Скачать или смотреть Hidden Peak Summit | Rainbow Mountain Wilderness, Nevada

Hidden Peak Summit | Rainbow Mountain Wilderness, Nevada | Visit https://lasvegasareatrails.com/hidden... | Hidden Peak at 6,240ft elevation is the 5th major peak North of the Southern end of Nevada’s colorful Rainbow Mts. It’s a relatively easy climb to a spectacular summit overlooking the entire stretch of the Rainbow Mts., Little Zion, Las Vegas Valley and Strip, Mt. Charleston Wilderness, Red Rock Canyon and points beyond. The peak is hidden from below by the massive Monument Peaks (6,283 & 6,252ft elevation) immediately East.

The approach hike is on a good trail (The Rainbow Mts. Upper Crest Ridgeline), the sandstone summit approach is well-cairned and the difficulty light: Low effort/high reward! This adventure, beginning from the Mountain Springs trailhead at the very Southern end of the Rainbow Mts. creates a great opportunity to point out all 5 sandstone peaks in the Southern Rainbow Mountains: South, Hollow Rock, Windy, Black Velvet and Hidden Peaks. Then, we look North to Sandstone Peak, Indecision Peak, Mt. Wilson and beyond.

The Adventure Route

Beginning at the Mountain Spring Trailhead on Highway 160 West of Las Vegas head up one of the roads behind the parking area. You’ll see your first target as soon as you top the hill behind the parking area: A large communications tower. Cross through an opening at the left of the tower’s gate and head down the hill below to begin ascending the road/trail toward The Rainbow Mountains Upper Crest Ridgeline on the horizon to your right (East).

Once you’re on the Upper Crest Ridgeline you have a clear view of the 3rd Rainbow Mountain from the South: Windy Peak. Now turn left (North) along the good Rainbow Mountains Upper Crest Ridgeline Trail. In the video I first took a detour up the hill to the right to view the two Southernmost Rainbow Mountains: South Peak and Hollow Rock Peak. This added a feature to this video: The identification of each of the Southern Rainbow Mountain peaks, along with a few comments on their approach routes.

As you continue to the North on the ridgeline, notice the grand view of Lovell Canyon below to the West along with the feature I call “Landmark Bluff” at the entrance of Lovell Canyon. No matter where you are on the Rainbow Mountains Upper Crest Ridgeline, the Wilson Ridgeline or Harris Mountain to Griffith Peak: Landmark Bluff can be clearly seen and is a good landmark pointing back toward the entrance of Lovell Canyon.

Continuing North on the Upper Crest Ridgeline I point out the split-off approach trail heading to Windy Peak. A little later, at Mountain Spring Summit, a high point on the Southern Upper Crest Ridgeline, I point out Black Velvet Peak and its approach trail beginning at that summit. In addition, from Mountain Spring Summit, I point out the destination – Hidden Peak – along with the dual Monument Peaks just to the West. Also visible from that vantage point are Indecision Peak, Mt. Wilson, Rainbow Mountain and Bridge Mountain further to the North along with a good portion of Red Rock Canyon, the Las Vegas Valley and many points beyond.

Continuing North from Mountain Spring Summit, in about a mile the good Upper Crest Ridgeline trail circles around to the right and heads down toward Hidden Peak. On the way down watch for a spectacular hidden arch in the limestone formations on the ridgeline. Also, look below to your left to see the beautiful “Little Zion” area. The main trail actually continues down to Little Zion, so you need to angle to the right on the descent ridge to get to the sandstone area on the Hidden Peak route.

Once on the sandstone area, the course is well-cairned. Just follow the cairns all the way to Hidden Peak’s summit! In the video I took a brief detour on the sandstone area for a bird's eye view of the descent ridge and saddle at the base of the final approach to Hidden Peak summit. This made it easier to understand the route to the summit. You want to head to that approach ridge and then descend to the lower saddle. From the upper vantage point you can also see the tree-lined gully on the North side of Hidden Peak which will be your final summit approach.

The route to the lower saddle is a little complicated. There is one narrow, but fairly easy, ramp to descend to get onto the saddle ridgeline. Then it’s just a matter of descending the ridgeline to the base of the saddle.

Now begin ascending above the saddle on the nice wide ramp to your left. Soon you’ll reach that tree-lined gully to the right that will take you the rest of the way to Hidden Peak summit!

Those two peaks just West of Hidden Peak are the huge Monument Peaks. There is what looks like a sharp drop-off between Hidden Peak and the Monument Peaks. I did not explore this intervening stretch, but from above it looks pretty challenging. Perhaps it’s easier than it looks to get from Hidden Peak summit to the Monument Peaks…but maybe not! That’s a future adventure.