The Black Mountain trail is a loop trail that starts about a half-mile north
of the Saline Valley warm springs. The easiest way to attack this trail is counter-clockwise,
starting with the hike up Black Mountain. This trail is visible from the both
the Lower Warm Springs and the Palm (hot) Springs, but there is no marked trail
from either spring to thetrailhead. However, it is easy to find your way over
the desert scrub to the start of the trail.
The hike up Black Mountain is on a not too steep, not too rocky, reasonably
well maintained trail. The only thing to watch out for are rock curbs used to,
I'm guessing, divert the rare rainfall from washing out the trail. Once you
reach the top there is a short spur that leads to a lookout point and cairn
where you can absorb the wonderful view of Saline Valley, catch your breath,
and have a drink of water. From there you need to double-back about 100 feet
or so then follow a sharp trail down the backside of the mountain into a canyon.
If it is your first time hiking this trail it would be easy to miss this trail
if you are attempting to hike the loop clockwise. Once in the canyon there is
no trail, you just follow the canyon west until it empties out into Saline Valley,
then point yourself home in the direction of the springs. To avoid disrupting
the desert fauna try to follow any previous tracks.
The attached GPS file contains a track recording for this hike as well as the
tracks for the drive to Saline Valley, south pass route, from Las Vegas. These
last tracks are not GPS recordings, rather they are the tracks I authored using
ExpertGPS that guided me successfully from start to end without looking at a
map.
For more Saline Valley picture visit my Saline
Valley Hot Springs
photo tour page.
Trailmaps
This topo map shows the Black Mountain Trail, departing and returning from
the Lower Warm Springs.
The Black Mountain trail is a loop trail that starts about a half-mile north of the Saline Valley warm springs. The easiest way to attack this trail is counter-clockwise, starting with the hike up Black Mountain. This trail is visible from the both the Lower Warm Springs and the Palm (hot) Springs, but there is no marked trail from either spring to thetrailhead. However, it is easy to find your way over the desert scrub to the start of the trail.
The hike up Black Mountain is on a not too steep, not too rocky, reasonably well maintained trail. The only thing to watch out for are rock curbs used to, I'm guessing, divert the rare rainfall from washing out the trail. Once you reach the top there is a short spur that leads to a lookout point and cairn where you can absorb the wonderful view of Saline Valley, catch your breath, and have a drink of water. From there you need to double-back about 100 feet or so then follow a sharp trail down the backside of the mountain into a canyon. If it is your first time hiking this trail it would be easy to miss this trail if you are attempting to hike the loop clockwise. Once in the canyon there is no trail, you just follow the canyon west until it empties out into Saline Valley, then point yourself home in the direction of the springs. To avoid disrupting the desert fauna try to follow any previous tracks.
The attached GPS file contains a track recording for this hike as well as the tracks for the drive to Saline Valley, south pass route, from Las Vegas. These last tracks are not GPS recordings, rather they are the tracks I authored using ExpertGPS that guided me successfully from start to end without looking at a map.
For more Saline Valley picture visit my Saline Valley Hot Springs photo tour page.
Trailmaps
This topo map shows the Black Mountain Trail, departing and returning from the Lower Warm Springs.