Fire Benchmark - Muddy Mountains, NV

Overview

Fire Peak makes for a really nice day so long as it is not a summer day. Summer in the Mojave outside Las Vegas is anti-fun I think. It is the high point of the eastern terminus of the Muddy Mountains. You can make what you want of this route as well. There are some fun climbs, a couple with high penalty points, or you can bypass them all and scramble/hike to the peak and its awesome views. You may get lucky and see some of the multitude of desert bighorn sheep of which we only saw the evidence of in droppings and beds. Spring when the Mojave is in bloom and temps are mild is a fantastic time for this.

Fire Peak lies within Lake Mead NRA so you will need to pay the access fee, and overlooks Valley of Fire and the Overton Arm/Virgin River of Lake Mead. Any vehicle can make this east side TH on paved road.

Getting There

From any entrance station to Lake Mead NRA make your way towards Echo Bay which is along the Northshore Road. Just north of the intersection of the Northshore Road and the Echo Bay Road is a large gravel pullout one can park at, or you could park where the wash that will be the route crosses the road - this is the wash. However you do it, that is (one of) the wash(es) to follow up to Fire Peak.

route

From where the wash meets the road simply follow the wash up. There are some neat narrows and 2 short up climbs and 1 big one in the lower canyon. Nothing hard, but the big uc has high penalty points at the top where the hardest move is to finish the ~60-70' climb. If you want to bypass any of these simply find a way out of the canyon to bypass them, which is not hard, even if you have to backtrack some. We went straight down the middle but it is not hard to find a way around. Then it opens for a bit before narrowing up some again and 3 more climbs. The final uc is ~100' and we bypassed it since we were sans rope. Maybe some could free solo, but it looked tough and high penalty points. I would never climb that one w/out the proper gear. Bypassing it either side is not hard. Then again simply follow the wash to the head and make your way to the top of the ridge on up canyon right and follow that to the high point of... Fire Peak ! Ooh and aah and sign a register if you want. Then we came down off Fire Peak to the east side and into a wash which we followed until intersecting the same wash we came up. and back to the TH. Or be creative and wander your own path up or down Fire Peak. The landscape looks foreboding, but there is always a way.

Camping

There is plenty of primitive camping as well developed campgrounds throughout Lake Mead NRA. Or you could stay on The Strip and see the show that is Las Vegas Blvd.

External Links

TH - this is the wash

Fire Peak - Fire Peak

Lake Mead NRA - Lake Mead NRA

pics - pics of our hike

Red Tape

All regulations that apply for Lake Mead NRA will apply.

Lake Mead NRA - Lake Mead NRA

Images

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