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| Hot springs with Icehouse Peak on the right. |
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| Collapsed Indian dwelling |
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| Mud Springs narrows |
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| Peculiar treeless high benches. |
- HOT SPRINGS ROAD leaves Nv 264 at mp ES 19.7. It's 7 miles to the springs and restroom. A weeks worth of hikes can be done using the hot springs as base camp. The road goes on across the range to the town of Silverpeak. Many forks are encountered after the hot springs, but just stay on the widest, most used road. It jogs north a short way then crosses lake beds then takes an eastward path thru the range. In 2013, there were signs for Mineral Ridge that could be followed. The only shade is at the pass. Just over 9 miles past the hot springs is a road on the left going up a wash, right at the foot of Rhyolite Ridge. That would be a good camp area.
- ICEHOUSE PEAK el 8550 towers 4000 feet above the hot springs. Turn south off the hot springs road at N37 49809, W117 54408 and go up a sandy wash on a mine road. In a half mile the road crosses to the right over a low ridge and into Mud Spring Wash. Jeeps can't drive up the wash, but cycles can make the mile up the wash to 48106, 53793 el 5750 then climb up the right slope into a low saddle. Now you're on the long NE ridge that goes to the summit. At el 7000 some minor rock outcrops are in the way but are easily passed on the right. At el 7300 are 2 big crags. Go around the right side of those on a sheep trail and the last saddle comes into view. It's easy to go along the right side and up into the saddle at 46928, 54778 el 7850. There are no more crags so just go straight up. At el 8050 it eases up and is just an easy stroll thru a pristine pj forest to the high point at 46281, 55444. No sign of humanity. To make a loop, use a sheep route on the east ridge to drop back into Mud Spring Wash. Walk down the east ridge to a cliff at el 7600. Go left a few feet to 46468, 54620 el 7550 to a sheep trail that goes along the base of the cliff and back to the center of the ridge. Then go down and take a ridge branching left to a viewpoint at 46512, 54364 where the rest of the ridge down to the wash is in view. Once back down, you walk the easy wash back. One side trip to consider in the wash is the narrows in the main fork at 46034, 53775. It is visible from the summit. The loop took me 4 and a half hours with nearly 3000 gain but I rode a cycle up the wash to el 5750. Jeeps have to add over a mile each way of walking in the wash. 2wds will have over 2 miles road/wash walking each way.Add nearly an hour for the narrows side trip. Posted 2013, 2017.
- ARGENTITE PEAK el 8350 is what I call the one on the west rim of Argentite Canyon. I made a loop up the jeep road on the canyon floor then back on the rim. I saw nearly 2 dozen rock rings. The jeep road leaves the hot springs road at N37 48518, W117 51055. I parked on it at 46861, 51237 el 6700 then walked on up the road to a side canyon at 45463, 49737 el 7600. I followed that to a saddle el 7800 on the rim but took a short detour to a mine road at 45272, 49640 el 7700 that leads to a deep shaft with wooden ladder. I went up the slope from there to a road that goes to the saddle and ends then I just went up the easy ridge. Rock rings started showing up, the first good one at 45312, 50132 then one at 45338, 50178. The summit is just beyond with some survey junk at 45394, 50335. I went down the other side a few feet to a small plateau where it started raining rings. I saw 3, the best at 45402, 50470 then I went down to a saddle at 45559, 50438 el 8100 where there are 3 or 4 rings. I stayed on the rim to another good one at 45630, 50423 then another at 45751, 50597. I kept going north along the left side of peak 8246 to a good ring at 45951, 50693 then an average one at 46014, 50758. Just past that is a double ring then I went on up along the left side of peak 8266 and saw a good ring at 46148, 51553. There are bound to be more around there. I kept going down the north ridge to 46287, 51575 el 8100 where I skirted left of boulders. I could see a minor bump ahead, I went over it and stayed on the center of the north ridge down to a ring at 46669, 51545 el 7400 then dropped down a drainage on the right to get back to the start. That took 5 hours with less than a 1000 noticeable gain, but I wandered a lot. It's a good forest with rocky patches. Jeeps can go on thru the canyon and keep going south to the McAfee Canyon road then out on that. South of the Mohawk Mine, the remaining roads had been bladed in recent times. Posted 2020.
