Spring Mountains NRA Visitor Center & Camping at Hilltop Campground
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A part of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area covers over 316,000 acres ranging from low meadows to 11,918-foot Mount Charleston. We’ve been exploring the area for the past month or so… for us, a newly discovered jewel of the Las Vegas area. Each time we visit, we discover more things to see and do. There are four campgrounds available, so this time we thought we’d camp for a couple of days, beat the city heat and try a new trail or two.
On the way up Kyle Canyon Road, we took the opportunity to stop at the Spring Mountains Visitor Gateway Center. Developed on a defunct golf course, the 128-acre complex now features picnic areas, two amphitheaters, exhibits, memorials and an extensive trail system.
Administered by U S National Forest Service, the Visitor Center is spacious and welcoming and eco-friendly, and places emphasis on the unique ecosystems that exist within the national recreation area.
The windows of the center come alive when you hold up a special viewing glass to look through.
Outside, there is a Silent Heroes of the Cold War National Memorial which caught our attention. The highlight of the memorial is a propeller from a US Air Force C-54 transport plane that crashed on Charleston Peak in 1955 killing all 14 people aboard. Embedded in stone, the memorial immortalizes the individuals that worked covertly for the USA during its cold war with the Soviet Union. There’s mystery associated with the crash and how the government covered it up.
The Seven Stones Plaza is an interesting tribute to the Native American Nuvuwi tribes. Stones are brought from the seven tribes and are placed in locations representative of their geographical origin. Mount Charleston is considered the ‘creation place’ for these tribes, and as such, the land and the mountain are sacred to them. For millennia, this was also a place where different Paiute families and tribes would gather for social, trade, and religious ceremonies.
It was hot at the Visitor Center, and we needed a bit more altitude to cool off. We figured we’d explore the trails there on another day. After checking out the exhibits, inside and out, we headed to the Hilltop Campground located on the NV-158, a serpentine, scenic connector road between Kyle Canyon Road and Lee Canyon Road. It was midweek and there were several first-come/first-serve (FC/FS) campsites available. The system at this campground is that even-numbered sites are FC/FS and odd-numbered sites are reservable. If odd-numbered campsites do not have a reserved sign on them, they can be occupied one night at a time.
It wasn’t hard to find a great campsite. Our major campsite criteria: away from big rigs that will run their generators and disturb our peace and tranquility (Yup, we’re grouchy, old codgers. Grrrr!); close enough to the toilets without being downwind of them; and, a level site.
The campsite was beautiful.
The temperature had dropped to the comfortable mid-70s. We sat for a bit, taking in our surroundings. The sky was blue; the weather was fair and not much wind. The site was surrounded by ponderosa pine, mountain mahogany, juniper and white fir. Pale pink Palmer’s penstemmon and vibrant orange desert paintbrush provided a dash of color. The air smelled fresh and clean. The view over the canyons below and the peaks in the distance was awesome.
ponderosa pine, mountain mahogany, juniper and white fir surrounded the campsite. The view was awesome.
A dragonfly flitted by, then two, then six, then… a whole horde of common whitetail dragonflies darting and weaving before our eyes… a little Mother Nature magic. Lovely!
We took a walk around the hilly campground to get a feel for the place. The uphill slogs had us breathing harder than usual. The vault toilet (VT) was nearby and well-stocked (i.e. they had toilet paper), but oh my, it was well beyond its ‘best-by’ date… between the knock-you-out odor and the swarm of flies that greeted you at the door, we didn’t deem it usable. We relied on Blanche’s port-a-potty for all such activities. We made a note to buy Raid flying insect spray for our next visit.
Another issue was the state of the trash bins… overloaded with trash tumbling out and definitely in need of an empty. The trash trucks came late the next day, not a moment too soon. We spent a few minutes picking up trash and refuse that had fallen out of the dumpster on its way to the truck. We’ve gotten used to carrying hand sanitizer with us for toilet visits and trash pick-up. There was no camp host in residence which might have accounted for the state of the campground. Still, with all my complaints, this is a lovely place to be, opposed to the sweltering heat in the Las Vegas Valley and staying inside with the A/C blasting.
We’d brought homemade potato salad and grilled chicken with us and after slurping down a cold beer, we had an early dinner, read for awhile, played a couple of games of Yahtzee and headed into Blanche as the temperature fell and dark descended.
It took a while to get going the next morning. No schedule, no house chores or projects to complete, no 0530 morning walks to avoid the heat. It was heaven just being outside sipping our coffee, feeling a warm breeze on our faces, catching a whiff of pine or someone’s morning campfire. We had plans for walking one of the many trails that crisscrossed the recreation area, but with the ambition of slugs, we barely managed a few laps around the campground during the day before calling it good.
The day was mostly spent reading, chatting, making plans, watching ground squirrels, and observing some of the local birds… a woodpecker, a scrubjay, and several hummingbirds. Pretty low key. Leftovers for dinner.
After researching nearby trails, we gathered up some ambition and settled on the Lower Bristlecone Trail for our walk the next morning. This 6-mile out and back trail is a gentle, but continuous uphill grade all the way. It’s relatively easy on a wide gravel and crushed rock road leading to a well-trodden trail after a couple of miles with a total elevation gain of 820’. The day was overcast and cooler, the hike very pleasant and the surroundings were beautiful.
Aspen leaves fluttered in the breeze. Ponderosa pine and white fir towered above us. This area is known for its wildflowers, and though it was getting late in the season, we saw lots. I always ponder how such pretty flowers manage to grow out of arid soil and rock.
We returned to camp and though we’d brought lots of food, we still had plenty of chicken and potato salad left, so dinner was easy once again. Just as well since the temperature fell quickly and the wind picked up significantly making cooking on a campfire less appealing.
The next morning we broke camp and walked enough in the campground and overlooks to claim some reasonable mileage before heading back home to heat. We’re enjoying these mini 2 and 3-day staycations… close enough to home in reality, yet miles away in our minds.