Overview | Monument Peak Summit | Rainbow Mountain Wilderness, Nevada

Monument Peak, though an outstanding landmark in the Rainbow Mountains of Nevada, is yet “invisible in plain sight”! From Hwy 158 along the East base of the Rainbow Mountains our eyes are accustomed to seeing the main peaks: Rainbow Mountain and Mt. Wilson. The more experienced observer might be able to point out Indecision Peak, Black Velvet Peak and Windy Peak. But even some of the most experienced, careful observers might miss Monument Peak, though its majestic presence is there in plain sight, between Black Velvet Peak and Indecision Peak. Monument peak’s massive presence is the reason Hidden Peak behind it is “hidden”.

Avid mountain climbers in the Rainbow Mountains also seem to be missing this spectacular monument of a peak. Though the summit register has been in place for over a quarter century, there are just a handful of signatures.

Multiple Monument Peaks

Those who have been to Monument Peak may be surprised to discover that Monument Peak is just part of a collection of Monument Peaks. The peak we summited has a saddle with a beautiful tinaja along with another high Monument point to the North. Looking around there are a few additional surrounding monumental pillars, almost as impressive, but accessible only to technical climbers.

Spectacular Views from Monument Peak Summit

Monument Peak Summit is an outstanding landmark from afar, and views from the summit are equally outstanding! It’s like standing on the bow of a ship. To the South are the Southern Rainbow Mountains: Black Velvet Peak, Windy Peak, Hollow Rock Peak and South Peak. To the West is Hidden Peak. To the North are Sandstone Peak, Indecision Peak and Mt. Wilson. Red Rock Canyon’s scenic drive area along with the Calico Hills, Turtlehead Peak and Gray Cap Ridgeline stand out in brilliant full color with a background of the La Madre Mountains and Damsel Peak. To the far North you can see the tips of Mt. Charleston, Griffith Peak and Mummy Mountain. Blue Diamond Hill is just below to the East with a background of the Las Vegas Strip and Frenchman Mountain. There’s a lot more, but these are the reference points that immediately stand out.

Getting to Monument Peak – Route Summary

If you know where you’re going, it’s not hard to get to Monument Peak. From the Mountain Springs Trailhead on Hwy 160, head up past the communications towers, then up the approach trail to the Rainbow Mountains Upper Crest Ridgeline Trail above. Take a left on the Ridgeline trail and continue a couple miles to a sharp descent toward Hidden Peak and Little Zion. Split off to the right at a cairn and continue along that cairn route down a steep beehive sandstone slope, then along the North base of Hidden Peak. Once past Hidden Peak, continue at the same altitude heading South for about a mile hugging the base of the Rainbow Mountain Range cliffs. Ascend a steep gully to a small platform just below a 20ft wall. Ascend the wall, then ascend the more gradual sandstone slopes to the left (South) of the beautiful tinaja above that wall toward the summit mound high point to the upper left. Circle around the right side of that high point, then take the easy walk behind and up to the summit. Had it not been so windy…with 35-40mph gusts–1/3rd of a level 3 hurricane–we might have braved the easy walk across the saddle and tinaja to the North end of the summit.

Difficulty Level

Except for a brief 20ft class 4 wall, the entire route we took to Monument Peak summit is mostly class 2 with a few class 3 rock scrambles. Even the wall just mentioned is not entirely vertical and has a nice crack aiding a short free climb with no exposure other than it’s 20ft height. That said, I was happy to be aided by John’s webbing placement. 

Trailhead Directions | Monument 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 | Monument Peak Summit | Rainbow Mountain Wilderness, Nevada

Getting Your Initial Bearings

From the Mountain Springs Trailhead look up to your right (East) to see a high ridgeline above. That’s the Rainbow Mountains Upper Crest Ridgeline. You are at the South end of that ridgeline which ends at Hwy 160. The North end of the ridgeline ends at Willow Creek on the Red Rock Canyon scenic drive. As you were drawing close to the Mountain Springs Trailhead, you might have noticed a distinctive communications tower just 1,000ft above the trailhead. You’re going to pass the communications tower, and ascend the ridgeline above. Monument Peak is the Northernmost peak on the Southern stretch of the Rainbow Mountains.

Mountain Springs Trailhead to the Rainbow Mountains Upper Crest Ridgeline

From the Mountain Springs Trailhead, pick a road that heads upward (there’s a road to your right and to your left…both work). Once above the trailhead you’ll see the communications tower. Continue up to the communications tower and pass through an opening in the closed gate. It’s okay, and that opening is for hikers. Descend the road behind the tower to where it is blocked off by large boulders. The approach trail to the Rainbow Mountains Upper Crest Ridgeline begins on the other side of the boulders. Take that trail as it steeply ascends for about a half-mile to the Rainbow Mountains Upper Crest Ridgeline above to your right (East).