- ICEHOUSE CANYON has a jeep track up it for 2 miles. Drive east from the hot springs for a mile and a half and go right at a fork. Go south to another fork at N37 50707, W117 58501. The left fork is the one, but if it looks rough, stay straight for 2 miles then cut left and go SE across a lake bed and hit the left fork. Follow that to the next fork and go left to the mouth.The road had been graded to the mouth sometime after the 2013 floods. Jeeps can go up canyon as far as a rock barrier at 45575, 57083. If that doesn't stop you, there's a boulder jam in another fifth mile that will. There are cottonwoods about half way that make a good camp spot on hot days. The best way to see this area is to hike a loop using the west rim. Park at a side canyon at N37 45719, W117 57492 el 5600 then it's a 20 minute walk up canyon to the boulder that blocks vehicle travel. Keep going up the main canyon staying left at tricky forks to a fork at 44024, 56182 el 6650. Go right up that arm for .42 air mile to another fork then go right for .25 air mile to another tricky fork. Stay left to the last fork at 43410, 56281 el 7100. Go right at that one to a saddle el 7300 on the rim in less than a fifth mile where you turn back. It's obvious how to skirt left of a bump to a rock ring at 43493, 56708 el 7500. Then go up the rim staying just right of center to skirt the next bump then comes a smaller bump. Stay left along that one then comes peak 7813, the highest on the route. Peak addicts can go over it but I skirted along the right side to the saddle el 7450 behind it then peak 7599 is in the way but it can be skirted on the right as well. Keep going down the rim to 44452, 57292 el 6900 where you could likely drop down into the canyon on the right but staying on the rim leads into it anyway. Then its a smooth streambed back to the start with one problem fall 20 feet or so high. A sheep trail goes along the right side of it then sheep go down a class 3 gully and some go a litte more then down a slope. It's easy. That took 4 hours, 50 minutes with less than 1000 noticeable gain, none steep. Posted 2020.
- ICEHOUSE PEAK WEST ROUTE - a loop can be done up Icehouse Canyon then back on the rim. It's the best hike on this page. Drive into the canyon as far as possible. I could have drove a jeep to el 5800. I walked up the main canyon from there until a thicket got in the way. I went up the right bank to a minor saddle at N37 43922, W117 55904 el 6850 then dropped back down past the thicket but then another one in a few feet caused me to get on the left bank. The canyon bends left there so I followed it to 43582, 55254 el 7200 where I climbed up a ridge on the left. It levels off at el 7550 then I took an easy angle to a spotty trail at 43623, 54920 el 7650. That led me to an unexpected rock ring at 43612, 54808 then I kept going to a saddle on the rim at 43708, 54682 el 8000. I then walked at about that level along the east side of peaks to a saddle on the rim with a huge ring at 44755, 55268 el 8050. Then I walked the top of the rim to a bald, wide saddle el 8100 and then stayed right of center to the last saddle at 45876, 55345 el 8100. That's the descent point. The peak is another half mile north at 46282, 55445 el 8550. At the saddle, sheep go down the center until it narrows then move left to 45838, 55460 where they enter the narrow part. Then it's just a few feet down where they exit on the right and go down to 45902, 55585 el 7400 where they get on an easy ridge down. At el 7000 there is a minor cliff with easy ways down, but it's better to swing wide left on a slope to get on a ridge with white bedrock that leads to point 6437 where there are two options. I went directly down the canyon at 45706, 56561 el 6300 but then had a tricky class 3 chute near the mouth. I think staying in a gully against the left wall would be class 2. It's only a quarter mile more walking to use the next canyon south. That took 7 hours, 20 minutes with about 2000 noticeable gain, no brush. It's a good forest. I saw no water in late September but sheep are gettting it somewhere. Posted 2020
