Overview

This hike in the rarely visited Arrow Canyon Wilderness Area, leads to the highest point in the Arrow Range. The name "Arrow Peak" is claimed by a slightly lower peak (Peak 5,205), so I refer to this peak as "Big Arrow Peak."

This strenuous route starts in the bottom of the valley, crosses the flats, ascends the bajada, and climbs a steep, rocky canyon to a saddle on the crest of the Arrow Range. It then follows a steep ridge to the summit, passing through some 3rd-class cliffs along the way. This is a stout route that is not for the faint of heart, but views from the ridge and the summit are spectacular.

Link to map.

Watch Out

Other than the standard warnings about hiking in the desert, ... this hike requires a steep, exposed climb through a band of 350-ft high cliffs to gain the summit ridge. By the time you get to the base of these cliffs, you will already be tired, so be careful climbing the 3rd-class cliffs and don't knock rocks on your hiking partners.

This is a wilderness area, so while hiking, please respect the land and the other people out there, and please try to Leave No Trace of your passage. There are no cairns on this route; please don't leave any new ones. Also, this is a long hard hike, so be sure to bring the 10 essentials.

Trail Guide

Getting to the Trailhead

This hike is located on the west side of the Arrow Range, about 45 minutes northeast of Las Vegas.

From Las Vegas, drive out to the west side of the Arrow Range. From the intersection of Interstate-15 and Highway 93 (Table 1, Site 674), drive north on Highway 93 for 20.4 miles. Stop on a little ridgetop on the east side of the highway (Site 876). Park well off the pavement. Park here; this is the trailhead.

The Highway Patrol probably will check your vehicle while you are away, so when you return, expect to find a notice on your antenna about abandoned vehicles.

The Hike

From the trailhead (Table 2, Waypoint 1), hike east-northeast towards the base of a canyon that can be seen leading to the crest. Hiking up the bajada is a bit easier if you stay north of the wash until you get to the mouth of the canyon (Wpt. 2).

The vegetation here is typical of the Mojave Desert, dominated by creosote bush and Bursage, but with lots of other species (including yucca and cactus) mixed in. There is also a lot of cryptogamic (biological soil) crust in the bottom of the valley, and to the extent that we can, we should avoid walking on the crust. The crust is a complex mixture of cyanobacteria, green algae, lichens, mosses, microfungi, and other bacteria. The cyanobacteria and microfungi weave a network of filaments through the top few millimeters of soil and exuded polysaccharides that bind loose soil particles together, thereby stabilizing and protecting the soil surface from erosion. The roughened and stabilized surface then provides microsites for lichens and mosses to develop in the spaces between shrubs that otherwise would be bare. The little peaks (1-inch high) in the crust can take centuries to develop.

Follow the canyon eastward and up to the saddle on the crest (Wpt. 3). The canyon is steep and rocky, but there are some bighorn sheep trails along the south side of the canyon that make it easier for short sections. As you climb the canyon, the vegetation changes from typical Mojave Desert scrub lower down to a lot of Bitterbrush and other shrubs in the middle, to blackbrush at the top.

From the saddle, follow the ridge northward through bands of broken gray limestone and white quartzite cliffs to the base of the black cliffs (Wpt. 4) that form the summit ridge. There is a narrow band of light-gray limestone between the white and black cliffs that has a bunch of interesting crinoid fragments and coral fossils. I also saw some large (2-3 inch diameter) snail fossils in a small rock low in the canyon, but I found no other fossils along this route. There are several bighorn sheep "beds" and lots of scat along the ridge. I didn't see any sheep, but there must be a large population in this range.

After gaining the summit ridge, it is mostly a walk to the summit. There is one band of gray limestone cliffs that look like the summit, but these are easily passed on the exposed northwest side. Don't fall here, as you might end up down at the highway. From the top of these little cliffs, it is a short walk through the blackbrush to the summit (Wpt. 6). Be sure to sign the summit register, which was placed here about 45 years ago by the Sierra Club.

To get back to the trailhead, retrace your route. Be careful descending the black cliffs.