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Hike this eight-mile journey to stand on barren Charleston Peak, the most prominent in Nevada, and the eighth-most ultra-prominent summit in the contiguous U.S.  It's very windy on Charleston's summit, but there is a rock shelter where we could eat lunch out of the wind, to the right of Fred.
Interactive Google map.
Google Earth image of our GPS tracks via South Loop Trail - north points to 115 degrees southeast on this photo.
From Charleston Peak's summit - 11,913'.
Hike Summary via South Loop Trail Mile 0 - 4.10: Cathedral Rock Trailhead to saddle and intersection with Griffith Peak Trail at 10,700' (3,100' gain). Mile 4.10 - 7.0: Griffith Peak Trail intersection to saddle just under Peak 11,476' and just out of burned area (700' gain). Mile 7.0 - 8.35: final approach to Charleston Peak (500' gain). Charleston is one of our top hikes for 2025, after Grand Canyon Rim to Rim for a lot of reasons: pretty forest, long distance, challenging elevation gain, a really barren, exposed ultra-prominent summit, and bristlecone pines. Any hike with bristlecone pines is extraordinary and special, although unfortunately the Charleston Peak pines were scorched in a large fire in 2013. Six more summits is all we need for the rest of 2025 to top last year's summit count. The 8.3-mile hike to Charleston Peak summit begins in a pretty forest on rocky switchbacks that crosses through a steep cliff, followed by more switchbacks to an intersection with Griffith Peak Trail, gaining 3,100 feet. A cold wind greeted us on the ridge to the southeast of Charleston, where we had a straight, but long walk to the summit. We hiked Charleston Peak about 20 years ago with our long-time friend Scott, beginning at the ski area, to find the summit enveloped in clouds with no view. It was good this time to see an all-encompassing view of southern Nevada and into California this time. More recently, we summited Pahrump Point near Death Valley with Scott, and soaked in the Tecopa Hot Springs afterward. This time we stayed in Kyle Canyon Picnic Area and Campground the night before, a few miles down-canyon from the Cathedral Rock Trailhead, sleeping in the back of our truck. This is a very tidy and clean campground; we drove in at about 3:00 on this weekday afternoon and found a few sights still available. 6:15 a.m.: At the Cathedral Rock Trailhead. The trailhead kiosk is lower right. This trailhead and parking is clearly marked and has recently been re-done. It's located right off Highway 157 up Kyle Canyon Road, past Kyle Canyon Campground. We arrived at the Cathedral Rock Trailhead parking lot by 6:15 a.m. This is a sparkling clean and organized new trailhead; the previous trailhead seems to have been a short drive further to another parking lot which is now blocked off. We had been checking Mountain Weather Forecast for clear days on Charleston Peak. With a good-sized moon hanging over glowing Cathedral Rock, we set off on the long hike to the summit. After a few hundred yards on South Loop Trail, reach intersection with Cathedral Rock Trail. Continue straight. Sunrise on Echo Cliff (left), and first look at Mummy Peak and burned trees from 2013 Carpenter 1 fire (right), as the trail steepens. Getting most of our gain in the first few miles up to the saddle and intersection.  The first glimpse of Charleston Peak's gleaming summit - it seems so far away! After 4.10 miles, reach intersection with Griffith Peak trail and take a right onto Mt. Charleston National Recreation Trail no. 145. A strong, cold wind greeted us as we took a break from the steep climb at the intersection. I wore my windbreaker for the rest of the hike. The next few miles trekked through the major burn area, where I could hear occasional whistling of the wind through the bare trees. Great views of Mummy Mountain, a summit we attempted a few years ago but did not make, continued to dominate the skyline to the north. We lost sight of Charleston along this trek, but knew we would soon turn a corner to find its high, solitary summit waiting for us. Walking for a long way at 10,000 feet. Past the intersection, on the long 4.25-mile and 1,200' elevation gain to the summit, seeing the remains of trees burned in the Carpenter 1 fire of 2013.  We started to encounter what looked to be bristlecone pines; very sad to find these majestic trees that survive the harsh conditions of winters above 10,000 feet had perished.  Looks like a bristlecone pine - some of these burned trees were huge! After seven miles from the trailhead, you reach a saddle with Peak 11,476 on your right - you pass under it to find the trail divides as it nears Charleston. The top trail is closed-off by some rocks: keep going on the lower trail. One more shot of a high mini-forest of beautiful trees, then you rise to above the tree line. From here, you're exposed, walking on the bare expanse for another 1.2 miles, past the remains of a 1955 plane crash.  Getting closer to the eighth-most prominent peak in the lower 48 states, and the most prominent in Nevada!  After going up and down a saddle under peak 11,476', you run into these two trails: The rocks on the right trail indicate you do not go on it - take the lower trail.  One last bit of forest to get through until the terrain opens up and becomes almost completely bare of vegetation. These beautiful trees appear to be bristlecone pines.  A look back at Fred and southern Nevada and California. We slogged up the final approach to Charleston Peak, a good, light-colored trail that looks like a ribbon through the darker angular chunks of rock. The torn flag wrapped around a three-legged, reinforced pole on the summit had become a victim of the whipping wind. With the feeling of elation on the summit comes a slight feeling of vulnerability. Fred found the rock shelter - usually there is one on major summits like this - that was totally out of the wind. The peak register seemed volumes-long. This must be the best place to view Mummy Mountain. Kyle Canyon, where we slept the night before, is far below. From the summit, we can see into southern California, we were guessing we could see parts of Death Valley. We celebrated at The Virgin River Casino's dinner buffet in Mesquite, Nevada, on our way home to St. George, Utah. We're fortunate to be able to do these tough hikes - may summits like this and more be our destiny for years to come! 🤞🙏  Last approach to Charleston summit - at about 11,400'. Still have ~ 500 feet elevation to go! The summit of Charleston Peak! A good look at Mummy Mountain left of the flag.  Looking toward north Las Vegas, to the east.   Mummy Mountain from the summit.  Fred found the shelter and the register. Out of the wind for lunch. Summit register and a last look at this remarkable summit on the way down. Corals in the Bird Springs Formation geologic unit. A photo I took at ~ 11,000 feet (left), and a photo of a sample collected for the study Stratigraphy and Paleogeographic Significance of the Pennsylvanian-Permian Bird Spring Formation in the Ship Mountains, Southeastern California (right, cited below). These seem to me like bristlecone pines..........  Another look at Mummy Mountain - we attempted that summit from the other side of it but ran into a steep gulch filled with snow as our only route to the top.  Related Posts References
My Nevada 5: The Dramatic Events that Shaped Our Land. 2014. University of Nevada, Las Vegas News Center website. Stone, P. et al. 2013. Stratigraphy and Paleogeographic Significance of the Pennsylvanian-Permian Bird Spring Formation in the Ship Mountains, Southeastern California
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Sue and Fred
About this blogExploration documentaries – "explorumentaries" list trip stats and highlights of each hike or bike ride, often with some interesting history or geology. Years ago, I wrote these for friends and family to let them know what my husband, Fred and I were up to on weekends, and also to showcase the incredible land of the west.
Happy Autumn!
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