Peak 6075 - Road to Nowhere Mountain

Mountain/Rock

Peak 6075 - Road to Nowhere Mountain

Page Type: Mountain/Rock

Location: Nevada, United States, North America

Lat/Lon: 39.46688°N / 119.69951°W

County: Washoe

Activities: Hiking

Season: Winter

Elevation: 6075 ft / 1852 m

Page By: hgrapid

Created/Edited: Mar 5, 2007 / Nov 6, 2011

Object ID: 275252

Hits: 2685

Page Score: 88.36% - 17 Votes

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Table of Contents

Overview

Peak 6075 in winter from below the summit ridge

The Road to Nowhere Mountain, is a mountain in Washoe County, just east of Reno. Visible daily from the Reno skyline, it sits due south of the colorful orange hills and has a prominence of about 850'.

The mountain is known for a road that curves around it, seemingly coming out of nowhere. The road actually can be accessed via a very strong 4WD, albeit from private land that is off limits, or from the east side, via a long drive on dirt roads, through to Canyon Road (not recommended given the very easy access from Reno city limits). The road on the mountain dead ends at random spots, including one spot heading north, and one spot heading west.

The name "Road to Nowhere" is a local one, and there is no official USGS name.

There are two primary routes to the summit. The quickest route to the summit requires about 2 miles and 1500' of elevation gain and is pretty straightforward. The second route is about 2 1/4 miles, but is less direct. It is short and steep in the beginning, but then requires a traverse of the colorful hills and solid route-finding skills as you climb up and over the ridge connecting to the summit plateau of Road to Nowhere Mountain.

It is recommended that you hike here in late fall or winter. Insects, animals, and rattlesnakes are prevalent on the slopes most of the year and the mud is unbearable at certain times of the year. The views from the summit are excellent, with the colorful hills to the north, the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the west and southwest, the Pah Rah Range to the northeast, the rest of the Virginia Range to the southeast, Peavine Peak to the northwest, and the city of Reno 1600' below.

Getting There

Road to Nowhere Mountain is located in the Western edge of the Virginia Range, that rises over Reno in the Eastern skyline. There are two trailheads; one on the northwest side, and one on the southwest side. Getting to either is easy and quick from anywhere in Reno.

The Virginia Range, including Peak 6075 on the right

Trailhead #1
From McCarren Blvd, turn left on Alexander Lake Road, which is just in front of Rattlesnake Mountain. Take Alexander Lake Road as it winds around hilly terrain. It ends at a dirt road. Take a left up the hill and park anywhere to start the hike.

Trailhead #2
From McCarren Blvd, turn left on Pembroke Lane, heading towards the mountain. Take Pembroke for 1.8 miles until you see Parkway Drive. Take a right on Parkway Drive which enters Hidden Valley County Park in less than half a mile. You can park in the main parking lot (paved), or go left and find a parking spot up closer to the start of the trail. From here, take either of the two routes described below.

Route finding

Route from Trailhead #1
From the trailhead, take the hill to the left, or follow the “road to nowhere” to the right and head up to the first ridge. There is a slight use trail that winds up and around an obvious false summit, which tops out at 5,295 feet. At the top of this false summit, you reach a ridge below the true summit. From the ridge, the true summit rises steeply (over 700'). A 4WD road sits below this steep rise. You take the road to the right and find a way up. The steeper grades are all walkable, but there is a gully less than 1/4 mile down the road from the steepest, that is pretty standard. The gully heads up about 375 feet to the final summit ridge. Once you reached the final ridge, it is an easy 1/2 mile walk up to the summit, with about 290' of gain left.

You can descend the same way you came, or you can possibly take the side 4WD road that leads down to a canyon, by heading down the south ridge. You can take the canyon back down to the trailhead. Depending on which way you take, the shortest is about 4 miles round trip, and the longest about 4.75 miles round trip with an elevation gain of about 1500 feet either way.

Side view of Route #1. The red line shows the route

Route from Trailhead #2
This route starts by heading up one of the two hills described below.

Hill 1
Head up the the hill at it steeply heads up into the hills.

Hill/road up to the Colored hills.

Once you reach near the top of the hill you will see an obvious trail. The trail turns into a jeep road. Follow this south towards Peak 6075. You will follow the jeep road around for less than half a mile until you see a wide side trail heading right to the summit ridge. You take this trail up and over a couple hills until you descend a little bit and the trail ends. From here you are 20 minutes from the summit. You go up and down three hills as you make your way up to the summit. Once you get up to the third hill, you will see the summit ahead. The true summit is obvious from this point. The whole hike round trip is about 4 1/2 miles. The elevation gain is about 2,000 feet due to the ups and downs on the summit ridge.

Hill 2
You can either head to the left of this hill up a gully, or you can head straight up the hill. In both cases, the trail only goes for about half a mile until you have to find your own way up, which will be very steep no matter the route you choose. Once you reach near the top of the hill you will see an obvious trail. The trail turns into a jeep road. You take the jeep road for a few hundred yards until you see a wide side trail heading right to the summit ridge. From here, take the same route as described for Hill 1.

Here is a photo of the full route for Hill#2:

Click here to see the red line showing the route

Red Tape

For Route #1 - There is private land in certain areas near the parking area. The landowners seem to change hands periodically, and access changes slightly each time I go there. The recommendation is to heed all signs, and make sure to walk around fences with hard metal wire. Some of the fences in the area appear to keep wild horses in their habitat, although it doesn't work too well, since they are everywhere anywhere. Overall, access isn't a problem, and the last time I visited, there were no signs saying "keep out" or "no trespassing".

For Route #2 - Hidden Valley County Park closes at 5pm during the winter.

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