Overview

The Schaefer Spring Trail is a fairly easy loop trail in burned over pinyon-juniper forest at the head of Lovell Canyon, a little visited area south of Griffith Peak and Harris Mountain. This trail is short, only 1.6 miles total, but it takes a total of 7.1 miles on the Lovell Canyon Trail and the Schaefer Trail to do it. Thus, this trail should be thought of as an extension loop off the loop portion of the Lovell Canyon Trail. The forest here burned some years ago, so the view is cleared out and the trail provides grand views up and down Lovell Canyon, but surprisingly, no views of any springs.

This trail was recently built by the U.S. Forest Service. I commend the engineers for laying out a nice trail, and I especially commend the crews who worked so hard making a nice trail for the rest of us. The signs are not finished, but the trail is easy to follow.

Link to Area Map or Hiking Map.

Watch Out

Other than the standard warnings about hiking in the mountains, this trail is pretty safe and without unusual hazards. The trail is not very strenuous, making it a nice way to hike at higher elevations with few oxygen deficit issues.

While hiking, please respect the land and the other people out there, and try to Leave No Trace of your passage. Also, this hike is in a remote area, so be sure to bring the 10 Essentials. This hike runs near Private Property and into the La Madre Wilderness Area, so please pay particular attention to taking care of the land.

Getting to the Trailhead

This hike is located up in the Spring Mountains at the north end of Lovell Canyon, about 1-1/4 hours west of Las Vegas.

From town, drive out Highway 160 towards Pahrump. About three miles past Mountain Spring Summit, turn right onto Lovell Canyon Road. Drive north 11 miles to Lovell Summit Road. Turn left and drive 0.4 miles to Lovell Canyon Trailhead. Click the links for details and GPS coordinates.

The Hike

From the trailhead (Table 1, Waypoint 01), the route runs north on the Lovell Canyon Trail. At the first fork (Wpt. 03), hikers can turn either way onto the loop. However, staying to the right, the trail continues north and eventually runs down to the edge of Lovell Canyon Wash, turns southwest around the corner of a rocky promontory, and reaches a trail junction (Wpt. 05) marked with an enormous cairn and a 4x4 post with a paper sign attached. The sign indicates that the Schaefer Spring Trail continues west.

Disregard the sign, as the trail to the right (north) seems to be one end of the Schaefer Spring "Loop" Trail.

The Schaefer Spring Trail crosses the broad wash to the north heading for a rocky limestone outcrop. Including the cairn at the trail junction, five enormous cairns mark the route across the wash (Wpt. 10).

Beyond the wash, a good trail continues north, climbing at a gentle grade as it winds in and out of side canyons. The trail passes one long switchback, then continues north and descends towards the wash again.

At the edge of the wash, an enormous cairn (Wpt. 11) anchors the wash crossing while other cairns beckon hikers across the wash. In the near distance, the trail can be seen climbing onto a low bluff.

At the base of the bluff (Wpt. 12), the obvious trail starts up the hillside, but observant hikers will notice at least two more enormous cairns leading northward up the wash -- another trail for another day!

The main trail runs west and eventually turns back to the south, winding in and out of gullies as it stays more or less on the contours. High in this part of the canyon, where old fires burned off the forest, grand views can be had all around.

The trail gradually winds down and descends into a broad wash. Again, the wash crossing is anchored with an enormous cairn (Wpt. 13). Across the wash, a matching cairn beckons hikers to reconnect with the Lovell Canyon Trail (Wpt. 06).

In addition to the cairn, the junction is marked with a 4x4 post holding a paper sign. This sign indicates that the Schaefer Spring Trail turns north (back up the trail), but it seems that the sign should indicate that this is the other end of the Schaefer Spring "Loop" Trail.

From the junction, the route follows the Lovell Canyon Trail back to the trailhead (Wpt. 01).