Overview

This tough hike is one of those quintessential Las Vegas routes. A playground for the rich and famous, Las Vegas attracts many celebrities; some never make it home. In 1942, a plane carrying Carole Lombard (famous movie star and wife of Clark Gable) crashed high on the east face of Mt. Potosi. The site is now a footnote in history, visited occasionally by plane crash buffs, Carole Lombard fans, and tough Las Vegas hikers.

The crash site has been picked over for decades, but much material remains, including small bits of human remains. Please respect the site and the memory of those who died here.

Link to wide area map, area map, hiking map, aerial photo, or elevation profile.

The road to the communication towers atop Mt. Potosi is closed to the public, so the route starts low in Cottonwood Valley on the east side of Mt. Potosi. The Cottonwood Valley Road, graded in the old days, now requires a high-clearance vehicle, and driving south over Cottonwood Pass is nearly 4WD. The 3.6-mile access road, which requires a 4WD vehicle or a good set of hiking boots, leads west from Cottonwood Valley Road up a canyon to the base of the steep east face of Mt. Potosi. During the winter of 2010-2011, the access roads deteriorated considerably.

There are two reasonable trailheads. From either trailhead, the routes converge and run up steep hillsides and scramble among limestone cliffs to the crash site. Various routes are possible, but the easiest (2nd class) routes are described here.

The lower slopes of Mt. Potosi burned in 2005, so much of the singleleaf pinyon pine forest is gone, but vegetation is coming back.

Watch Out

Other than the standard warnings about hiking in the desert, ...this is a tough hike on a steep, rocky mountain, but other than falls and loose rocks, there are no unusual hazards. Mt. Potosi is a mining district, and there are several mines along the access road, but remember: mines are never safe to enter. Some metal shards at the crash site have sharp, rusty edges.

While hiking, please respect the land and the other people out there, and try to Leave No Trace of your passage. This is a tough hike, so be sure to bring the 10 Essentials. Make sure this route of the appropriate difficulty for your skills.

Getting to the Trailhead

This hike is located on the east side of Mt. Potosi, about 2 hours southwest of Las Vegas.

From Las Vegas, drive west on Highway 160 (Pahrump Highway) to Blue Diamond Road (Table 1, Site 0848). From the Blue Diamond turnoff, continue west on Highway 160 for 5.9 miles to Cottonwood Valley Road (Site 0849), a dirt road that runs south (left) through Cottonwood Valley to the town of Goodsprings.

Except for a stop sign, the intersection is unmarked, but there is a slow vehicle turnout on the right side of the highway opposite the turnoff, and a large dirt parking area with an outhouse is visible about 120 yards up the Cottonwood Valley Road.

Turn left onto Cottonwood Valley Road (Site 0849) and drive south for 120 yards to the Cottonwood Trailhead (Site 1073), which is a popular area for mountain bikers, so watch out for bicycles careening down the roads and trails in this area.

From the top of Cottonwood Pass (Site 0850), do not take the "short cut" to the west (Road FR800A) -- even in a 4WD vehicle, you will regret it. Rather, continue south on the main Cottonwood Valley Road for another 1.6 miles to Ninetynine Mine Road (Road FR800B; Site 0488).

Without a 4WD vehicle, park here and start hiking; this road leads to the trailhead. In a 4WD, reset your odometer and lock in the hubs.

Turn right onto Ninetynine Mine Road (Road FR800B; Site 0488) and drive west up the hillside. Drive up the steep, rocky section, then continue northwest on an easier road. Stay on the "main" road (Ninetynine Mine Road) at intersections 0.6, 1.3, 1.5, 2.2, and 2.4 miles from Cottonwood Valley Road.

The first side road (Site 1125; hard left; FR800C), about 0.6 miles out, runs back to Cottonwood Valley Road. Based on current USFS roads data, this road is officially open, but it looks like it is supposed to be closed.

The second side road (Site 1126; hard left; FR800), about 1.3 miles out, also runs back into Cottonwood Valley Road. Based on current USFS roads data, this road is officially open, but it looks like it is supposed to be closed.

The third side road (Site 1127; fork left; FR800D), about 1.5 miles out, runs west to the Dawn Mine (Site 0508), which can be seen in the distance. The Dawn Mine is dangerous is rumored to still hold the body of an unlucky hiker. The road is blocked off about half-way to the mine.

Continuing west, the main road is washed out at about 2.1 miles out, but a bypass road climbs the wash bank and continues up the canyon.

The forth side road (Site 1128; right; FR800A), about 2.2 miles out, runs northwest back into Cottonwood Pass. This is not a short-cut, as the road becomes quite nasty and is better suited for off-road enthusiasts than people trying to get to a trailhead. Just past the forth side road, the bypass-road cuts steeply back down to the main road.

The fifth side road (Site 1129; left), about 2.4 miles out, runs southwest to the Ninetynine Mine. There are two or three short roads to the mine. As usual, the mine is intriguing, but mines are never safe to enter.

Shortly beyond Ninetynine Mine, the road is blocked with boulders (near Site 0869), so this is the new trailhead. Park here; this is the trailhead.

