Overview | Mummy Mountain Western Approach | Mt. Charleston Wilderness | Spring Mountains, Nevada
Mummy Mountain, at 11,528 feet, is the second highest peak in the
Spring Mountains, just 390ft short of
Charleston Peak, the highest, 11,918ft. However, when it comes to sheer massiveness,
Mummy Mountain surpasses
Charleston Peak with a summit an entire half mile in length and wider than a football field. In terms of beauty
Mummy Mountain again surpasses the barren
Charleston Peak with a landscape of ancient living
bristlecone pine trees and sculpted, sun bleached bristlecone pine wood.
View From Mummy Mountain Summit
From the summit one can see sweeping views of:
There’s a lot more if you look carefully.
Directions to Start Point | Mummy Mountain Western Approach | Mt. Charleston Wilderness | Spring Mountains, Nevada
Driving to the trailhead at
Trail Canyon is pretty easy, up
Hwy 95 North from
Las Vegas, take a left at the
Kyle Canyon exit, continue about 20 miles up
Kyle Canyon to
Charleston Village, pass a fire station continuing straight where the road bends to the left. You’ll arrive at a parking area (same parking used for
Mary Jane Falls). In all, it’s less than 40 miles from the
Las Vegas Strip.
↓ Narrative Guide ↓
Narrative Guide | Mummy Mountain Western Approach | Mt. Charleston Wilderness | Spring Mountains, Nevada
The Trail to Mummy Mountain
Head up
Trail Canyon Trail for about 2 miles until you reach the junction of the
Trail Canyon trail and
North Loop Trail. Take a left at the junction. You’re now on the
North Loop Trail. Pass
Cave Spring and continue the switchbacks upward for another mile until you see a sun-bleached
bristlecone pine tree trunk marked with an
“M” and an arrow pointing to the right.
End of Marked Trails
Now any official trail disappears. Continue up a very steep scree avalanche slope I call “The Horrifying Half”. Take a right up the ridge at the top.
In about an 8th of a mile when you reach a rock wall turn left and skirt to the right and upward around the left edge of the rock wall. Continue up and take a left skirting along the base of the
Mummy Mountain cliff face. In another 8th mile take a right up a V-shaped canyon on up to the summit. That narrow canyon will have a few brief, light class 3 rock scrambles. When you get to the summit of the canyon be aware of the exact location of the upper opening, because that opening will now be very visible during your return. Just about every other ledge in the return direction will end with a vertical drop…so you don’t want to miss the path to your only descent point!
Note that there is no marked trail beyond the
“M” tree, you’re pretty much on your own. A kind of trail will at times appear and disappear between the “M” tree and the summit, so go by the landmarks. Look back often so you know how the way should look when you return.
By the way, watch for a beautifully framed view of
Charleston Peak from the summit of the V-shaped return canyon!
Most Direct Route from Mummy to Mt. Charleston Summit
On the return trip if you want to loop over to the upper
North Loop Trail avoiding descending down the
“Horrifying Half” and reascending the
North Loop Trail here’s the key: Once you descend to the top of the
“Horrifying Half”, descend about 50 ft, take a right and continue just below the top left side of the upper ridge. Skirt to the left of the rocky outcrop. Descend about 50 feet along a fallen tree. Take a sharp right and hug the rocky outcrop. Cross under a suspended tree trunk. Continue to weave your way along the upper ridge staying as high on the ridge as possible without ascending any vertical boulders. After the first 8th mile the ridge widens out. Stay on the
Kyle Canyon Cliff side of the ridge. A faint trail will appear and disappear along the way. Stick to the landmarks, not the trail. After a mile or so, when you see a
SNOTEL Climate Station that looks at first like an abandoned ski lift tower take a left and descend off the ridge on to the
North Loop Trail…surprisingly only about 50 yards from the
SNOTEL Climate Station! Now you can continue along the
North Loop Trail to Charleston Peak summit having saved yourself about 1000 feet descent and reascent.
Have fun! This was my favorite summit in the
Mt. Charleston Wilderness!…until I stumbled upon a cool unmarked route from the
Fletcher Canyon Trailhead to the isolated, pristine
Harris Mountain!!