- BLIND SPRING, JEFF DAVIS SPRING - I hiked to those two springs in September 2017. I was day tripping but it makes for an outstanding backpacking trip with an opportunity to go up Piper Peak. I went in the same way as for Icehouse Peak and started hiking miles downstream from Mud Spring and went thru the narrows to Marijuana Spring where a small stream was flowing in a thicket at N37 45849, W117 53451 el 6750. A marijuana farm here appeared to have recently been discovered, likely from the air. A mountain of trash was left behind. I went along the right side of the thicket for a fifth mile and reached the 4wd road shown on the topo. Then I went on to Mud Spring and found no water, but one next to it had a trace. I kept going up canyon and came to two small dry falls, 10 or 15 feet high, at 44470, 52941 el 7350. They can be bypassed, but the first was easy and the second one had good holds on the left but exposed. Next, I came to Blind Spring at 43782, 52771 el 7700. It had a small stream out of a pipe. I cut over to Jeff Davis Spring at 43753, 53373 el 7700. It had a small stream out of the ground and another small stream 150 feet on down. I walked that canyon back north and came to a fall el 6800 in a narrows at the mouth. It was easy to drop down the right side of the fall on class 2 and walk out thru the narrows then back to the start. There are springs just to the SW of the narrows, but it's a long thicket and I couldn't hear any water. This hike was all smooth washes and easy pj forest except for the fifth mile along the thicket where I was using crummy sheep trails. Horse and burro impact is light. A helicopter I saw might have been taking some out. The springs monitor rode an ATV in on the Mud Spring road, but hardly anyone else comes in. That road took a beating in the 2013 floods. Posted 2017.
- SILVER PEAK el 9300 has a jeep road to el 9100. Use the rough Argentite Cyn jeep road that leaves the hot springs road at N37 48518, W117 51055. It goes up and joins the main north/south road high in the range, but it becomes a hardcore jeep road nearly 5 miles after leaving the hot springs road. The rough stuff starts at 45612, 49942 el 7500. If you get thru, follow the main road south and turn east at N37 43639, W117 49468 el 7800. Follow that past good mine ruins and go left at 43531, 48731 el 8200. The remaining road is tougher but jeeps should have no trouble. The road tops out at a tower. The peak is half a mile north. A sheep trail goes around to the north side then it's an easy stroll the rest of the way. The main north/south road can be used to get down to the hot springs road at 47645, 47760 but was badly eroded by 2013 floods. The best way into the high country is the route described in the Piper Peak hike. The main north/south road had been bladed in 2020 going south to north but not far past the Silver Peak turnoff. The Argentite road had been improved and posed no problem for jeeps. Posted 2014, 2020.
- RHYOLITE RIDGE el 8550 is a bizarre natural sculpture. You'll think you're in Utah. Turn north off the hot springs road at N37 47633, W117 47691 and go a mile on 4wd to a 4-way. Either go left up a ridge for a bit over a mile to North Spring or stay straight for about a mile and then go left to the spring. The road ends a third mile past the spring at a knoll el 7450. Walk around the right side of the knoll and go on up the ridge to a cliff band. A break in the cliffs is a gully at 49414, 48317. I moved left to get right under it then zigzagged up bedrock to it. Once thru the gully just go left a short way to the top.The reg is at 49299, 48580. I took a direct route down on steep dirt at 49468, 48267 but I wouldn't want to go up that way. 2 hours, 1100 gain. The spring had a tiny stream from a pipe in May. Posted 2014, 2018.
- EMIGRANT PEAK el 6780 is in the northern Silver Peak Range. A jeep track is the easiest way up. Take 95 to the ghost town of Coaldale. Get on a road at the eastern edge of the property, just left of the propane tank foundation. Follow this easy 4wd road for about 4 miles to a road on the right at N37 58937, W117 51787. Go right for a mile and a half to a rock outcrop on the right. The correct road goes left into the main wash. Go up the wash, past a decoy road, to 58655, 53004 where the correct road curves right and starts up the switchback. A turnaround is ahead at the upper end of the switchback el 5800. Then you can turn out the lights 'cause the party's over. The road now goes parabolic for 3 or 4 hundred feet to the ridgetop. Rigs with lockers and superb traction can make it. It levels off and you're home free for a couple of miles to the end at el 6400. Then it's a 20 minute hike one way and 400 gain to the reg at 57615, 53929. Figure 3 or 4 hours if hiking from the turnaround. The reg needs a glass jar and better book. I was just looking to kill a cold day in May but this turned out to be pretty good. Great views. Posted 2013.
