Overview | Lee to Kyle Canyon | Foxtail Canyon Route | Mt Charleston Wilderness | Spring Mountains, Nevada
Route Overview
This beautiful route ascends through the
Foxtail Canyon Group Picnic Area and the abandoned
Girl Scout Camp Foxtail and then gradually weaves around passing just right (south) of the beautiful
Foxtail Canyon Springs before ascending to the
North Rim of Kyle Canyon. A left (North) turn there will take you along the summit of the
North Rim of Kyle Canyon to
Mummy Mountain’s main summit area. However, in this adventure we turn right to traverse the
North Rim of Kyle Canyon before connecting with the
Mt. Charleston upper North Loop Trail then descending back to the
Foxtail Canyon Group Picnic Area via
Lee Canyon’s gradual mid-ridge.
90% Wilderness Navigation Along the Lee to Kyle Canyon Circuit Route
The altitude gain is approximately 3000ft (8,000-11,000ft) and once you reach the
Foxtail Canyon Springs area all trails disappear and the entire trip is pure wilderness (except for a brief 1/4th mile stretch far above on the upper
North Loop Trail).
Foxtail Canyon Springs is also the point where the steep loose rock avalanche slopes begin, so have wilderness navigation skills and experience and ability to navigate those steep avalanche slopes. I did not see a single person throughout this 10-hour adventure and it’s almost 100% likely you will not see anyone. I had no phone coverage. So, carry everything you need because you are entirely on your own.
Spectacular Views Along the Lee to Kyle Canyon Circuit Route
The wilderness is pristine and literally radiates beauty at every point as you ascend from the
Ponderosa Pine Zone to the high altitude
Bristlecone Pine Zone. The cliffs of
Mummy Mountain are too your left. Turn around often during the ascent to see expanding views of the
Sisters South, North and
Black Rock Sister and
Macks Peak.
McFarland Peak will become your reference point if you choose to descend by the route you ascended in
Foxtail Canyon. From the summit of the Lee/Kyle Canyon upper ridge you’ll see the mountains surrounding
Kyle Canyon including
Mummy Mountain with its V-shaped summit approach canyon,
Fletcher Peak,
La Madre Mountain,
Cockscomb Ridge,
Harris Mountain,
Griffith Peak,
Charleston Peak and
Lee Peak. At the base of
Kyle Canyon there is
Charleston Village and
Cathedral Rock. In the distance is the
Las Vegas Valley and many points beyond. For more on navigating the
North Rim of Kyle Canyon between
Lee Peak and
Mummy Mountain see the
4-Peak Circuit Adventure.
Directions to Start Point | Lee to Kyle Canyon | Foxtail Canyon Route | Mt Charleston Wilderness | Spring Mountains, Nevada
Take
Hwy-95 North of
Las Vegas, then take a left onto
Hwy 156 toward
Lee Canyon.
Hwy 156 is
Lee Canyon Road. Take
Lee Canyon Road up into
Lee Canyon. There is a turn-around a couple miles below the
Lee Canyon ski area. Across from the turn-around and on the left is the
Foxtail Canyon Group Picnic Area. Park in a wide parking area on
Lee Canyon Road at the entrance of the
Foxtail Canyon Group Picnic Area. Note that to drive into the
Foxtail Canyon Group Picnic Area, you need a reservation, so in this case you’ll be walking past the entrance gate which is often locked.
↓ Narrative Guide ↓
Narrative Guide | Lee to Kyle Canyon | Foxtail Canyon Route | Mt Charleston Wilderness | Spring Mountains, Nevada
Passing Through the Foxtail Picnic Area
Starting from
Lee Canyon Road, the first couple miles approaching the
Foxtail Canyon Springs area are very gradual on mostly good roads. You’ll pass through the
Foxtail Group Picnic Area. The warning signs that say, “By Reservation Only, No Walk-ins” refer only to picnickers, not wilderness travelers. They’re warning not to set up a spontaneous picnic in one of the reserved picnic areas–all areas are reserved. It’s a beautiful, well designed and managed picnic area.
