Overview

The Gentry Ranch area is an interesting place to hike along the banks of the Virgin River, parts of which were underwater when Lake Mead was higher. There is some history here, but it isn't the most exciting place to hike. However, in southern Nevada, we seldom get to hike along a flowing river on our home turf, so that makes this hike a treat. The early spring wildflowers can be great at this low elevation.

Historically, the Gentry family ran thousands of head of cattle in the Gold Butte area, and this area is marked on some old maps as "Gentry Ranch." However, there do not seem to be any old buildings or remains of other structures that one might expect to find at a spot marked "ranch" on an old map.

This area was the site of the old bridge over the Virgin River, suggested by ground works visible across the river (not visible in 2022), that appears to be where the old Arrowhead Trail Highway crossed the river. A gap in the ridge across the river was cut for the Arrowhead Highway, the first road built for motor vehicles connecting Los Angeles with Salt Lake City.

Link to hiking map.

Watch Out

Other than the standard warnings about hiking in the desert, ... this is a fairly safe hike, although the trail runs across some craggy cliffs above the river where someone could fall if they tried.

This is a wild and remote area without services of any kind (no restrooms, no water, no gas, no food). Bring what you need to survive. Be prepared and be self-reliant. Someone will find you eventually if you stay on a main road, but be prepared to survive alone for a day or two. Cell phones worked on southern parts of this route.

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 hike is inside Lake Mead National Recreation Area, so pay extra attention to protecting the land.

Getting to the Trailhead

The Gentry Ranch site is located out in Lake Mead National Recreation Area along the Virgin River, about 2.5 hours northeast of Las Vegas in a wild, remote, and scenic area.

From town, drive out to Gold Butte National Monument. From Highway 170 at Gold Butte Road, drive south 14.2 miles to Fisherman Cove Road, on the right.

From the pavement, drive southwest and downhill for about 7 miles to a major fork in the road with directional signs. Bear right onto Virgin River Landing Road (VRL Road) as it starts to climb towards Black Ridge to the north. The road eventually bends left and heads down towards the river. Use caution on sharp curves. Eventually, VRL Road emerges from a canyon onto an alluvial fan that once was below the surface of Lake Mead. As the road emerges from the canyon, it forks. It probably is easiest to park at the fork, as both forks get quite sandy farther down. Park here at the fork; this is the trailhead.

The Hike

From the trailhead (Table 1, Waypoint 01), which is just below the old high-water mark for Lake Mead, the route runs northwest on the right fork of VRL Road. At about 300 yards out when the road curves left, hikers can walk straight into the bush (shortcut), or they can stay on the road and follow it around to a gated service road.

Staying on VRL Road, hikers continue southwest for another 200 yards. When the road bends farther left, away from the fence, hikers will see a gate on the right. Unfortunately, people have damaged the gate and drive illegally on the service road. Passing through the gate, hikers will see a "no vehicles" sign as the road hair-pins back to the right following the other side of the fence. Before long, the road curves left to heads more northward away from the trailhead.

Taking the shortcut, hikers hop the fence and continue straight into the bush. Before long, the shortcut meets the closed service road saving a minute or two of hiking time.

Regardless of which start hikers used, both now continue northwest along the old road, which is the historical Arrowhead Trail Highway. The road runs out to the edge of mud cliffs with a view of the Virgin River floodplain. Depending on how the river is meandering, the main channel might be close under the cliffs, or it might be on the far side of the basin. In 2022, the river was somewhere out on the horizon.

The service road bends away from the edge of the mud cliff and continues northward. Shortly, the road forks. Looking straight up the Arrowhead Trail Highway, hikers can see a big washout, and so the roads bends right to cross the wash above the washout. The illegal drivers created a road that continues northeast, but hikers need to bend hard to the left to return to the Arrowhead Trail Highway.

Continuing northwest, the Arrowhead Trail Highway is washed out again. Again, the road bends right and runs upstream along the wash. Shortly, an old, rusty piece of equipment comes into view, and when just across the wash, hikers will find an easy wash-crossing where cows have broken down the edge of the wash. Here, at about 0.4 miles out, the route passes an old trailer-type road grader (Wpt. 02) that spent some years beneath the surface of the lake.

It is likely that the grader was used to maintain the Arrowhead Trail Highway. In 1938, St. Thomas flooded, and this area would have flooded soon after, probably by 1940.

Continuing past the road grader, the route runs back west to rejoin the Arrowhead Trail. From this point, it seems that illegal drivers no longer go this way, evidenced by bushes pushing into the road. Shortly after rejoining the old road, look on the left for an old well casing pipe (Wpt. 03). In 2015, water could be seen down inside the pipe.

