Trip Report
Turtlehead Mountain sits in the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area 15 miles west of Las Vegas. From the Red Rocks Scenic Road, it is a very pointed peak that rises sharply over the surrounding terrain.
I was in Las Vegas a day early for a weekend softball tournament. My family went shopping, so I went hiking. Vegas had been in a long period of cool, wet weather. I was a bit worried that Turtlehead Mountain at 6,323 feet, would have a lot of snow on it. As I drove to the mountain on a brilliantly clear Friday morning, I could see a lot of snow on the peaks west of Vegas.
Once I got onto the Red Rock loop road, I stopped at several pull-offs and photographed the gorgeous rock formations. The day was perfect, cool and sunny. 3 miles into the loop was the Sandstone Quarry trailhead which accessed Turtlehead Mountain. As I headed up the peak, I didn't just want to follow a trail, so I went east around the big rock that the trail goes west of. This turned out perfect, as the wash I followed turned into a narrow canyon with neat pools of clear water. At the end of the canyon, I had a couple of tricky climbing moves to get out, but the views of the peak were great from here and I definitely felt like I was in the southwest. From the end of this small canyon, I continued up the creek bed and eventually climbed a ridge above it and angled north until I found the trail in the west gully on Turtlehead Mountain. Staying on the right trail on the west slopes proved difficult, as it would come and go. On the way down I seemed to do better at sticking on the correct trail. Either way, the terrain is steep and rocky, but manageable without a trail.
As I reached the top of the west slopes, I had about 400 feet to go. The route turns south and climbs the northside of the peak. Here I encountered snow. It was about a foot deep and icy in spots, but there was a good trail through it. 15 minutes later I was standing on the top of the peak. The top sports a cairn, a ammo box with a register, and tremendous views of Las Vegas, the Calico Hills, Red Rock Canyon, and the surrounding larger peaks. I hung out at least 30 minutes before heading down. This was a great hike with perfect weather. I would highly recommend this to anyone in Las Vegas with 5 or 6 hours of time to spare.
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