back on the center you’re in a beautiful, wide
Bristlecone Pine forested area for the next quarter mile of so. This is a good rest point.
Upper Lee Canyon Mid-Ridge
Eventually you will reach another area of cliffs and bluffs. You are now on the upper mid-ridge. The strategy here is to locate a very faint trail that begins to the left (East) about 30ft below the bluffs and cliffs and continues to ascend the ridge eventually dropping nearly 200ft below the center of the ridge. Try to stay on this faint trail, though I guarantee you will loose it a few times along the way.
Just below the summit of the mid-ridge where it connects with the
Mt. Charleston Upper North Loop Trail the rocky surface gives way to a soil surface. Here you begin to angle to the right and upward toward the horizon which is the summit of the mid-ridge. The 2-300ft ascent here is so steep (about 18 inches per step!) that I refer to it as “The Ladder”. The soil surface is stable and there is no meaningful exposure, but boy is it steep! At the top of “The Ladder” the
Mt. Charleston Upper North Loop Trail will suddenly appear and you’re only a mile or so below
Lee Peak summit!
Phase 2: Upper North Loop Trail to Lee Peak Summit
Most of this phase is pretty straight forward. Take a right onto the
Mt. Charleston Upper North Loop Trail and head a mile or so toward the base of
Lee Peak. The trail begins with a gradual ascent. Eventually the ascent winds sharply upward then again levels off a bit. There are 4 plateau viewpoints. At the 4th plateau viewpoint angle to the right off the trail and up a ridge that will take you about a quarter mile to the summit of
Lee Peak. There’s a summit box there that reassures you that you are indeed on
Lee Peak summit, though it’s obvious you cannot ascend any higher. Enjoy the views of both
Lee Canyon and
Kyle Canyon and the valleys and mountains beyond!
Phase 3: Lee Peak to Charleston Peak Summit
Now, with
Charleston Peak as your reference, descend from
Lee Peak Summit via a ridgeline to your right. You can almost see from Lee Peak Summit where that ridgeline reconnects with the
Mt. Charleston Upper North Loop Trail. Stay high on the ridgeline with a sharp drop-off just to your right. This ridge line will land you on the
Mt. Charleston Upper North Loop Trail about a quarter mile above the point where you left that trail earlier on the way to
Lee Peak summit.
Once you arrive on the
Charleston Peak North Loop Trail, you’re remain on that trail up to the summit of
Charleston Peak so no navigation instructions are needed. But notice that along this stretch, until the final ascent to
Charleston Peak, you will be passing through the most beautiful ancient bristlecone pine forest in the
Mt. Charleston Wilderness. Look back often as the ancient sculptured trees look entirely different in either direction along the trail.
That last 5-600ft ascent to the summit of
Charleston Peak is a few pretty long switchbacks, but not near as steep as “The Ladder” near the top of the
Lee Canyon Mid-Ridge.
Phase 4: Charleston Peak to the South Loop Trail Junction
During the initial part of the descent from Charleston Peak you are again off-trail, remaining as close to the upper edge of the South Rim of
Kyle Canyon as possible. The
South Loop Trail will be to your right and below. This is easy class 2 navigation and your right way-point is the historic November 17th,
1955 USAF C-54M Skymaster airplane crash site. Pass through the crash site and continue along the upper edge of the
South Rim of Kyle Canyon. In less than a quarter mile you will encounter a trail that angles a bit to the right just below the ridgeline summit toward a high saddle and connection with the
Mt. Charleston South Loop Trail. The
South Loop Trail will be below and to your right.
Why the ridgeline as opposed to remaining on the South Loop Trail? The ridgeline has a much better view (Entire
Kyle Canyon to your left,
Pahrump Valley to your right), does not require descent and re-ascent and has a very stable surface, more stable than the
South Loop Trail.
The ridgeline trail will reconnect with the
Mt. Charleston South Loop Trail just below a saddle ridge. As you top the saddle ridge
Griffith Peak and the burn area between you and that peak come into view. Stay on the
South Loop Trail through the burn area and all the way to the junction below the summit of
Griffith Peak. Note that on the saddle, you’re just a little over 8 miles to the
South Loop Trailhead (9 miles if you add in the out-and-back digression from the junction to
Griffith Peak summit.
Phase 5: The South Loop Junction to Griffith Peak Summit, Then Back to the Junction
From the junction you can take a one-mile relatively easy out and back digression to
Griffith Peak summit. Running out of time and energy, and with many miles to go before returning to
Upper Lee Meadow I skipped that digression on this day. But
Griffith Peak is truly beautiful and is my second favorite
Kyle Canyon peak after
Mummy Mountain due to the forested beauty and the views including an incredible view of the
Las Vegas Valley and Strip.
Phase 6: South Loop Junction to the South Loop Trailhead
This stretch is straight forward descending rather dramatically a little over 4 miles and about 3,000ft to the
South Loop Trailhead. The views aren’t as spectacular as on the upper rims above, but the forest is incredible as it descends through a number of climate and plant zones from
bristlecone pine forests on and below the canyon rim to the mixed forests below at the trailhead. There are, in addition, at least 4 spectacular overlook viewpoints along the way where you can see across
Kyle Canyon and straight down into
Charleston Village.
Phase 7: South Loop Trailhead to Upper Lee Meadows
I had earlier stashed my mountain bike at the
South Loop Trailhead for the approximate 16-mile return to
Upper Lee Meadows. The route began with a descent down
Kyle Canyon Road, then a left onto
Deer Creek Road, ascent about 5 miles to a high point at the
North Loop Trailhead, descent to
Lee Canyon Road and final 3-mile ascent up
Lee Canyon Road back to
Upper Lee Meadows. That WAS the plan. However, things did not go so smoothly.
I was prepared for most anything regarding my mountain bike maintenance. However, one totally unexpected thing happened. Just beyond the junction of
Kyle Canyon Road and
Deer Creek Road my rigged, double spring-loaded, gravel ready mountain bike seat fell off! And I did not have the proper Allen wrench to re-tighten that fitting! I had wrenches for every other conceivable fitting on the bike, but who could guess the seat would fall off!!
So, I walked the first couple miles toward the
North Loop Trailhead high point until a good Samaritan, Charlie, a seasoned mountain biker equipped with every possible wrench size tightened the seat and hauled my bike and I the remaining 3 miles to the
North Loop Trailhead summit area where I remounted the bike, descended
Deer Creek Road to
Lee Canyon Road and then ascended to today’s starting point at
Upper Lee Meadow. Other than that blessed, much appreciated 3-mile lift I made the entire approximately 35-mile loop adventure on my own power in daylight, arriving at
Upper Lee Meadow with just enough of the waning sunlight to re-attach my bike to the car (“The Beast”) and head back home.
What a spectacular adventure and total day-long immersion in nature from wild wilderness areas to 2 major mountain peaks in
Southern Nevada and views stretching as far as the eye could see in all directions–in places seemingly to the curvature of the earth on the horizon!