Following the Arrowhead Trail north, the road seems to fork. The cows go left onto the mud flats, but the old road stays right onto soils covered by rounded cobble stones. It is not always clear, but the old road runs along the base of the slope, not out in the mud flats.

By about 0.7 miles out, hikers will notice an old road scar cutting straight up the side of a ridge ahead on the right. At the base of the road scar, an old diesel engine sits near the old high-water mark. For those interested in visiting this old item of historical interest, when getting close (about 0.8 miles out), a wash crosses the old Arrowhead Highway. Hikers can leave the road and hike northeast up the wash the old Caterpillar diesel engine (Wpt. 04), which sits silently on the north edge of the wash.

It looks like someone hauled the engine to just high enough to prevent the lake from swallowing it, but then abandoned it to the ages. It is possible, however, that the very highest waters of Lake Mead covered the engine. While there, notice the pile of old rubber belts.

Departing the diesel engine, hikers turn west and returns to the Arrowhead Highway. The slopes below the engine are covered with loose, rounded river rocks from which finer sediments were washed away by lake waters, so watch your step carefully.

Continuing north, the old road runs closer to the edge of the mud cliff. At about 1.0 miles out, the old road ends at an old USGS water gauging station (Wpt. 05). A gauging station is an installation used to measure the height of the water, presumably in the old river channel, which can be used to determine stream flow. All of the equipment is gone, but the instrument boxes and walkways remain.

The gauging station was placed at the site of a water pumping station. The well pipe and mechanical equipment to pump the water remains, and judging by the rubber belts, it seems that the diesel engine was used to power the pump.

it is interesting to note the heavy wooden boards and pilings at the base of the pump mechanism, which have been burned. The Arrowhead Trail Highway crossed the Virgin River on a wooden bridge somewhere near this point, but the bridge burned in 1925 and was not rebuilt. It is possible that these burned boards are all that remain of the old bridge. In 2015, possible bridge abutment structures were visible across the river, but they were not seen in 2022.

For hikers continuing past the gauging station, a decision needs to be made: either drop down along the river or climb to a narrow trail and traverse the rocky cliffs above the river. For hikers intent on continuing north to the "Gentry Ranch" area, the upper route is harder but more certain, and the lower route is passable only when the river is low enough.

For the lower route, hikers start north from the gauging station atop the mud cliffs. In 25 yards or so, a cow trail cuts steeply down the mud cliffs to river level, and hikers can walk on the banks of the river until getting blocked between the river and rocky cliffs. If the river is low enough, hikers can climb (3rd class) around a cliffy corner and continue north into the "Gentry Ranch" area.

Alternatively, from the water gauging station, hikers can angle up and across the steep hillside to join a narrow trail that traverses ledges and side slopes high above the river. The trail is a bit higher than the white band of cliffs visible from below, and it looks as if it might be the high-water mark (but it always was dry). The trail across the cliffs isn't dangerous, but it requires care: it is narrow, faint in places, and there is a bit of Class-2 scrambling where the trail dips in and out of steep gullies. The trail must have been man-made as a foot trail because it is not suitable for cows, burros, or horses.

Past the steep hillside, the terrain eases, and the trail disappears. Continuing north, hikers dip into a broad (and much more gentle) side canyon. In the canyon bottom, hikers can walk down to the river just upstream from the rocky cliffs that likely blocked hikers walking upstream along the river. Hikers can also continue north between cliffs and brush thickets to eventually climb onto low bluffs.

Atop the bluffs, which overlook the river and a vast landscape, it is easy to image that the Gentry family would have built a ranch up here, but it seems that nobody did.

In this area, visitors can hike along the river, hike up on the bluffs, or explore narrow little canyons that cut into the mountains. This is a good place to wander about, see what is out there, and spend some quality time with wildflowers and flowing water. Hikers will not, however, find remains of the Gentry Ranch buildings.

When ready to return to the trailhead (photos of the return), hikers might consider making a loop. Depending on water levels, the river-edge cliffs might be passable. I found it easier than it looked, but still waters run deep, so consider water levels and use good judgment.

For hikers returning via the high route, when crossing the broad, gentle side canyon, look carefully for the faint start of the trail and don't drop too low into the cliffs looking for it.

For hikers returning via the riverbank route, the hoist-boom at the gauging station is visible from a distance -- just beyond the cow trail that cuts up through the mud cliffs.

From the gauging station, return to the trailhead (Wpt. 01) via the old Arrowhead Trail Highway.