Overview | Pinyon Pine Loop Trail, Lee Canyon, Nevada

Variety of Climate and Plant Zones

The 9-mile Pinyon Pine Loop delivers an amazing experience of traversing climate zones with a great variety of plant life and terrain. Beginning in the Pinyon Pine and Juniper zone at the 7,487ft Sawmill Trailhead you will gain and lose 1,650ft in elevation. At the low point you’ll be in the upper Joshua Tree and Cactus zone. 

Expansive Views Along the Way

The views along the way are spectacular. At times you’re in a peaceful, shaded pine and juniper forest. Then you emerge to see the peaks of the Northern Spring Mountains, their forested Western slopes, the expansive desert regions to the North and the Sheep Range to the East.

Sawmill Trails

All 6 Sawmill Trails are loop trails. Here they are listed consecutively from Northwest to Southeast:  

1. Sawmill Loop
2. Mud Springs Loop
3. Pinyon Pine Loop
4. Rocky Gorge Loop
5. Blue Tree Loop
6. Deer Creek Catch Pen Loop

Trail Navigation Challenges

Navigating the 5 Sawmill trails can be a challenge, and you might want to print out the map on this page. While there is a color-coded system meant to identify the 6 trails, directional arrows along the way can be confusing, misleading or missing. Within a mile or two of the trailhead the signposts display a confusion of colored arrows not always identifying the color-coded trail you are on, sometimes pointing you in the wrong direction. As you venture further out onto the trails directional signs are almost completely missing. For the most part, there are few turns in the outer regions. However, the trail junctions out there are unmarked making it easy to spin off-course. 

To complicate matters further, your GPS will go dark for long spaces in the outer regions leaving you guessing as to your location and the direction to go at the unmarked trail junctions. Printing the map, along with the ability to read the topo contour lines is a tremendous help.

The good news is that no matter where you are on this and the other Sawmill Trails, your best guide back to the trailhead is to head for Mummy’s Head, which is visible from just about every high point along the way.

Best Time of Year to Experience the Pinyon Pine Trail

Stick to Spring or Fall. Winter can bring snow, which at this altitude level and on these fairly gradual trails is not a great problem. However the snow can further complicate your route-finding. Summer can bring dangerously high temperatures in excess of 100 degrees!

All that said, the Pinyon Pine Trail and other Sawmill Trails are amazing. Yes, everyone wants to ascend to the Bristlecone Pine zone in the upper Spring Mountains, but in your rush to reach the heights, don’t miss this beautiful mid-zone of the lower slopes!

Injury Recovery on the Sawmill Trails

A big plus for all the Sawmill Trails: With their gradual inclines and fairly well-groomed surface, they are incredible injury recovery routes when traversed slowly and gently. On this day I had been experiencing 6 weeks of knee pain from a repetitive motion injury. The day after this nine-mile loop the pain was gone! It returned the following day, but with gradually less severity. Same experience the day after the 15-mile Mud Springs Loop. It seems every time I take one of the Sawmill Loops slowly and carefully, my injury mysteriously moves a bit further toward healing! On the other hand, doing nothing or some other form of exercise, injuries tend to stay the same or worsen. Go figure! 

Trailhead Directions | Pinyon Pine Loop Trail, Lee Canyon, Nevada

Take Hwy 95 North from Las Vegas and take a left at the Lee Canyon Road exit (Hwy 156). Travel up Lee Canyon Road about 13 miles. Take a right onto the Sawmill Trailhead Access Road and proceed to the trailhead. Stay left to reach the upper trailhead parking area.

Narrative Guide | Pinyon Pine Loop Trail, Lee Canyon, Nevada

Getting Your Initial Bearings

At the trailhead, identify your most important reference point: Mummy’s Head, with the sharp peak of Mummy’s Nose, immediately across Lee Canyon Road. This will be your guide back to the trailhead ensuring you are on course or helping you get back on course if you’re lost. Now look to the North to see a distinctive ridgeline. You know this ridgeline borders the West side of the Pinyon Pine Loop when you’re near the trailhead. Lee Canyon Road borders the East side of the loop. The loop will extend for about 5 miles to the North of the trailhead.

