| McCullough via Pine Spring Route |
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| McCullough via Pine Spring   | 
| Page Type: Route Location: Nevada, United States, North America Lat/Lon: 35.60290°N / 115.18°W Route Type: Hiking Season: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter Time Required: Most of a day
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| Page By: redsplashman23 Created/Edited: Apr 19, 2007 / Apr 20, 2007 Object ID: 286434 Hits: 570 Loading... Page Score: 87.69% - 6 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
OverviewThis route is a nice long is totally off trail. It runs up long and gentle sandy washes and steep rugged ridges to McCullough Mountain.
From the trailhead, this route runs north over some low ridges into a sandy wash. This wash then heads NW through a sandy wash. You then gain a ridge line and contour around where you can take the ridgeline all the way to the summit. Alternatively, one could take a wash and angle your way to the summit, cutting off about 0.63 miles on the trip to the summit. The total distance for this trip if you do the entire loop is about 8.83 miles with 2,970 feet or so of net elevation gain.
Getting There Drive South from Las Vegas on Highway 95 to Searchlight.
Turn right (West) onto HWY 164 (Nipton Road) and drive west for 8.1
miles to a stop sign at a dirt road (The turnoff is 1.2 miles west of
Walking Box Ranch Road, which has a road sign).
Turn right onto this dirt road and drive north for 4.4 miles to a
fork in the road.
Take the left fork. Drive another 1.1 miles to an intersection with a
power line road.
Cross the power line road and go straight west for 1.4 miles to a
fork in the road.
Turn right and drive north and down off the ridge; this part is a bit
steep and rocky (a high clearance vehicle with 4WD is recommended for
this).
Follow this road as it curves running down a wash. 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 west.
About 0.1 miles past an old corral, the road ends at Pine Spring This
is the trailhead.
Route DescriptionNOTE
You can cut about 0.63 miles off the trip to the summit by going down into the wash and taking the wash to the summit instead of the ridge. To go down into the wash, it will be to your left at about WPT 17 on this route. From here hike NW to the summit.
Refer to the Waypoints section below and the descriptions for details.
Waypoints | Waypoint | Latitude | Longitude | Elevation (feet) | Distance from Trailhead (miles) |
WPT 1 | 35° 34’ 23.7 N | 115° 9’ 20.7 W | 5,376’ | 0.00 | | WPT 2 | 35° 34’ 25.3 N | 115° 9’ 20.7 W | 5,540' | 0.12 |
WPT 3 | 35° 34’ 26.4 N | 115° 9’ 29.8 W | 5,482' | 0.14 | | WPT 4 | 35° 34’ 31.7 N | 115° 9’ 35.4 W | 5,500' | 0.33 | | WPT 5 |
35° 34’ 34.6 N | 115° 9’ 36 W | 5'538' | 0.39 | | WPT 6 | 35° 34’ 46.7 N | 115° 9’ 55.8 W | 5,674’ | 0.85 |
WPT 7 | 35°34'46.1"N | 115°10'05.0"W | 5,764’ | 1.06 | | WPT 8 | 35° 34’ 48.1 N | 115° 10’ 7.6 W | 5,830' | 1.11 |
WPT 9 | 35° 34’ 53.5 N | 115° 10’ 5.7 W | 6,077' | 1.24 | | WPT 10 | 35° 34’ 57.5 N | 115° 10’ 13.7 W | 6,218’ | 1.39 |
WPT 11 | 35° 35’ 0.6 N | 115° 10’ 19.3 W | 6,260' | 1.51 | | WPT 12 | 35° 35’ 6.0 N | 115° 10’ 28.5 W | 6,399’ | 1.74 |
WPT 13 | 35° 35’ 11.1 N | 115° 10’ 23.0 W | 6,472’ | 1.91 | | WPT 14 | 35° 35’ 20.3 N | 115° 10’ 10.2 W | 6,291’ | 2.22 |
| WPT 15 | 35° 35’ 25.3 N | 115° 10’ 0.3 W | 6,414’ | 2.44 | | WPT 16 | 35° 35’ 26.1 N | 115° 9’ 56.3 W | 6,393’ |
2.52 | | WPT 17 | 35° 35’ 31.4 N | 115° 9’ 56.2 W | 6,250’ | 2.63 | | WPT 18 | 35° 35’ 42.4 N | 115° 9’ 55.2 W |
6,314’ | 2.88 | | WPT 19 | 35° 36’ 16.7 N | 115° 10’ 16.6 W | 6,870’ | 4.03 | | WPT 20 | 35° 36’ 15.1 N | 115° 10’ 37 W |
6’775' | 4.41 | | WPT 21 | Summit | Summit | 7,026’ | 4.63 |
To return taking the wash follow these Waypoints
| Waypoint | Latitude | Longitude | Elevation (feet) | Distance from Summimt (miles) | Total Trip Distance (miles) | | WPT 22 | 35° 36’10.5 N | 115° 10' 38.3 W | 6,723’ | 0.20 | 4.83 | | WPT 23 | 35° 36’ 36.3 N | 115° 9’58.3 W | 6,113' | 1.37 | 6.07 | | WPT 24 | 35° 36’ 33.6 N | 115° 9’56.4 W | 6,230’ | 1.44 | 6.14 |
There is a class 3 section in the wash. 0.86 miles from summit. (5.49 miles total), between WPTs 22 and 23.
To return from here, follow WPTS 17 and down and return back.
Descriptions of Waypoints| Waypoint | Description | | 1 | Hike North up the Ridge past the Water Tank
| | 2 | On the ridge and go down into a Valley | | 3 | Cross a wash, continue North | | 4 |
Cross a big wash, go North over a small ridge. Over this ridge cross into another wash, turn left and head NW | | 5 | In wash heading NW
| | 6 | Rocky Outcrops in wash where it narrows | | 7 | Turn Right off main wash to a side wash |
| 8 | Turn right out of wash and up the little ridge | | 9 | On the ridge, continue NW | | 10 |
The next sub peak is to your North On the ridge. Contour on the ridge ahead around to the right. | | 11 | Turn left on ridge and follow around to avoid going down ridge into the wash.
Contour around the ridge to WPT 12. | | 12 | Hike North up the Ridge past the Water Tank. | | 13 | Almost due south of the summit. Continue
East to WPT 13. | | 14 | Rocks at a saddle, continue east over this. | | 15 | Rocky Outcrop. |
16 | Start going North down ridge | | 17 | Rocky Outcrop, go around the right side. Start going down the ridge to a saddle
area and go up a little ways. You’ll be below a rocky outcrop, hike up to this outcrop. | | 18 | Continue going North along the ridge. It eventually contours and turns West
towards the summit. | | 19 | On the ridge heading west. McCullough Mountain comes into view here. | | 20 |
Saddle just below the summit. | | 21 | Summit |
To return taking the wash follow these Waypoints
| Waypoint | Description | | 22 | Start entering the wash. | | 23 | Turn left up the ridge and exit the wash.
| | 24 | Back on the ridge, head south along ridge. |
To return from here, follow WPTS 17 and down and return backEssential GearThe big concern on this hike is the loose footing among the dense yucca and pricklypear cactus. Make sure you have good hiking boots with thick soles. Long pants to avoid bush wacking on your legs would be a great idea too.
 External Links Route from Pine Spring Jim Boone's page on this route Images
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Southern Nevada
