Overview

Cottonwood Canyon makes for a nice route that leads to the edge of the Jumbo Springs Wilderness Area. The canyon runs up into granitic mountains, which is a nice change from the sandstone and limestone with which southern Nevada hikers are so familiar. The canyon starts out narrow and rocky, then gets narrower with several little water-polished pour-overs to climb, and finally opens into a wider desert canyon. From high in the canyon, you can hike northeast, pick up an old road, and follow it back to the trailhead. There are no trails.

Link to map or elevation profile.

The Jumbo Springs Wilderness Area includes sparsely vegetated granitic ridges and canyons that overlook the eastern end of Lake Mead. The geology of the general area is complex and includes a variety of oddly juxtaposed rock types. In the wilderness area, the lower strata seems to be metamorphic, and these are overlain by granitic rocks. There are granitic domes and smooth cliffs along the ridge tops, and the side slopes are strewn with coarse-grained granitic boulders and deeply cut by canyons. Carbonate and basalt rocks also occur in the region. The granitic boulders and cliffs in the wilderness area remind me of Joshua Tree National Park.

The side slopes are rocky and sparsely vegetated with a fair variety of Mojave Desert Scrub species that include creosote bush, catclaw acacia, Mojave yucca, Nevada ephedra, California buckwheat, a few cacti (e.g., beavertail and hedgehog cactus), and there are thick cryptobiotic crusts in some places. There are lots of barrel cactus on the more rocky slopes. In Cottonwood Canyon, the dominant species include rabbitbrush, catclaw acacia, desert willow, honey mesquite, and buckhorn cholla.

Watch Out

Other than the standard warnings about hiking in the desert, ...this is a wild and remote area. I encountered no unusual hazards, but be careful climbing the pour-over as a twisted ankle out there would be more serious than in less-remote areas. The Devils Cove once was graded, but the lower canyon is sandy, rocky, and subject to wash out, so either drive carefully and stop early if you need to, or take a 4WD vehicle.

While hiking, please respect the land and the other people out there, and try to Leave No Trace of your passage. Also, this is a remote hike, so be sure to bring the 10 Essentials.

This is a federally designated Wilderness Area, so pay extra attention to respecting the land.

Getting to the Trailhead

Cottonwood Canyon is located adjacent to the Jumbo Springs Wilderness Area, which is out in the Gold Butte Region at the northeast end of Lake Mead. This hike is about 3 hours northeast of Las Vegas in a wild, remote, and scenic area.

From town, drive out to Gold Butte. From Whitney Pockets (Table 1, Site 060), drive south on Gold Butte Road for 16.2 miles to Devils Cove Road (Site 090). Turn left onto Devils Cove Road and drive southeast for an additional 11.6 miles (heading southeast over a ridge, down into a canyon, up over a saddle, and finally down a rocky canyon) to Cottonwood Canyon (Site 550). The lower portion of Devils Cove Road runs in a sandy, rocky canyon that is subject to wash out, so either drive carefully and stop early if you need to, or use a 4WD vehicle. The turnoff (Site 550), a nondescript sandy road to the west, is the only side road in the vicinity. Turn right onto the side road and drive west for a short distance (400 feet) to the end of the road (Site 552). Stay out of the soft sand. Park here; this is the trailhead.

The Hike

Shortly, the canyon narrows at the first of several water-polished granite pour-over (Wpt. 2). The pour-overs are nicely sculpted, and some have what appear to be carbonate flowstone deposits. The deposits seem odd because the area is granitic, so I don't know the origin of the carbonate materials.

After climbing several low pour-overs (at about 1.0 miles out), the main canyon jogs to the north into what seems to be a side canyon. Climb the pour-over (Wpt. 3) that seems to be on the north side of the canyon. There are water pockets above this pour-over where there is enough water to support a small patch of cattail and other aquatic plant species.

Continue up the canyon for as far as you want. I didn't have much time, and I only got to a wide, open spot in the canyon 1.2 miles out. At this point, a major side canyon comes in from the north (Wpt. 4). I exited Cottonwood Canyon at this point and climbed side canyon, crawling under two enormous boulders part way up the side canyon. There are more water-polished pour-over under the boulders. I climbed to the ridge above and east of the enormous boulders, headed east to the old road (Wpt. 5 [1.8 miles out]), and followed it back to the trailhead (2.85 miles).