Rainbow Mountains Upper Crest Ridgeline to Hidden Peak Split

Turn left onto the Rainbow Mountains Upper Crest Ridgeline Southern Trail. It’s actually the most distinct trail on the entire ridgeline except for a short stretch up North near Bridge Mountain. Continue on the ridgeline trail for about 2 miles passing the Windy Peak turnoff and Mountain Springs Summit Peak turnoff (which is also the approach to Black Velvet Peak). Continue past these right splits. Once you pass the Mountain Springs Summit split (high point on the Southern Ridgeline), you’ll be able to see Hidden Peak below to the Northeast and Monument Peak behind it. Continue on the ridgeline trail to where the trail makes a dramatic descent to the right at a large gap in the ridgeline. That descent is taking you toward Hidden Peak, now to your right (South) and Little Zion below to your left (North). Where the rock surface turns from gray limestone to reddish sandstone, watch for a small cairn on the right. That cairn marks the point to split off to the right and begin following cairns toward Monument Peak.

Choosing Between Two Cairn Paths

Note that there are two cairn paths. One leads along the sandstone ridge to your right and toward the saddle on the West side of Hidden Peak. That is the path you’d take if you were going to summit Hidden Peak. When I first summited Hidden Peak and saw Monument Peak just beyond, I thought, “Why not just summit Hidden Peak, then continue on to Monument Peak?” That route looks easy from a distance, but you’d be stopped by a huge, hidden vertical gap between Hidden Peak and Monument Peak. Not a good idea for those wanting to keep the difficulty level below class 4!

Watch for the other cairn path that splits off toward the North base of Hidden Peak.

North Base of Hidden Peak to the Rocky Outcrop at the North Edge of the Southern Rainbow Mountains

Following the cairn path that leads down to the North base of Hidden Peak, you’ll first descend a steep beehive sandstone slope off the edge of the high ledge. Looking over the edge, it may feel you’d be going over a cliff. But as you near the edge, you’ll see it’s not a cliff, but a steep slope with nice beehive hand and footholds–a nice, moderate class 3 descent. At the bottom of the slope, you’re in a nice wide sandstone canyon with Hidden Peak above to your right and that distinctive rocky outcrop at the North edge of the cliffs ahead. Cross the wide sandstone canyon and continue toward the lower left edge of the rocky outcrop, staying high along the North base of Hidden Peak. Circle around the upper end of some intervening gullies, finally arriving on a nice platform at the lower left base of the rocky outcrop. Enjoy the spectacular view to the North, East and South from that platform!

Base of the Rocky Outcrop to the Monument Peak Ascent Gully

Circle around the lower left edge of the rocky outcrop to continue South at the same altitude following a narrow route hugging the East (left) base of the the cliffs above. There’s a huge drop-off below to your left, but the narrow cliff-base route is wide enough, with care, to avoid exposure to a fall. Along the way you’ll cross the upper end of a few more gullies and work your way through some thick brush. But there are ample hand and footholds where you need them. You’re now skirting the East base of Monument Peak. The last gully you cross will have a slot canyon above. You may think that slot canyon is a route to the summit–not if you want to keep it as class 3 below!

Cross a rocky outcrop below the slot canyon to reach the class 3 Monument Peak ascent gully we took.

Monument Peak Ascent Gully to the Brief Class 4 Wall

The Monument Peak Ascent Gully is very steep with a loose rock surface. Along the way there is an even steeper smooth sandstone channel. The sandstone channel is about 40ft high and there are just enough hand and footholds in the channel to keep it a high class 3 scramble, making it possible, with care, to ascend without a rope…though a rope could be helpful! Continue beyond the channel, ascending the very steep loose rock slope (probably good to have one person ascend each section at a time in order to avoid rocks falling on those below). Soon you will arrive at an upper platform facing a 15-20ft cliff wall on your right. It’s obvious you have to ascend the wall because there’s a yawning vertical drop beyond.

Class 4 Wall to the Beautiful Tinaja

That wall is steepest only for the first 10 feet, not much higher than your head. The steepest part is angled a bit and so not entirely vertical. And, there’s a thin crack to aid your ascent. Still, I let John go first and drop a strand of webbing to aid my ascent. After the first class 4 10-foot ascent the angle of incline begins to drop off and soon you’re able to continue at a walk. To me the scary part of that wall is the yawning vertical canyon only about 5ft beyond the platform below. If you fell while ascending the wall, you’d most likely fall less than 10ft and land on the nice platform. But there’s the thought of an unlikely but possible bounce into the yawing canyon! No worries, none of this happened and we all got over the wall with zero mishap!

Class 4 Wall to the Final Summit Approach

Once above the class 4 wall, the terrain levels off and there’s a beautiful, large tinaja ahead. It even has a beach! You’re in a saddle between the North and South ends of the summit and you can go either or both ways. They’re both a few hundred foot class 2 walk at this point. We chose the South summit to the left due to 35-40mph winds (1/3rd a class 3 hurricane) being stronger along the more exposed route to the North summit area. We made a short descent around the left (South) end of the tinaja, then continued upward around the right side of the large South summit mound.

Final Summit Approach

After ascending around the right side of the South summit mound, circle around to continue the short gradual slope up the far side of the summit mound to the summit! What a view from the summit (see the description above)! 

Conclusion

Monument Peak seems remote and tricky the first time you go there, but I think a second trip would make it not much more difficult than summiting Hidden Peak or Windy Peak (except for that short class 4 wall near the summit). The wall is not much more daunting than the brief wall on the final approach to Windy Peak and, in my thinking, easier than ascending the rock at the top of Hollow Rock Peak.

Return along the same route you took to Monument Peak after adding your name to the handful of names on the summit register! Enjoy the feeling of accomplishment!