Bristlecone Trail

Beautiful 6 mile hike! Check it out in the fall cause there are actual colors in Las Vegas; imagine that! Also, if your up for a little detour, check out the Mount Charleston Lodge. They serve great mimosas and crème brûlée! The view is amazing and the food it good too.

With the fur baby in tow we decided to check out Bristlecone Trail. This ended up being a good trail to hit up when the weather was too hot in the Vegas valley. It’s cooler up here on the mountain and the day we came the weather was perfect and the scenery was relaxing. It’s about a 6 mile loop and there are tree stumps and logs that we sat on along the way when we wanted to have a break or just sit and look at nature. There were also people on bikes and some of them were courteous when passing and other zoomed by with no manners. I saw people of all ages and their fur babies on the trail. It’s a somewhat easy hike, but there were times when the trail got steep. I’d recommend proper shoes since it was a bit slippery and naturally water. Elevation makes it a bit hard to breathe, but taking breaks every so often helped me a bit. I got a little chilly towards the end when the sun was going down, so I’d recommend having a light jacket just in case. There is parking at the lower trailhead.

Probably my favorite hike in the Mt Charleston area. If you go during a week day it is one of the more peaceful and scenic hikes in the range. A great trail to take your dogs on also if they are in fairly decent shape. The hike is moderate in difficulty, maybe even easy but it is pretty long 6.2 miles is what I read.

This is by far one of my favorite hikes I’ve ever done (I would say its a toss up between this and Silver Falls in Oregon). The beauty of the twisted bristle cone pine trees is absolutely surreal. The trees look magical with the blue sky and white clouds surrounding them.
With that said, however, it’s not an easy hike or for someone that is out of shape. I suggest planning ahead, packing sufficient snacks, inhalers etc because the trail is exhausting. It’s almost about 6 miles. The elevation makes breathing more difficult so be prepared for that. Wear comfortable shoes and bring a light jacket (even in the summer) because it will be a lot cooler at «Rain tree» or «Mummy Springs».
Be prepared, the loose gravel mountain is slippery and there are tons of pine cones around to help make the trail more difficult. That’s part of what makes getting to the beautiful trees even more exciting.

This is the first time I have been on this trail and it is surprisingly beautiful. Most of the trail is quite open and therefore you can see the view of the mountain’s valley in all its’ glory. We parked at the Lower Bristlecone trailhead and walked up the main road (0.5 miles) to the Upper Bristlecone trailhead to start our hike. The upper trailhead is at the end of the Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort parking lot. It was a very easy going 6.2 mile hike, gradually descending back to the lower Bristlecone trailhead. The trail is quite wide in many places which makes for a easier hike especially with so many people and runners on the trail. It’s also dog friendly. Just watch out for the horse dung along the trail and you will definitely have a great time on this trail. I am planning a trip back out there in the fall to enjoy the scenery with orange and yellow leaves everywhere.

A few years ago, I decided to check out this trail with my cousin on Memorial Day weekend. May 29, 2011 in fact. End of May. You’d think it would be moderately warm up there yeah?
Wrong.
As we ascended into Lee Canyon, I noticed my car’s temperature gauge drop down into the freezing range. OK so it might be a tad cold. We drove all the way up there. Might as well suck it up. But as we started the loop from the north trailhead, it started snowing! We were not dressed for this! And at one point, the snow and ice almost confused us into taking the wrong path.
Long story short, my strategy of keeping moving worked for the most part. Despite the temps being in the 30s and the almost constant snow, I stayed fairly warm. There were some icy spots. Many snowy spots. But you know what? It was absolutely beautiful. So much so that I feel like the trail would be disappointing any other way.
I would categorize this hike as fairly easy. It’s at elevation, so that may factor into your stamina. As always, be prepared for anything. I should heed my own advice.
(Here is the one photo I posted from this slight misadventure:
)

I have hiked Bristlecone Trail many times over the years. It’s one of our hikes in the hot summer months when we escape the heat of the Las Vegas Valley and head to Mount Charleston to enjoy temperatures that are about 20 degrees cooler.
The only thing about the hike that gets to you sometimes is the elevation. The hike starts at about 8,700 feet and reaches its high point at 9,400 feet. Along the way, you have some great views of the ski center, the aspen grove near the ski area, some bristlecone pines, and white pine.
The first part of the hike is uphill. I normally do this hike by parking in the Lower Trailhead area and hike up the road to the Upper Trailhead. When I’m done, I’m back where I left the car.
The second half of the hike is on an old Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) road that was being built in the 1930s and 1940s. It was stopped as World War II started because the men were needed for soldiers, not road builders.
At different times of the summer season, you can enjoy the trail in different ways. The aspen in the fall are quite nice. Early in the summer season, there will still be snow on Mount Lee above the ski area.
The trail is also used by mountain bikers, especially on weekends, so you need to be on the lookout for them.

