Overview

Cottonwood Wash runs through a beautiful, geologically jumbled area for about 1 mile to Cottonwood Spring, then continues another mile to the Confluence of the East and West Forks of Cottonwood Wash. The route runs through volcanic mountains, red sandstone crags, layered limestone mountains, and conglomerate cliffs where blue-gray limestone cobbles are set in a matrix of red sandstone, plus mudstones and siltstones that record ancient lake beds with myriad Cenozoic fossils and ripple marks. The colors in the mudstones and siltstones include grays, tans, reds, yellows, and greens, plus the area has lots of glittery gypsum mixed in. The hike to the spring is a great hike for less adventuresome people and families with young kids, and for hikers so inclined, the easy walking continues up the wash for another mile or so. This hike is entirely within the Pinto Valley Wilderness Area.

Link to map.

Watch Out

Other than the standard warnings about hiking in the desert, ...except for crossing the highway, this route is about as safe as they get. There is a low and easy-to-climb pour-over behind Cottonwood Spring, so be careful when high enough to fall and get hurt. Always be aware of the potential for flashfloods. Silverleaf Sunray and California Bearpaw Poppies, species of concern in Nevada, grow in the red-and-white mud hills. Please help protect these plants by staying off the mud hills.

While hiking, please respect the land and the other people out there, and try to Leave No Trace of your passage. Also, even though this hike is short, be sure to bring what you need of the 10 Essentials. Also, this hike runs into the Pinto Valley Wilderness Area, so pay particular attention to respecting the land.

Getting to the Trailhead

This hike is located along Northshore Road in Lake Mead National Recreation Area, about 45 minutes northeast of Las Vegas. From town, drive out to Lake Mead, then drive north on Northshore Road for about 18.2 miles to the Mile 18.2 Trailhead. Park here; this is the trailhead.

The Hike

From the trailhead, a use-trail runs south from the western end of the parking area. Carefully crossing the highway, a use-trail can be seen on the south roadcut (Table 1, Waypoint 01). The route runs south on the well-marked use-trail across some nice desert pavement with scattered, stunted creosote bush and white bursage.

After about 0.2 miles, the use-trail reaches the edge of Cottonwood Wash (Wpt. 02). From there, high above the wash, Cottonwood Spring lies to the left (upstream), and Northshore Road can be seen crossing the wash to the right (downstream). If a hiker missed this obscure turnoff when hiking back out, they would hit the road, and so there is no chance of getting lost in this area.

The use-trail drops into the wash (Wpt. 03) and crosses to the main "water course" (Wpt. 04), which is fairly broad, smooth, and runs at a gentle grade. The route turns south (left) and runs upstream.

In the wash bottom, more water is available to plants than on the previous desert flats, and species like catclaw acacia, mistletoe, Mormon tea, desert holly, and desert almond are common and robust. Drought-tolerant species like creosote, bursage, and pygmy cedar can be seen beyond the edges of the wash. Farther up canyon in the red-and-white mud hills, rare species like Silverleaf Sunray and California bearpaw poppies, which are species of concern in Nevada, thrive in the gypsum-rich soils. Please help protect these species by staying off the mud hills.

About halfway to Cottonwood Spring (0.6 miles out), the route passes through Halfway Narrows (Wpt. 05), which were formed by layers of volcanic ash that turned to stone and tilted sideways.

Just before the narrows (less than 50 yards), there is a low, fairly smooth, yellow-brown wall on the left side of the wash that is full of recent fossils such as oyster or mussel shells, snail shells, worm tracks, and other identified things. At about the middle of this wall, a little wash comes down the hillside and cuts a notch in the wall. Up in the notch, maybe 20 feet from the bottom of the wash, there are some of the best examples of "fossilized" ripple marks (large, deep, and regular) that I have ever seen. Above the narrows, many worm tracks can be seen in the stone.

At the narrows, the southwest-facing wall holds some nice specimens of barrel cactus, pygmy cedar, Mormon tea, and mesquite growing on sunny side. It is hard to believe that these plants can grow on this sunny rock face, but it is a pretty rock garden.

On the north end of this wall, about 10-15 feet above the wash, there is a set of ripple marks that are larger (wide but shallow) than any I have ever seen. They are so wide (perhaps 18-24 inches) that they don't look like ripple marks until you see the difference between the surface of that layer of stone and the layer that lies above it.

Continuing another 0.2 miles up the wash, which is still running at the same gentle angle, cottonwood trees at the spring come into view.

Just below the spring, the wash forks. The spring is in the left fork, which is obvious because of the cottonwood trees. An old road, the historic Arrowhead Highway, runs up the right fork to bypass a pour-over behind the spring, then loops left and back into the main Cottonwood Wash. Before the Arrowhead Highway starts up the hill, an old radiator water trough lies at the base of a cliff. Old pipes carried water from the spring to the trough. It is interesting to contemplate what it would have been like to drive this "highway" back in the old days.

Continuing to the spring (Wpt. 06), two cottonwood trees against a cliff that is red on the west side (right) and blue-gray conglomerate on the east side (left).

In addition to the cottonwood trees, honey mesquite, Arrowweed, and saltbush, plus several desert willows grow at the spring. The ground is moist here, and there is considerable salt built up on the surface of the soil. If there is no water on the surface, look around to see if animals, such as bighorn sheep, dug into the sand to find water.

After resting and enjoying the shade of the cottonwood trees, either wander farther up the wash, which is an easy walk for another mile or so, or follow your footprints back to the trailhead. Above Cottonwood Spring, the canyon continues to run through the same colorful volcanic landscape as below the spring. For details of the canyon above Cottonwood spring, see the Hamblin Mountain route.

From the spring (Wpt. 06), the route continues up the main wash. The short pour-over behind the cottonwood trees is an easy scramble up. Shortly, the route cross a short pour-over and several red-rock fins that cross the wash. Just above this, the Arrowhead Highway (Wpt. 07) rejoins Cottonwood Wash.

Hiking up Cottonwood Canyon, several minor washes merge, but the main canyon always is obvious. About 1/2-miles above the spring, however, a major wash, Razorback Wash North, merges from the east (Wpt. 08). The route stays right and continues south.

Following Cottonwood Wash, the canyon narrows to a few feet wide as it cuts through a ridge. Here, the rocks on the right side of the narrows are red sandstone, while the rocks on the left side are blue-gray conglomerate (similar to the cliff at Cottonwood Spring, but orientated at a different angle).

Just beyond the narrows, the wash hits a white mudstone wall (Wpt. 09). The wash splits to the northeast (East Fork of Cottonwood Wash) and southwest (West Fork of Cottonwood Wash), as if it were a T-intersection. The fork to the left follows the Arrowhead Highway over the ridge into Pinto Valley, while the fork to the right is the route to Hamblin Mountain.

For photos of the return to the trailhead, see Cottonwood Wash - Downhill.