Overview

This interesting, 4.25-mile off-trail route runs up long, gentle sandy washes and steep, rugged ridges to the summit of McCullough Mountain in the South McCullough Wilderness Area.

From the trailhead, this route runs north over a low ridge to a sandy wash that is followed high into the mountains. Ridgelines then lead to a saddle on the crest of the range. From the saddle, the route drops into a wash on the west side of the crest that is followed upstream as it curves around beneath the summit. Sidehills lead to the summit.

Link to map or elevation profile.

From a distance, the McCullough Mountains look old, soft, and rounded, but these ancient metamorphic mountains harbor very complex terrain (they have been faulting and weathering for 1.7 billion years!), so this is not simply hiking up washes and ridges to a high point; it is, however, a good adventure in orienteering. The route starts at the upper edge of the Mojave Desert Scrub (Upper Sonoran Life Zone) and climbs into a Pinyon-Juniper Woodland (Upper Sonoran Life Zone) with some stately old California Junipers near the summit. On the ridges, the trees, mats of pricklypear cactus, and banana yucca make for considerable winding around and slow, careful going. Despite the relatively low summit (7,026 ft), the peak towers over the surrounding landscape and the views from the ridges and summit are spectacular.

Watch Out

Other than the standard warnings about hiking in the desert, ... this is a fairly safe hike. The ridges and sidehills are steep with loose rocks, but there are no cliffs or other unusual obstacles. The rocky outcrops look like good rattlesnake country, but unfortunately I saw none. The major concern on this hike is the loose footing among dense yucca and pricklypear cactus.

While hiking, please respect the land and the other people out there, and try to Leave No Trace of your passage. This hike goes into the South McCullough Wilderness Area, so pay particular attention to respecting the land. This hike runs off-trail where nobody will find you, so be sure to bring the 10 Essentials. Cell phones work from ridges high on the east side of the crest, but I could not call out from the summit or ridges where I could see down the west side of the mountains.

Getting to the Trailhead

This hike is located up in the McCullough Range, about 1.5 hours southeast of Las Vegas between Searchlight and Primm. Under the best of conditions, the access road does not require 4WD, but there is a steep hillside and two long, sandy washes. I drove it in 2WD, but with the comfort of knowing that I could shift into 4WD at any time.

From town, drive south on Highway 95 to Searchlight (Site 1). In downtown Searchlight, turn right onto Nipton Road (Highway 164) and drive west for 8.1 miles to a dirt road marked only by a stop sign on the north (right) side of the road (Site 2). A broken windmill stands about 200 yards up the dirt road. The turnoff is 1.2 miles west of Walking Box Ranch Road, which has a road sign. Turn right onto the dirt road and drive north for 4.4 miles to a fork in the road (Site 3). Curve to the left and drive west for 1.1 miles to an intersection with a powerline road (Site 4). Up to this point, the road has been fairly smooth and gentle.

Alternatively, from town, drive south on Interstate-15, past Primm, to Nipton Road (Site 5). Exit the Interstate and turn left onto Nipton Road. Drive east to the Nevada State Line, then continue east for another 5.3 miles to a dirt road with a stop sign on the north side of the highway (Site 6). Turn left onto the powerline road and drive north for 5.1 miles to a cross road (Site 4).

Either cross the powerline road (coming from Searchlight) or turn left (coming from Primm) at the intersection and drive west up the rocky ridge for 1.4 miles to a fork in the road (Site 7). Turn right and drive north and down off the ridge; this part is a bit steep and rocky (possibly a concern for 2WD vehicles). Follow this road as it curves to the east and runs down a wash, seemingly going in the wrong direction. Pass an obvious left turn that just goes to a campsite in the wash. The road continues down the sandy wash, eventually bends to the left, and starts up another sandy wash heading in the proper direction: west. There are no more intersections, and about 0.1 miles past an old corral, the road ends at Pipe Spring (Site 8).

Pipe Spring is an acceptable trailhead, but it is easier to drive back down the road for 0.4 miles to a large outcrop of white quartzite boulders on the north side of the wash. Park by the quartzite outcrop; this is the trailhead (Site 9).

The Hike

From the trailhead in the wash (Table 2, Waypoint 3), the route runs north for about 10 minutes (0.23 miles) over the low ridge and down into the next sandy wash. The ridge is at the transition between the Mojave Desert Scrub and Pinyon-Juniper Woodland habitat types (Upper Sonoran Life Zones). The ridge is thick with blackbrush, buckhorn cholla cactus, pricklypear cactus, Banana Yucca, Joshua Trees, Singleleaf Pinyon Pine, and Utah Juniper, a mix of lower- and higher-elevation species.

After busting through the brush, the route turns west and runs up the broad, open wash. The wash is lined with trees and many species of shrubs, including bitterbrush and apache plume that are typical of washes. Watch for Western Scrub-jays (similar to Blue Jays), Black-tailed Jackrabbits, and Desert Cottontail.

The walking in the firm sand and gravel is easy. The route bends to the north at the first major fork (Wpt. 8), and again stays to the right at what seems like a minor fork (Wpt. 9). After a short narrow section, the wash widens again. somewhere in there, the juniper species changes from Utah Juniper (the common species in southern Nevada) to California Juniper (the common species in southern California).

High in the wash, it becomes advantageous to climb onto the ridge to the north. Leaving the sandy wash at a side gully immediately above a juniper lying across the wash (forcing you to climb across a rocky outcrop on the side of the wash to get around it) is a reasonable solution (Wpt. 10). This route up this steep section passes beneath a rocky outcrop and climbs onto the ridge above (Wpt. 12).

From the ridgeline (Wpt. 12), the route runs west and up the ridge, weaving among Banana Yucca, pricklypear cactus, other shrubs, and Singleleaf Pinyon Pine and California Juniper trees. When the grade steepens below a high knob (Wpt. 13), the route cuts northwest across the side of the knob to gain the crest of the McCullough Range. The crest provides a great view down the canyon to the west with Interstate-15 and Clark Mountain in the background.

On the crest, the route runs north and descends to a saddle (Wpt. 27). At the saddle, the route drops off the west side of the ridge and descends a short distance to the sandy wash below (Wpt. 15). In the wash, the route turns north and runs up the canyon. The fairly narrow canyon jogs to the west and then northwest again, and then opens into a fairly wide canyon with relatively low ridges on all sides. In open area, there are some stately old multi-trunked California Juniper trees with thick trunks, shaggy bark, and trunks to about 20 feet high.

Because the ridges are rounded, it is hard to tell from the wash which peak is the summit. The simplest route follows the wash until it ends at a saddle, then climbs the sidehill to the north to the summit (Wpt. 18).

From the summit, return to the trailhead by retracing this route (8.5 miles round trip), or consider following the McCullough Mountain Ridges Route to make a figure-8-loop back to Pipe Spring (9.6 miles round trip).