Overview

This is a nice, 0.6-mile loop trail that runs to the top of a bluff (Northshore Summit) with surprisingly grand views of everything except Lake Mead. This truly is a land where the geology is laid bare.

Starting out, the trail forks before the slope becomes too steep. The shorter left fork climbs the steep ridgeline directly to the summit, while the longer right fork traverses the hillsides at more gentle grades to the ridgeline beyond the peak, then comes back to the summit. Described here is a loop hiking up the steep ridgeline and back down the gentler trail. Hikers can do it either way. This is also one way to start the hike to Bowl of Fire North.

Link to map.

Watch Out

Other than the standard warnings about hiking in the desert, ...this is a safe hike, but there are places along the upper part of the trail and at the summit where a slip could result in serious injury or death if you get too close to the edge of the cliff, so be careful and watch your kids.

While hiking, please respect the land and the other people out there, and try to Leave No Trace of your passage. Also, this hike is short, so just bring what you need of the 10 Essentials.

Getting to the Trailhead

This hike is located along Northshore Road in Lake Mead National Recreation Area, about 50 minutes northeast of Las Vegas.

From town, drive out to Lake Mead, then drive north on Northshore Road for about 20.6 miles to the Mile 20.6 (Northshore Summit) Trailhead. Park here; this is the trailhead.

The Hike

From the trailhead (Table 1, Waypoint 01), the well-defined trail runs northward at a gentle incline that gradually gets steeper. About five minutes out, the trail forks (Wpt. 02) to form a loop. Both forks lead to the summit; the left fork is a short (0.10 miles), steep use-trail, while the right fork is a longer (0.22 miles), gentler, constructed trail.

It makes sense to turn right and hike up the gentler trail, but it seems that most hikers take the left fork and climb steeply and directly towards the peak.

Staying left (straight), the trail quickly steepens. Heading up during warm weather, keep an eye out for Chuckwallas basking on the crags and boulders strewn across the hillside on the left.

Before long, the trail steepens and then arrives at the crest of the ridge. Views west from here stretch across the eroded desert landscape to desert peaks in the far distance.

Turning north, the use-trail climbs steeply along the spine of the ridge to the summit (Wpt. 04).

The views from the summit are spectacular, but little of the body of Lake Mead is visible. To the north is Muddy Mountain, to the east is Bitter Springs Valley and the Overton Arm of Lake Mead, to the south is Northshore Peak, and to the west is the Bowl of Fire and a bit of Lake Mead in the distance.

Immediately west of the summit, hikers can look down on a geologic formation were layered sediments were bowed up in the middle (i.e., an anticline). The upper layers have cracked and eroded away, revealing a dome of whitish rock (gypsum) in the middle. Along the edges of the anticline, rocks on both sides are tilted up.

The summit rocks are interesting too. They are composed of thin layers of red sandstone and a hard gray conglomerate (like gravely concrete).

From the summit, hikers can turn around and hike south back down the steep ridgeline, or they can continue north on the loop and descend the gentler trail.

Continuing north along the ridgeline, the views remain grand, and before long the trail forks (Wpt. 03). Here, the loop turns right to head down the slope, but hikers going to Bowl of Fire North would continue north along the ridgeline.

Turning down across the slope, the trail runs south and now provides some nice views to the east. The trail gently angles down across the slopes, and at a low saddle, the trailhead comes into view. Continuing, the trail reaches the trail junction (Wpt. 02) that was passes on the way up. Turning left, the trail runs back down to the trailhead (Wpt. 01), which is still visible.