The Southwestern edge of Mummy Mountain forms a sheer cliff over 1,000ft in height on 3 sides and that cliff is referred to as Mummy Mountain Toe. Mummy Mountain Toe, though unknown by many hikers in the Mt. Charleston Wilderness, is a awesome destination hike in itself. Like the bow of a ship the 270 degree view to the South, East and North is unmatched. To the South one can see most of upper Kyle Canyon from Harris Mountain to Griffith Peak, along the South Ridge of Kyle Canyon to Charleston Peak then around to Lee Peak and of course the Southwestern edge of Mummy Mountain to the 11,500ft summit. To the East there are views of La Madre and El Padre Mountains, the Las Vegas Strip, the Northern Las Vegas Valley, Gass Peak and the Sheep Range. To the North there is a long view up the I-95 Corridor. Closer in there is the Las Vegas Air Force Radar Station, Fletcher Peak and even the North Loop Trailhead parking lot where your car is likely parked. One can look down into Charleston Village, Cathedral Rock and Cockscomb Ridge. In short, from the summit of Mummy Mountain Toe one can see most of the entire Mt. Charleston Wilderness.
For another point of reference, if you’re standing at Raintree and look straight up the cliff there, you’re looking at Mummy Mountain Toe. Of course, to get to the top of that cliff, if you’re not a vertical cliff climber, you’ll need to take a right at Raintree, pass beneath Mummy Springs and continue onward up that trail to the very tame Class 3 climbing section and then up to Mummy Mountain Toe.
Viewing Mummy Mountain Toe from a distance, one might imagine that it would be a sharp peak with room for one person at a time. To the contrary, there is quite a large area on the summit that could accommodate around 30 people comfortably, which makes the view so spectacular, complete with a summit box at the very top. If you make the time there is a large area up there to explore. The area along the Eastern Ridge of Mummy Mountain from the Mummy Mountain’s Knees to the Mummy Mountain Toe is a wild Bristlecone Pine forest rising from a stark basalt cliff area, largely untouched and unmatched in beauty. You may experience the feeling of walking on ground no human has traversed before.
Begin at the North Loop Trailhead on Highway 158 Deer Creek Road between Kyle Canyon and Lee Canyon. To get to this point from Las Vegas head North on Hwy-95 taking a left at one of the last Hwy-95 exits in the Las Vegas area, Kyle Canyon exit. Continue up Kyle Canyon Road about 17 miles and a couple miles before Charleston Village take a right on Highway 158 toward Lee Canyon. You’ll wind around the hillside to the left and as the road briefly levels off before descending toward Lee Canyon, the North Loop Trailhead will appear on the left. During the Summer months you may want to get there before 8am as the parking fills up pretty fast. Looking back toward Las Vegas, there’s a good view of La Madre Mountain from the trailhead parking lot.
This adventure begins at the North Loop Trailhead and follows the route taken to Mummy’s Knees until splitting off to the left just after the brief, tame class 3 climbing section. As we’ve described the lower part of this route to this point on the Mummy Mountain Knees page of this site, we’ll begin here at the top of the class 3 climbing section about 1/4th mile above Mummy Springs.
At this point, take a left and skirt the top of a series of cliffs. After about 100 yards a trail will appear. Switchback up that rather steep trail until you are just a couple hundred feet below the summit of the upper ridge. At this point the main trail takes a sharp left and winds around amidst the pretty spectacular Bristlecone Pine forest and on up to the summit of Mummy Mountain Toe.
A very amazing alternate route that takes in both Mummy Mountain’s Knees and Mummy Mountain Toe is to continue straight upward from the top of the class 3 climbing section and on to Mummy Mountain’s Knees. At the Knees you can take a left and travel the spectacular Bristlecone Pine limestone cliff summit from Mummy Mountain’s Knees to Mummy Mountain Toe. The rugged cliffs, limestone rock formations and views of Kyle Canyon and the stretch from Griffith Peak to Charleston Peak are matchless. You’ll need to descend the ridge to the left in a few places to continue, but it all connects, finally arriving at Mummy Mountain Toe.
You can then return along the more established route described above, descending the switchbacks and skirting the top of the lower cliffs until arriving at the class 3 climbing section. Take a right and descend that section continuing down to Mummy Springs, Raintree and the North Loop Trailhead.
One final variation which I took (shown on the video on this page) is on the return trip, just beyond Raintree, I shot up to the summit of Fletcher Peak. That little variation only added about 1 hour (30 minutes each direction) and was pretty easy. Well worth the detour!