Confusion of Color-Coded Arrows within Two Miles of the Trailhead

We’re describing the Pinyon Pine Loop in a clockwise direction. Within about two miles of the trailhead the red-coded Pinyon Pine Loop shares the path of some of the other trails, which can make navigation confusing. Beginning in the clockwise direction the shared loops include the yellow Sawmill Loop and the green Mud Springs Loop. Once you’ve circled the loop and are on the way back within 2 miles of the trailhead the shared loops include the dark yellow-coded Rocky Gap Loop, the blue coded Blue Tree Loop and the yellow coded Sawmill Loop (with a few green Mud Springs loop indicators).

Sounds confusing? Prepare ahead to decipher these color-coded arrows pointing in various directions within two miles of the trailhead, with the red-coded arrows often pointing in the opposite direction you are headed! Have the map handy, and keep your eye on Mummy’s Nose!

Pinyon Pine Loop Trailhead to the Second Mud Springs Loop Intersection

From the trailhead keep to your left. You’re not going to see a red-coded directional sign, only green and yellow for the first mile. Just trust you’re heading toward the red Pinyon Pine Trail. In less than a mile you will see the first red-coded arrow pointing left. Take a left ascending toward the Western ridge. As you ascend the ridge a spectacular view will open including Mummy’s Head in its full glory and Angel Peak. You can look down to see the trailhead below.

At the ridgetop you’ll come across the second trail intersection. It’s the green-coded Mud Springs Loop clockwise direction trail branching off to the left. Continue on the ridgeline past this intersection to see an expansive view opening to your left (North). Spreading below is the huge forested bowl around which the Mud Springs Loop circles. The West (left) side of the bowl is bordered by the peaks of the Northern Spring Mountains. From South to North (left to right) they include Mummy’s Head, the Sisters, Macks Peak, Bonanza Peak and Wheeler Peak. Stretching beyond, to the North is a spectacular mountainous desert terrain.

Continue along the ridgeline to the second intersection: You’re still on the Pinyon Pine Loop, but you’ll see no red-coded indicators. There’s a left turn green-coded Mud Springs Loop arrow; straight ahead would put you on the cutoff trail to the East side of the Pinyon Pine loop — coded brown…go figure! Turn left, in the green-coded direction.

In another half-mile, a green-coded arrow will indicate a left turn split-off onto the counterclockwise Mud Springs Loop. Your second, and last (for the next 5-6 miles) red-coded Pinyon Pine arrow indicates that you continue straight ahead to remain on the Pinyon Pine Loop.

Second Mud Springs Loop Intersection to the Outer Edge of the Pinyon Pine Loop

Now, simply continue past the Mud Springs Loop cutoff. You’re on the trail that is completely and only Pine Pine Loop until you eventually circle the loop and are within 2-3 miles of the trailhead.

At first you’re on a ridge bordering the East side of the Mud Springs bowl, looking across the bowl to the high ridgeline of the Northern Spring Mountains. But soon you’ll descend into a long gully as this, the Western side of the Pinyon Pine Loop continues North. It’s a peaceful, beautiful shaded forested gully. After a couple miles the trail ascends the ridgeline to your right once again elevating you to a spectacular view of the Northern Spring Mountains to your left and the expansive desert terrain ahead to the North. Behind you is Mummy’s Head pointing back to the trailhead.

Next, the trail crosses a second ridgeline bringing you to an unmarked “T” intersection. A right turn will send you back toward Mummy’s Head and the trailhead. Take a left to continue to the Northern (outer) edge of the Pinyon Pine Loop, now less than a mile ahead. During this stretch you’re entering the upper region of the Joshua Tree and Cactus zone, at the edge of the spectacular desert terrain stretching further to the North.