From the trailhead area, hikers can look up, above the limestone cliffs (southwest), and see the gully that holds the aircraft wreckage. To get there, the easier route runs up the canyon to the north (right) of the crash site, crosses southeast over the ridge to the other side, and then runs up the gully to the crash site. It is only about 2 miles from the trailhead to the crash site, but it is a tough 2 miles -- don't let the distance fool you into thinking this is a "short" hike.

The routes starting at the upper and lower trailheads converge. The choice of trailheads is: start at a lower elevation and hike up a wash versus start at a higher elevation and hike across brushy side slopes to the wash. The lower trailhead is easier but longer.

The Hike

From the trailhead (Table 2, Waypoint 01), the route continues up the closed road for about 200 yards to a fork (Wpt. 02). The old road bends sharply to the north (right), and a side road cuts sharply to the southwest (left), almost making a T-intersection.

Several routes to the crash site are possible, and this intersection (Wpt. 02) marks the first choice, as there are routes up both roads. The Hillside Route takes the side road to the left, while the Wash Route continues up the main road (bending north, right). The two routes are almost exactly the same length, but the Wash Route probably a bit easier.

Hillside Route: For the Hillside Route, the route turns left onto the side road (Wpt. 02) and runs up across the hillside and around the corner. Not visible from below, an old A-frame cabin (Wpt. 11) sits just around the corner. At the cabin, the route stays on the old road in the wash below the cabin; the road to the left is a driveway.

Beyond the cabin, the old road gets narrow and steep as it winds among bushes and rocks. The route stays left (south) on the hillside at an intersection (Wpt. 12) where a side road to the right drops steeply into a wash (this might be an acceptable route). About 0.8 miles beyond the cabin, the old road ends (Wpt. 13) in a small cluster of trees.

From the end of the old road (Wpt. 13), the route turns northwest and runs across brushy side slopes for 0.44 miles to a wash in the bottom of the next canyon (Wpt. 05). It is better to stay low, more-or-less on the contour (passing Wpt. 14) all the way into the next canyon, although the natural tendency would be to cross the ridge higher up. Staying low avoids steeper side slopes and thicker brush.

Wash Route: From the trailhead (Wpt. 01), the route takes the right fork (Wpt. 02) and continues northwest up the old main road. The road eventually runs into and follows the gravel wash up the canyon. The old road used to stop where it was blocked by a short pour-over (Wpt. 03), which is 0.47 miles beyond the fork in the road.

The route continues up the wash for another 0.25 miles to a side wash (Wpt. 04) where the route turns left and follows the brushy side-wash to the southwest. The goal is to hike up the canyon that comes down to the left (east) of a bunch of communications towers on the ridgeline.

Hiking up the side wash, the two routes converge near the first large rocky outcrop on the west side of the wash (Wpt. 05).

Both Routes Converge: In the wash, the route runs up the bottom of the canyon to near the limestone cliffs that cap the canyon (Wpt. 06). From the top of the canyon, the route runs up and left (southeast) on steep scree slopes through a gap in the limestone cliffs (Wpt. 07). It probably is better to hike up the canyon nearly as far as possible before cutting left. If you cut up too early, you will be blocked by a series of short cliffs. Staying high, there is a 2nd-class route from the wash all the way to the ridgeline. The faint use-trail was easy to follow on the way down, but it was harder to see on the way up.

The route reaches the crest of the ridge at a low saddle (Wpt. 08) behind a knob. From out on the knob, there are nice views of the valley below and the crash site above.

From the low saddle (Wpt. 08), the route crosses onto the south side of the ridge and continues upward, staying near the crest of the ridge (but avoiding the little crags) until the bottom of the gully is close and you can easily cross the side slope into the gully (Wpt. 09). At about this point, wreckage begins to appear in the gully.

The route continues up the steep gully to the cliffs. The amount of wreckage increases towards the base of the cliffs, which was the impact site (Wpt. 10).

The largest pieces of wreckage include engine parts and landing gear, which mostly are in the gully below the impact site. People already recovered the large aluminum parts (body and wings), so those are gone. However, thousands of small pieces of aluminum, lots of cabling, lots of fuel or hydraulic lines, bits of glass, rubber hoses, and many other metallic parts litter the ground. People have been picking up the more interesting artifacts for decades, so what remains is too big to carry or not particularly interesting.

Family members of the dead mounted a bronze plaque on cliff at the south edge of debris field to memorialize the event, but it was placed illegally and removed; I suspect it might come back one of these days. There are also many interesting shell fossils in the rocks at the crash site.

Small bits of human remains still reside at the crash site. Please respect those who died here.

Return to the trailhead by following your route back down the mountain to your trailhead.

MT. POTOSI, NEVADA
IN MEMORY
 
of the 22 individuals who perished
on this mountain on January 16 1942,
in the crash of Transcontinental and
Western Airlines (TWA) flight 3, including
Carole Lombard, 15 Army Air Corp pilots,
a crew of 3, and three passengers.

Note: This plaque was placed illegally and has since been removed.