Passing Through the Abandoned Foxtail Girl Scouts Camp
As you ascend above the
Foxtail Group Picnic Area the road becomes unpaved and soon arrives at the abandoned
Girl Scout Camp Foxtail. It’s my understanding that the Girl Scouts were faced with the need to upgrade their entire water system at over $1,000,000 and so closed the camp down a few years ago. However, the buildings are all in pristine condition. Be respectful and do not enter any of the buildings or structures in the camp area. I’m not aware of plans to re-activate the camp. If the camp is reactivated, you will need a course redirection along the gradual ridge to your right until you circumvent the camp and can re-descend into
Foxtail Canyon above the camp. That might be difficult because the ridge becomes pretty cliffy around the camp.
Foxtail Girl Scouts Camp to Foxtail Springs
Above the
Girl Scout Camp Foxtail the road becomes a forest service road and soon enters a wilderness area boundary, quickly becoming a rugged 4WD road (though no motor vehicles are allowed) and then a narrow trail. Take a right just before a long sandy ridge to continue upward on what appears to be an old Girl Scouts trail to
Foxtail Springs. The springs area is beautiful — water dripping down from the roof of a cove in the cliff face. The Girl Scouts appear to have created a kind of shrine in the area with their hand made hanging ornaments. Please leave history alone.
Ascending the Ridge Above Foxtail Springs
On this day I bypassed Foxtail Springs and instead angled right to continue ascending the ridge above the
Foxtail Canyon Wash. This is where it becomes very steep (about 6-inche elevation gain per step) and the ground surface is loose rock and dirt. There are many fallen trees. Be careful to ensure the fallen trees are well anchored at both ends in the rare instance you will need to climb over them. Quick note: Why the ridge instead of the canyon wash below? The canyon wash has numerous
rocky, limestone ledges. The ridge, though steep, has no barriers.
Though the route is steep and a bit tricky, my thoughts were not so much on navigation as on the beauty of the place which appeared entirely untouched and natural. Towering
Bristlecone Pine trees, blue sky, majestic cliffs.
When you reach a rocky bluff, circumvent it to the left, staying above the upper edge of the
Foxtail Canyon Wash to your left. There is a good passageway that will take you between the length of the rocky bluff above and the wash below.
Ascending Above the Rocky Bluff
Above the
rocky limestone bluff area I descended into the
Foxtail Canyon Wash which became far more manageable with few if any obstacles. However, the surface is rocky, so you might alternately remain on the ridge above the wash. After some time in the wash I re-ascended above the wash, this time angling above the left side of the wash. Now the ascent became very steep (nearly 1 foot elevation gain per stride), but I was closing in on the
North Rim of Kyle Canyon! There was the feeling of seeing blue sky on the horizon above and a gradual rounding of the slope which indicated the summit was ahead! I was angling upward and a bit to the left in hopes of connecting with the
North Rim of Kyle Canyon near the approach to
Mummy Mountain. Look around often if you intend to later descend this same route. A good reference point is
McFarland Peak. When you head back down the ridge just head straight for
McFarland Peak.
Arrival on the Lee/Kyle Canyon Summit Ridge!
Words cannot describe the spectacular views you experience when you top the
North Rim of Kyle Canyon! Suddenly,
Kyle Canyon with all its surrounding mountains (noted above) come into view. In addition, there was welcome familiarity of the route along the ridgetop which I have taken from just below
Lee Peak to
Mummy Mountain. See the
4-Peak Circuit Adventure and the
Fletcher, Mummy, Lee Circuit where I traversed that entire length of that ridgetop.
Heading Toward the Upper North Loop Trail Connection
On this day, realizing that my energy was near spent following the steep 3000ft ascent, I knew continuing to
Mummy Mountain summit would be quite draining. My conditioning base was three 5-mile runs per week and the long Saturday mountain adventure. This was my first ascent of the season above 10,000ft (the ridgetop is around 11,000ft). In a later adventure I navigated
Mummy Mountain summit from
Foxtail Canyon: Mummy Mountain Grand Crossing.