Outer Edge of the Pinyon Pine Loop to the Rocky Gorge “T” Intersection

It’s pretty obvious when you round the outer Northern edge of the Pinyon Pine Loop. You’re now on the East side of the Pinyon Pine Loop turning back toward Mummy’s Head. Cross an unmarked, unpaved road and shortly thereafter, the trail will become an unpaved road. Continue along the unpaved road for about a quarter-mile. IMPORTANT HIDDEN INTERSECTION: As the road angles to the left, watch carefully for a very faint split-off trail to your right. You’ll likely miss it if you’re not extremely observant because it doesn’t look like a trail until you precede about 20ft, round some trees and shrubs and see that indeed, it is the continuation of the distinctive Pinyon Pine Trail ahead, stretching toward Mummy’s Head. If you missed this hidden, unmarked intersection and stayed on the road you’d be off the Pinyon Pine Loop and probably be headed toward Lee Canyon Road to the East.

Let’s assume you identified the intersection and are still on the Pinyon Pine Loop. Continue for less than a mile with the Northern Spring Mountains far to the right (West) and the Sheep Range to the left (East) and Mummy’s Head directly ahead. In less than a mile the trail will take a dive into a gully to your left. At the base of the gully the trail “Ts” out at a color-coded sign with two colored squares: Red and Yellow. There are no directional indicators, but turn right to continue on the red Pinyon Pine Trail. A left turn would put you on the West side of the dark yellow Rocky Gorge Loop.

Rocky Gorge “T” Intersection to a Confusing Intersection

After turning right at the “T” intersection, in about a mile you’ll reach a road crossing with a lot of confusing color-coded arrows. You’re now within a couple miles of the trailhead where many trails converge. In short, to stay on the Pinyon Pine Trail cross the road and continue straight, with Mummy’s Head ahead in the distance.

Here is my reading of the other connections and colored indicators at this intersection:

• A Right Turn Up the Road: There’s a post with Red, Green and Blue arrows. Red (Pinyon Pine) points upwards, but actually takes you on the cutoff trail back to the West side of the loop when you wanted to cross the road and continue straight along the East side of the loop. A Green arrow (Mud Springs) also points up the road to the right. I guess that is meaningful if you were coming from below on the Blue Tree Trail. A Blue arrow points down the road, probably back to a Blue Tree Loop trailhead. A Brown TH indicator points to a trailhead, but that’s not the trailhead you want. It’s a Blue Tree Loop Trailhead.
• Pointers Across the Road – the Direction You Want: A Red Arrow (Pinyon Pine) points back the way you came, but does not indicate you’d be on the Pinyon Pine Trail were you to continue across the road. Continuing across the road you WOULD be on the Pinyon Pine Trail headed toward Mummy’s Head. A Blue (Blue Tree Loop) arrow points you to the continuation of the Pinyon Pine Trail across the road, indicating that this is the Blue Tree Loop, but not letting you know it’s also the continuation of the Pinyon Pine Loop. A Green (Mud Springs) arrow points you back toward the direction you came from, but you’d never reach the Mud Springs Trail in that direction!
• A Left Turn Down the Road: There is another set of pointers down the road. Again, an additional confusion of arrows. 

In short, cross the road at this point to continue on the East side of the Pinyon Pine Loop toward Mummy’s Head.

Confusing Intersection to the Sawmill Trailhead

From here onward, your best bet is to continue toward Mummy’s Head. There are some more intersections. Generally, follow the Blue (Blue Tree Loop) arrows and Yellow (Sawmill Loop) arrows, favoring the Yellow Sawmill arrows when the Blue Arrows run out. At the first unmarked intersection continue straight, don’t take the left split. Unmarked left splits will generally take you down to Lee Canyon Road too soon. There will be a few more intersections, and the trail will momentarily loop back away from Mummy’s Head. Stay on the trail. It will again circle toward Mummy’s Head.

A final intersection indicates that continuing straight will take you to a Blue Tree Loop Trailhead. A right turn onto the Yellow Sawmill Trail is what you want here. Turn right and within less than a quarter-mile you’ll be back at the original Sawmill Trailhead. All day you’ve actually been on the Red Pinyon Pine Loop, but the colored arrows you see along the way most often don’t confirm this.

Summary

All directional arrow confusion aside, the Pinyon Pine Loop, if you get it right, is an awesome variety of peaceful forests, high desert terrain and expansive views.