Plan Your Las Vegas Area Wilderness Adventure by Season and Temperature
You can generally count on a decrease of about 5 degrees for every 1,000ft elevation rise. Since the elevation of the Las Vegas Strip is about 2000ft and the elevation of Charleston Peak is nearly 12,000ft there is a 10,000ft elevation difference between the two. Doing the math, 10,000ft X 5 degrees per 1,000ft = 50 degrees. Therefore, generally, the temperature at the summit of Charleston Peak is about 50 degrees lower than the temperature on the Las Vegas Strip. Click image or title above for more…
01 Plan Your Las Vegas Area Wilderness Adventure | Overview
The Las Vegas Area Uniquely Provides Year-Round Wilderness Adventures for All Levels of Conditioning and Varieties of Terrain. For Maximum Enjoyment and Safety, Select the Adventure that Best Fits the Following Criteria. Taking into account a few of the most critical considerations that apply to any Las Vegas Area wilderness adventure will help you to a more enjoyable and safe experience. Click image or title above for more…
Zion National Park, Utah, Overview
Click on the images on this page to plan your adventures to specific locations in Zion National Park. We’ll begin exploring and documenting adventures during an upcoming Spring or Fall season! Unlike other wilderness areas such as Death Valley National Park, Mt. Charleston Wilderness and many others, you can’t just drive up to a trailhead in Zion National Park and start hiking due to rules designed to protect this popular wilderness area from overcrowding. So, your adventures in Zion National Park will take a little more pre-planning along with permit applications in some cases. Here’s how the system works at Zion National Park… Click image or title above for more…
Hidden Hills and Jungle Above Kahana in West Maui, Hawaii
My goal here was to apply the same wilderness exploration strategy I use in the vast wilderness around Las Vegas to an entirely new and unknown area. The goal was to find the best daily trail running conditioning course that could be accessed by foot from the commercial tourist area of Kahana. The only problem was to find access to the interior above Kahana. So I set out to explore potential access points. What I discovered went way beyond expectations including a seemingly endless network of unpaved roads with a perfect surface for running, spectacular views of the ocean West and Northwest of Maui including the islands of Lanai and Moloka’i, total peace entirely devoid of any traffic. Route Details: “”A series of 5-10-mile daily running courses on secluded unpaved roads with spectacular views, including jungle excursions.** Click image or title above for more…
Hualapai Mountain Park, Arizona
Hualapai Mountain Park offers 10 miles of trails for hikers, mountain bikers and equestrians to enjoy. Situated atop the Hualapai Mountains, the trails provide spectacular views of the desert below and the mountain ranges in the distance. On the trail, users will experience a variety of mountain habitats and have the opportunity to see many species of wildlife. Route Details: 8.2 mile loop trail; 6,200 – 8,250ft **Excellent Trail** Click image or title above for more…
Wildrose Peak | Death Valley, California
Wildrose Peak is an 8.4 mile round trip trail beginning at the Wildrose Charcoal Kilns in Death Valley National Park, California. Ascending the excellent trail from the Wildrose Charcoal Kilns at 6,800ft elevation to the summit of Wildrose Peak at 9,064ft elevation, your total elevation gain is 2,264ft. Views at points along the trail and definitely from the summit are spectacular including the expanse of Death Valley almost directly below from Badwater to Furnace Creek and further in both directions with the Funeral Mountains as a backdrop. It’s a Grand Canyon level view! 8.4 Miles RT, 6,800 > 9,064ft **Excellent Trail** Click image or title above for more…
Wildrose Charcoal Kilns | Death Valley, California
The Death Valley Wildrose Charcoal Kilns, located on Charcoal Kiln Road near Telescope Peak in the Panamint Mountain Range are perhaps the best preserved Charcoal Kilns on earth. Built in 1877 to create charcoal used to smelt lead and silver in the Modock Mines about 25 miles West in the Argus Range, the Wildrose Charcoal Kilns were only used for 2 years. Click image or title above for more…
Telescope Peak Summit from Charcoal Kilns | Death Valley, California
Telescope Peak, on the highest ridge of the Panamint Mountain Range bordering the West side of Death Valley is as close as you can get to experiencing the entire valley in one adventure. The feeling is purely magical as you traverse a ridge on top of the world, looking straight from that 11,049ft elevation down to Badwater, lowest point in the Western hemisphere at -282ft. Route details: 19 mi Roads, Trails (mostly), Wilderness
6800ft > 11,043ft **Mostly Excellent Trails** Click image or title above for more…
Skidoo Ghost Town | Death Valley National Park, California
Skidoo Ghost Town & Mill, located near Emigrant Canyon in the Panamint mountain range above Death Valley, California, is an old California gold rush ghost town approachable by 4WD vehicles on a 9-mile unpaved road. The hills around Skidoo Ghost Town & Mill have around 1,000 abandoned mines along with the remains of iron machinery, wooden cabins, old rusting cars and other odds and ends from the mining era. The largest, most impressive remaining structure is the Skidoo Stamp Mill used to extract gold from raw ore. Route details: 18 Miles RT; 5000 > 5700ft **Fair Unpaved Road** Click image or title above for more…
Mesquite Dunes at Sunrise | Death Valley National Park, California
The Mesquite Sand Dunes turn every shade of color from white to golden during the hours of sunrise and sunset. But to witness the best display, you’ll need to wander into or out of the midst of the Mesquite Dunes in the dark, either before sunrise or after sunset. And during the time of pitch darkness, you’re either going to risk meeting up with a sidewinder rattlesnake during the warmer months from mid Spring through mid Fall, or getting very cold during the colder months from mid Fall through mid Spring. Route Details: Approx. 1.5 Miles RT; 100 – 200ft Elevation Gain **Wander Among the Dunes** Click image or title above for more…