Overview

The Kunav Huveep Trail is a short (2/3rds of a mile) partial-loop trail behind the Spring Mountains (Mount Charleston) Visitor Center. The trail descends gradually into Kyle Canyon Wash, goes out into the bottom of the wash, makes a loop, and comes back out.

Kunav Huveep is an interesting and appropriate name for this trail because Kunav Huveep is the local Paiute name for Kyle Canyon. The area is quite scenic with grand views up and down the canyon, has some nice Cottonwood trees for shade, and even has benches conveniently placed to encourage visitors to stop, sit and smell the roses, and listen to the birds.

At this elevation, there is a nice mix of desert and mountain vegetation along the trail. Descending into the wash, several species of desert shrubs mix with mountain tree species. Most of the shrubs in the canyon bottom are Rubber Rabbitbrush, which provide a spectacular display of yellow flowers in late summer and fall.

Link to map.

Watch Out

Other than the standard warnings about hiking in the desert, ... this is a fairly safe hike without unusual hazards. However, the old-road trail on the hillside is washing away, so hikers need to be careful going around the bad spots. The trail is totally washed away in the wash bottom, but the bypass, although rocky, is easy. This hike should be fine for kids, but it is no longer fully accessible.

While hiking, please respect the land and the other people out there, and try to Leave No Trace of your passage. Also, this hike isn't too long, so just bring what you need of the 10 Essentials.

Getting to the Spring Mountains Visitor Center

The Visitor Center is located in Kyle Canyon up in the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area, about 45 minutes northwest of Las Vegas.

From downtown, drive north on Highway 95 for 17.0 miles towards Reno. Just beyond the edge of urban Las Vegas, turn left onto Highway 157 (Kyle Canyon Road) towards Kyle Canyon.

Drive west on Kyle Canyon Road and head up the hill for 16.3 miles to a "round-about." Drive 3/4ths of the way around the loop and exit right under the ranch gate, which leads into the large visitor center parking lot. Continue towards the taller building ahead in the distance and find a convenient place to park.

From the parking lot, walk to the Visitor Center building, but turn left under the arch just before the front door. Walk down through the amphitheater and out the bottom. The trailhead sign is just ahead.

The Hike

From the trailhead on the south side of the amphitheater (Table 1, Waypoint 01), the trail departs the cement walkway at a trail marker post and heads south on a red-gravel trail towards the edge of the deep canyon ahead, which is Kyle Canyon. A bench (Wpt. 02) at the edge of Kyle Canyon provides a nice place to stop, look out over the area, and survey the route ahead.

From the bench (Wpt. 02), the trail bends right and begins to descend westward into the canyon. While the immediate surroundings are post-industrial, the views into the canyon and off to the mountains are grand.

A bit farther down the trail, hikers pass through a nice mix of desert and mountain plant species. From the desert are species such as Banana Yucca and Tulip Pricklypear, and from the mountains come Gambel Oak, Rubber Rabbitbrush, and Singleleaf Pinyon Pine. In the wash below, hikers can see a nice stand of Fremont Cottonwood Trees where deep roots reach sub-surface water.

As the trail descends off the hillside, the Kunav Huveep Trail arrives at a trail junction (Wpt. 03) with a trail marker post. Also at this point, the red-gravel trail becomes paved. Here, this trail, along with the Pack Rat Trail and the Escarpment Trail, takes a hard left to stay on the red-gravel trail. The trail runs east across Rubber Rabbitbrush-covered hillside above the wash bottom.

The trail bends right and approaches the wash. The trail sometimes is completely washed out here, but hikers can carefully cross the wash to the other side. While washouts are a minor inconvenience for most hikers, this can block the remainder of the trail for those who need a fully accessible trail.

Across the wash and back on the red-gravel trail, hikers quickly encounter a T-intersection (Wpt. 05) with a sign and a pet-waste-bag dispenser. This is the beginning of the loop portion of the trail. Hikers can turn left or right, but this description follows the trail to the left. However, photos of hiking in the other direction are included below.

The trail begins by heading northeast, but quickly bends right to the south and arrives at yet another trail junction (Wpt. 06). Here, at a trail marker post, the Pack Rat Trail and Escarpment Trail turn left to head up the hillside, while the Kunav Huveep Trail stays to the right on the flats.

Now heading southwest, the trail quickly arrives at another bench. This bench invites hikers to sit and enjoy views to the north. The mountain in the background is Fletcher Peak, a hardy climb most easily started from the North Loop Trailhead. In the near-ground is a dense thicket of Rubber Rabbitbrush that blooms spectacularly in the fall and attracts a huge variety of flying insect pollinators. Although highways sounds intrude, listen carefully for birds singing in the area: Woodhouse's Scrub Jays, Black-throated Sparrows, and Spotted Towhees are fairly common. Keep an eye out for the small Northern Sagebrush Lizard scurrying off the trail to hide under nearby bushes.

Continuing southwest, hikers quickly encounter another bench, but this one faces south, so although the birds and bushes are the same, the view is different. This time, the view is shorter, and resting hikers have more time to look at details of the various plants on the nearby hillside.

Only a few feet past the bench, the Kunav Huveep Trail reaches yet another trail junction (Wpt. 07). Here, the Acastus Trail branches to the left and heads towards the far side of the canyon, while the Kunav Huveep Trail stays right on the flats.

Now heading northwest, in just a few yards the Kunav Huveep Trail passes another trail that cuts back hard to the left. This short, dead-end trail leads only to a spiritual meeting with the meaning of trails.

Staying right on the Kunav Huveep Trail, the trail parallels the stand of cottonwood trees and soon reaches the T-intersection (Wpt. 05) with the pet-waste-bag dispenser. This ends the loop portion of the Kunav Huveep Trail, and hikers now retrace their steps back to the visitor center.

The trail crosses the wash, bends left to reconnect with the paved trail, and then follows the red-gravel trail back up the hillside. Heading back up, the views down into the canyon seem more precious as hikers stop more frequently to admire the scenery and linger a bit longer.

Before long, the bench (Wpt. 02) at the top of the hill comes into view, as does the visitor center building and the trailhead (Wpt. 01). The shorter route to the parking lot passes by the visitor center, but the maze of paved trails in this area provides several routes to the parking lot. The building on the right is a classroom, and the picnic area is even farther right.