Hiking Around Las Vegas, Gold Butte National Monument
 Mica Peak trailhead along Vermiculite Mine Road (view S) |
Overview Mica Peak, via the North Ridge, is a fun hike deep in the heart of Gold Butte National Monument. The route ascends the fairly steep and strenuous, but safe, North Ridge, which is followed south towards the summit. Parts of the upper ridgelines are rocky, but the craggier portions can be bypassed on one side or the other. The summit is guarded by rocky crags, but the easiest route cuts across the north face just below the crags to gain the summit from the west ridge. The summit is adorned with bits and pieces of historic survey equipment (boards, broken mirror, wires, etc.) and a summit register. As is often the case for Gold Butte National Monument peaks, views from the summit are surprisingly grand, and stretch from Utah to California and include the Grand Canyon and Red Rock cliffs. Presented here are photos of and from the summit. For details of the hike, including driving directions, maps, and GPS coordinates, see the Mica Peak -- North Ridge webpage. |
 Arriving on the summit (view E) |
 Arriving on the summit (view W) |
 USGS Reference Marker No. 1 |
 USGS Benchmark "Gold Butte," placed in 1951 |
 Broken signal mirror |
 Summit register inside large PVC pipe |
 Summit register inside jar |
 Original summit register |
 Replacement summit register (because first is getting brittle) |
 My old friends Howard and Ursula were here! |
 Summit (view SE into Grand Canyon) |
 Summit (view SE into Grand Canyon; zoom) |
 Summit (view N towards Virgin Peak) |
 Summit (view NE into Arizona and Utah) |
 Summit (view E to Grand Wash Cliffs in Arizona) |
 Summit (view SE towards Grand Canyon) |
 Summit (view S into Arizona and California) |
 Summit (view SE into Nevada and California) |
 Summit (view S into Cedar Basin) |
 Summit (view S across Cedar Basin to Jumbo Peak) |
 Summit (view S to Shark' Tooth Peak and Jumbo Peak) |
 Summit (view S to Jumbo Peak summit crags; zoom) |
 Summit (view SW across Lake Mead) |
 Summit (view SW across Lake Mead into Las Vegas) |
 Summit (view W to Gold Butte Peak and across Lake Mead) |
 Summit (view W to Gold Butte Peak; zoom) |
 Summit (view NW across Lake Mead to Valley of Fire) |
 Summit (view NW across Tramp Ridge to Overton) |
 Summit (view NW to Overton; zoom) |
 Summit (view N across Gold Butte to Virgin Peak) |
 Summit (view N to trailhead) |
 More to come ... |
Happy Hiking! All distances, elevations, and other facts are approximate.
; Last updated 240325
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