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Bitter Springs, Nevada
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| Explore Your World! | Short Cuts | ||||
---Bitter Springs ------------------------------
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| sandstone formations along the trail |
Desert mountains, an historic wagon road, a sometimes-wet spring, wild rock formations and the opportunity to watch Bighorn sheep and a herd of wild horses - this trail has all this and more. It's a 28 mile journey through the Muddy Mountains of Nevada that is an easy day trip you can make when you're finally tired of the casinos and night life of Las Vegas.
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| BLM Sign at the start of the trail into the Muddy mountains |
The Bitter Springs trail is a BLM Back Country By-way, and information about the trail is readily available at the BLM office in Las Vegas. It is also marked on most maps. Located about 40 miles east of Las Vegas, south of interstate highway 15 and west of Valley of Fire State Park, it is an easy wheel for the most part, but some problems could be encountered in the sandy stretches of Echo Wash. To get there, proceed east on the Interstate to the Valley of Fire exit (exit 75), turn south (right), go past the Moapa Indian Reservation store (fireworks and cheap cigarettes). About three miles later, the paved road bends left but the trail proceeds straight to the mountains. A BLM sign lets you know you're on the Bitter Springs Back-Country Byway. About a mile past the sign you'll cross a desert trail - the old Spanish Trail, later known as the Mormon Road. This trail was first used in the late 1700's by travelers between the New Mexico and California Spanish missions.
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| climbing up to the pass |
The first half of the trail is a graded, improved road that ends at an open rock quarry near the summit of the pass, about eight miles from pavement. This segment of the trail is a 2-wheel drive excursion that wanders through the Muddy Mountains and past magnificent yellow and red sandstone formations, similar to the magnificent rocks in nearby Valley of Fire. At the quarry (which may be in operation; if so be sure that the skip-loader operator sees you before driving through) the road bends to the right and becomes an unimproved trail. Here you may need to drop into 4 wheel drive, and soon, use your low-range gears to reduce your braking as you drop down from the pass into Hidden Valley.
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| BLM by-way signs mark the way |
Several trails take off to mines on the right, but following the Back-Country Byway signs, you'll soon drop into a wash. The sand can be a problem, and you'll have about ten miles of it, first in Hidden Valley and later in Echo Wash. So it's a good idea to air down your tires to about 1/3 of their normal pressure.
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| sandstone formations are one of the rewards of this trail |
The BLM signs seem to disappear for a while, so read and follow your maps - but as long as you're heading east and south you'll eventually come to North Shore Road. On this road you can either head north to Valley of Fire ($5 admission; highly recommended, tremendous scenery) or west to Henderson and Las Vegas.
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| prickly pear blooms |
It took my son and I about 2 and a half hours to complete this trail, but it was mid-April and the wildflowers and cacti were in bloom - which meant lots of Kodak moments. It's a beautiful area, but very hot in summer and warm the rest of the year - so come prepared.
Text and photos by Trails Editor Len Wilcox
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