The first time on this trail, we hiked the 6.3 mile loop, clockwise. We parked our car at the Lower Bristlecone Trailhead located off Route 156 Lee Canyon Road, just before McWilliams Campground Road. From the lower parking lot, we headed back towards Lee Canyon Road and headed up the asphalt road for about one mile to the Upper Bristlecone Trailhead parking lot at the ski resort. The trail immediately starts up a steady incline in the shade as you pass through the pine trees. In less than a half of a mile there is a nice log tree bench where you can take a short break before climbing the last 1.5 miles of elevation gain. At 3.3 miles from the lower parking lot, hiking clockwise, you reach the Bonanza Trailhead that takes off to the left (Northeast). Continue straight ahead, descending down Old Scout Canyon Road, a wide BOARING dirt road for the last 3 miles, all the way back down to the Lower Bristlecone Trailhead parking lot. As we hiked down that last 3 miles on that wide dirt road, I vowed to never hike this section again. Instead, I would park at the Upper Bristlecone Trailhead, hike to the Bonanza trail and take that until I decided to return back the same way, avoiding the lower trail all together. I rated this hike a four star only for the Upper Trail.

Today couldn’t have been a better time to hike up Bristlecone Trail. At 8,000 feet, my friend and I winded through this moderately strenuous trail non-​stop for 2.5 hours, starting at the upper trailhead and ending 6-​miles later at the lower trailhead, only to walk back uphill to the parking area.
This trail had just the right amounts of shade as well as the right inclination fluctuations to work up a sweat but not come off as too strenuous. Late summer, early fall would probably be the best time to hike up here with temperatures plummeting down to about 73 degrees right at the uppermost parking lot that overlooks the ski area. (It probably goes further down as progress with the hike and I can assure you that you’re going to feel the pressure in both your ears and your chest as elevations peak higher. My friend — shoutout to Vanessa! — said that she could feel her heart racing in her chest)
Nonetheless, make sure you take a lot of water with you. This won’t be the easiest hike there is, and if you decide to take breaks along the way, you could stay in the trail for as long as 4 – 5 hours. The lush pine and fir plant life was exuberating and I found myself lingering in my thoughts at how astounding nature was. With fall just around the corner, you could already detect the changes in leaf colors and I managed to get myself some pine leaves for home because they smelt so good.
Great trail, great weather and company. Can’t wait to check this place out once again one day.

On Saturday, July 14; the desert temperature was high and my mood was low. My brother and I got on US 95, drove it northwest out of Las Vegas, made a left on State Route 156/​Lee Canyon Road, and drove it as far as it goes to the Bristlecone trailhead in the forest up in the Spring Mountain National Recreation Area.
Bristlecone Trail is a half circle trail just past the Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort. The landmark to the trailhead is the dead end at State Route 156/​Lee Canyon Road. From the Las Vegas Snow and Ski Resort to the dead end, there is parking. Bristlecone Trail could best be described as a half-​circle nature beltway connecting State Route 156 at its westernmost point to State Route 156 at McWilliams Campground.
Bristlecone Trail is a 6 mile trail that takes approximately 4 – 5 hours to hike. There is some climbing and descending. The wooded and mountain scenery is spectacular. The temperature is cooler than the Las Vegas Valley below. Hiking on Bristlecone Trail is both a workout and nature therapy. Due to time constraints I cannot get into detail about the fauna and ecosystem. The website:
, does a commendable job describing Bristlecone Trail.
Bristlecone Trail is a popular trail. With its popularity are some negatives. There were incidents that I had to yeild to a mountain bike. Mountain bikers are a concern. A major negative is vandals carving grafitti into trees. In my opinion this is an alarming concern that is destroying the tranquility on a segment of the trail. In a positive way, I want to make the Bristlecone Trail more popular by bringing it to life as a Unilocal listing.
At the time that I hiked on Bristlecone Trail, I witnessed relatively no wildlife. However, down the hill at the Las Vegas Ski and Snow Resort, I saw elk and deer under the ski lifts.
Return factor: There are so many places that I want to hike in the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area, that I will probably hike them before a followup hike.
Please note: At the time of the hike, Bristlecone Trail was nonexistent in Unilocal and, there was no reception. I used a picture of the trail map for a, check in.