- RED MOUNTAIN el 8950 is south of the pass where the hot springs road crosses the range. Take the hot springs road to the pass. A spur road goes a short way south from the pass to el 7400 where the standard route starts. There is a jeep road that gets closer. Drive back west to N37 47192, W117 45652 and go south on the jeep road for nearly 2 miles. Then the road goes left up a wash for a mile to the ridgetop el 7600. This road is easy for OHVs and cycles, but jeeps will lose a lot of paint. It's a short hike to the reg at 45593, 45623 but the last 400 feet goes parabolic on scree. 2 hours, 1400 gain. Posted 2013. The jeep road is too far gone, but I didn't check another road to the west that merges with it. It's best to use the pass road. Posted 2018.
- CRYSTAL PEAK el 7050 is an interesting bright colored peak which stands out looking east from the hot springs. Take the hot springs road to a narrow jeep road at N37 49270, W117 52197. Take that for nearly half a mile over a low ridge to a wash where there is a fork. Keep left for a quarter mile and park. Hike up to a saddle between the peak and it's dark neighbor to the right. Then the route is obvious. 2 hours, 1200 gain. Add an hour if using 2wd. Posted 2013.
- VOLCANIC BM el 7400 is the high peak in the Volcanic Hills north of Dyer. Take US 6 to mp ES 10.9 then turn south on an old paved road that soon turns into easy 4wd. Follow it for 3 miles to the end in a canyon el 5500. Hike up the easy wash for a mile to a fork at N37 59088, W118 04983 el 6000. Go up the right fork and soon you see a guzzler up on the left. But keep going up the main canyon to a fall. Go left around the fall on a sheep trail and you enter a large basin. Now it's easy to go right and get on the NE ridge. Follow that to a reg at 58699, 06332. Another reg is south at the BM with a better view. I retraced my steps a third mile then dropped back into the canyon and soon came to a little fall. I stepped down the right side and stayed on trails on the right side all the way to the guzzler. Then it's about a mile down canyon back to the start. 3 or 4 hours, 2000 gain, not steep. I saw sheep on the way up and again coming down. The north slopes are easily accessible from US 6 but you'll be on rocks for nearly the whole hike. Nice colors. Posted 2013, 2017.
- PIPER PEAK el 9440 is the highest in the range. Turn off Nv 264 on to Eagle Rd at mp ES 4.8. Go east to a T which is McAfee Rd. Turn left and stay on the good main road up into McAfee Cyn. At the head of the canyon is a 4wd going left to the lower spring. But stay on the main road a little more to another 4wd road in a wash at N37 40151, W117 54492 el 7300. 2wds can make it this far. Go up the 4wd road nearly half a mile to a turnaround in the canyon and park. The road narrows after that. Hike a short distance to the upper spring and thicket at the end of the road. It had a fast drip in October. Go left around the thicket then come back to the right at a gap in the brush. Shortly after that is a sheep trail on the right side of the creekbed at 40720, 54735. That trail goes a long way on the right side just above the creekbed until the creekbed comes up to meet it. Then go on up the creekbed to a fork at 41143, 54621. Go up the right fork to a saddle then go left up the slope to the BM at 42257, 54531. No reg. 4 hours, 2000 gain. The west ridge of the canyon also works but there are a lot of rock piles to weave around. The McAfee Rd turns into easy 4wd and goes over the divide and down a scenic canyon for 5 or 6 miles to a T which is the main north/south road high in the range. It can be used to get to the Silver Peak hike.
- WHITE WOLF CYN RD departs the highway just south of the state line. It goes for 15 miles to join the McAfee Rd at the divide. It's an easy road but 4wd because of sand traps.
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| Rock ring on the rim of Icehouse Canyon |
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| Icehouse Canyon |