However, today I decided to turn right on the ridgetop toward it’s connection with the
North Loop Trail below
Lee Peak. There is a place of incredible beauty on the ridgetop toward
Lee Peak. It’s a massive
limestone high clifftop shelf with a
bristlecone pine forest seemingly growing right out of the rock. And the views in both the
Kyle Canyon and
Lee Canyon areas are spectacular. I think it’s my favorite place on earth!
Arrival at the Upper North Loop Trail Connection Point
After refueling and resting a bit in that beautiful spot I continued along the ridgetop toward
Lee Peak and the connection with the upper
North Loop Trail. The
North Loop Trail is always below the cliffs to your left as you’re heading toward
Lee Peak. Stay high hugging the
Kyle Canyon edge of the clifftop as you navigate the ridge. When do you descend to the
North Loop Trail? The
North Loop Trail has been ascending and will eventually meet the ridgetop. The connection point is well marked. When you see the unmistakable structure of a
Snotel Weather Station (see the slide guide on this page), just past the
Snotel Weather Station head left over the edge of the ridgetop. By this point the ridgetop is a gradual 50ft slope from the upper
North Loop Trail. No climbing involved.
Travel about 1/4th mile along the upper
North Loop Trail toward
Lee Peak. Just before a slope begins to rise to your right, take a right traversing along the South side of the slope. You’re now on what I call the
Lee Canyon Gradual Mid Descent Ridge which will take you on an easy class 2 descent all the way back to the
Foxtail Group Picnic Area.
Though I had ascended and descended this relatively easy ridge just a week ago, curiously, today I got disoriented and was not entirely sure I was on the correct ridge until half-way down! I had not marked the beginning of the ridge so it was just my best guess that I was on the descent ridge. I was paralleling my earlier route, but a little higher in elevation (perhaps only 50-100ft off) and so nothing looked familiar! There should have been a very faint trail in the upper section, but it was not to be seen today. All I knew was that if I stayed below the rocky cliffs to my left until those cliffs and bluffs momentarily ended, then followed a wide, more gradual ridgetop for about 1/4th mile, then descended angling left through a gully through the cliffs, then hugged a long cliff base (at that point to my right) until once again descending to the open ridgetop and finally down to the large green water reservoir structure, I’d have arrived back at the
Girl Scout Camp Foxtail, lower picnic area and finally
Lee Canyon Road.
First Landmark Recognized on the Descent Ridge!
Yes, basically that is how it worked. I began on the East side of the ridge with cliffs to my left. About half way down the descent ridge along the wide open ridgetop stretch I recognized a landmark for the first time: A log I had sat on the week before. However, to get to that point had required a lot of wandering and course corrections in the unfamiliar surroundings on the ridge above.
One Additional Wrong Turn and Course Correction
Yes, I found a cairn I had placed the week before that marked the spot where I was to descend through the cliffs to the left, then continue along the lower edge of a long cliff base that would at this point now be on my right (along the West side of the ridge). However, I had forgotten, or not realized that the cliffs were terraced and I needed to descend in the gully passage past the upper terrace to the lower terrace. Instead, I hugged the lower edge of the upper terrace, eventually reached a dead-end cliff, had to retrace my way back to the descent gully, descend through the lower terrace, turn right and hug it’s lower edge to again arrive on the ridgetop below.
Descent to the Green Water Reservoir Structure
My route down the lower portion of the ridge was still a bit sketchy. I simply could not remember or recognize many of the points along the way down. More course corrections. Last week it had been so much easier!!
Remember along the lower ridge section to take a few steps to the rocky ridgetop viewpoints to your right to look down upon the
Foxtail Canyon Wash. At some of these viewpoints you can see your entire route up
Foxtail Canyon all the way to the
North Rim of Kyle Canyon. It’s a great review of what you’ve achieved during your adventure.
Finally, I reached the green water reservoir structure and took a right back down to the
Girl Scout Camp Foxtail, the
Foxtail Group Picnic Area and
Lee Canyon Road.
Alternate Lower Descent Route
Alternately, at the water reservoir, you could continue on the descent ridge where you will find an old road just to the right of the reservoir. I believe you could continue down the descent ridge all the way to
Lee Canyon Road, avoiding the
Girl Scout Camp Foxtail and
Foxtail Group Picnic Area below. I’ll try that next time.
