Two Great Hikes for Members of Hiking Las Vegas

Recently I added one new hike and updated another hike for members of Hiking Las Vegas.com. The new hike I added was: Fletcher Peak via the North Loop Trail. I had completely overlooked that this route was missing from my website.

Very Scenic

The North Loop trail is very scenic in itself. A little over a mile in you come to a flat plateau where numerous weathered bristlecones stand. This is a great place to camp and take photos of evening and morning light on the bristlecones.

Once you turn off the the North Loop trail onto the path that leads to Fletcher Peak, the views are even better. Besides the weathered bristlesones, there are great views of the entire Cockscomb Ridge and Charleston Peak. You really should bring a camera on this hike.

Here's a video showing the turnoff for Fletcher Peak.  

Missing Register

The register is gone from Fletcher Peak. In fact two other parties did the hike on the same day as I did and emailed me they could not find the register.
If you do this hike and there's a register, please let me know.
Stats for the Fletcher Peak hike:

Distance: 7.25 miles — up and back

Elevation gain: 2,214 feet

Highest elevation: 10,319 feet

Time: 3 to 4 hours — up and back

Difficulty: 3

Class: 1

Bonanza Peak

This is a remote peak near Cold Creek, which is about 55 miles from Las Vegas. It's a trail hike except for the last .25 mile. Did you know there's only one peak in Mt. Charleston that has an official trail to the summit?( I will give the answer at the bottom of this post.)
We just did the hike on Saturday, the 13th of August. The wild flowers at the saddle were amazing.

Wild Horses

I have done this hike at least eight times and have always seen wild horses. This time we saw them just off the road. I did not count, but I must have seen 20 horses. It's pretty amazing to think in 2011 there are still wild horses in Nevada.

Stats for the Bonanza Peak hike:

Distance: 10 miles – up and back
Elevation gain: 2,300 feet
Elevation of Peak: 10,400 feet
Time: 5 to 6 hours – up and back
Difficulty: 3
Class: 1

Want to do these hikes and find the way to the summit? Stop searching the internet and become a member of Hiking Las Vegas where you can instantly download the best hiking guides/maps on the internet


Charleston Peak is the only peak the has an official trail to the summit.

Bonanza Peak Trip Report

On Sunday (7-26), I led hikers to Bonanza Peak in Mt. Charleston. This is a remote peak in Mt. Charleston. We met at 7 am and arrived at the trailhead by 8 am. Although a passenger car can make it to the trailhead, a high clearance vehicle is recommended. The last two miles is a good gravel road.

The hike to the 10,400 foot peak is almost all trail with the last few hundred yards being an easy class 1, cross country, trek. The Bonanza Trail actually goes all the way over to Lee Canyon ending near the ski area. We made good time to the saddle which is a decision point. To the south stands Bonanza Peak, to the north Willow Peak. In my opinion Willow Peak is the least desirable peak in Charleston.

From the saddle it's about one mile to the peak. Since the official trail does not go to the peak, it's always a challenge to know when to leave the trail. Here's the trick: Continue on the trail ascending several sets of switchbacks. The trail levels and you pass a huge cairn. You can depart here, but there's a better jumping off spot. Continue on the trail until you see a drainage marked with several cairns. Simply follow the cairns a little over 100 yards to the summit.

The summit actually offers some nice and very different views of Mack's and Charleston Peaks. As we started to leave the peak, it started to rain and hail. Everyone put on their rain jackets and started down the trail.
Tip: Make sure to veer way to the right as you descend from the peak. If you don't, you will hit the trail too low and actually have to ascend a series of switchbacks before the trail levels out.

The rain stopped after 30 minutes and the sun came out. We took off our rain jackets and continued on the trail. About 20 minutes from the trailhead the rain started again, but this time it was much harder. This is just another reminder to bring a rain jacket on all Charleston hikes for the rest of the season.

On the drive out there were two wild horses in the road. Action Boy stopped and one of the horses put it's entire head in the car! Action Boy grabbed an apple and fed the horse. Now that was an amazing sight.

Notes: There's an ammo box at the summit. The sign-in book has lots of room for new entries.