Cross Peak is a great little hike in Caughlin Ranch that not a lot of people know about, mainly due to the fact that there is no marked trailhead. This makes it difficult to find, but it also keeps the crowds down. I hike this area often, and on weekdays I rarely come across any other people(though I’m sure weekends are more crowded). The key to finding the Cross Peak trail is to find the Alum Creek drainage. There is a wonderful trail that follows Alum Creek from the backside of Caughlin Ranch for a couple of miles into the hills. This trail eventually gets washed out in a deep ravine, and I haven’t been past that point, though I think that it may have at some point connected to Hunter Creek… more exploration is needed. ANYWAYS, the Cross Peak trail forks off of the Alum Creek trail at the BACK of the hill. It is NOT signed, and you will have to keep your eyes open for it, but it is a pretty obvious fork. Many people can’t find the trail and just hoof it right up the side of the butte from the Caughlin Ranch side, but that makes this hike significantly more difficult. The main trail is well graded and maintained, and will take you right to the top, where a bit of rock scrambling is required to reach the cross itself. Great views and a log book are a nice reward for your effort. Many people follow the route Alyssa Y mentioned, which is to park in Caughlin Ranch and take the Steamboat Ditch to Alum Creek. I can add a couple of other entry points: the end of Pinebluff Trail road is a popular parking spot; there is a fire road that leads you straight down to Alum Creek. With a high-clearance vehicle or OHV you can also drive past the end of Pinehaven Road for vehicle access to the area; the Cross Peak trail actually goes up the other side of the Alum Creek ravine to a staging area near the back of Caughlin Ranch Storage.(All of these roads and trails are clearly visible on Google Earth.) Overall, the area around Cross Peak is webbed with unmarked footpaths and off-road trails, so there is a lot of great exploring to be had out here. There are many other cool buttes and rocky summits with great views, though none have as nice of a trail as Cross Peak. I much prefer this area, with it’s shady trees and lack of crowds, to the much more popular Keystone Canyon trails. Oh, and in warmer weather, watch out for snakes.
Alyssa Y.
Évaluation du lieu : 5 Sparks, NV
This trail is kind of hard to find if you haven’t taken it before. There are many different ways to enter the trail and different ways to reach Cross Peak. Perhaps the most common way to enter the trail is to park on Bitteroot Road in Reno then take the entrance to the Steamboat Ditch Trail. This trail will eventually lead you to a dirt road at the base of some hills. From here, you can look up and you’ll see Cross Peak. This is the shortest and most direct way to get to Cross Peak. My favorite route is to start somewhere along Caughlin Ranch Parkway or to start at Mayberry Landing. To the left of Yogurt Beach, there is a small walkway that leads you into Caughlin Ranch. It is flat and paved for a few miles. After walking along that until the road ends, you enter into a valley. The valley is beautiful and you can go really deep back into it. There is a river and there is some interesting foliage and wreckage to see along the path. After about 2 miles in the valley, you take a right up a pretty steep hill, walk around that hill, and you’ll be on the top of Cross Peak. From there, you can take the straight path down the hill in the dirt.(This is my favorite route but I wouldn’t recommend it unless you were with someone who knew the valley — it’s easy to get lost and to keep going deeper into the mountains). Cross Peak is a great hike because there are some steep hills and a beautiful view at the end!
