Bridge Mountain Arch, Tinajas and Hidden Forest, Rainbow Mountains, Nevada
Bridge Mountain Arch, Tinajas and Hidden Forest, Rainbow Mountains, Nevada | Visit https://lasvegasareatrails.com/bridge... | Bridge Mountain is the jewel of Red Rock Canyon and one of the most popular, and challenging summits in Southern Nevada. This video takes you up Rocky Gap Road in Lovell Canyon to the Bridge Mountain Trailhead. Then ascend to the Rainbow Mountains Upper Crest Ridgeline, descend to the base of Bridge Mountain and finally, ascend the most vertical stretch on the route to the spectacular arch, beautiful tinajas and mysterious hidden forest. The final summit approach is easier than the vertical stretch to the arch, but time ran out on this day just below that final approach! This video gets you up the vertical stretch where you can choose a more exposed, but easier ascent or a less exposed but more difficult chute. The arch is massive, with a spectacular framed view of Griffith Peak in the Mt. Charleston Wilderness! The tinajas (ephemeral pools) and hidden forest come as additional surprises just below the summit. Prepare for an unforgettable wilderness experience!
You can reach the Bridge Mountain Trailhead from the Willow Spring Area in Red Rock Canyon or from Lovell Canyon & Rocky Gap Road in Lovell Canyon. We chose Lovell Canyon as the shorter route for those on foot. If you’re driving a 4WD vehicle to the trailhead, you may want to start at Willow Spring. The stretch from Lovell Canyon, though shorter, is far more extreme for vehicles. An ATV or extreme 4WD vehicle can do it…perhaps! Curiously, the one time I slipped and fell today was not on those frightening near vertical sandstone slabs on Bridge Mt., but while hiking Rocky Gap Road! Still, the scenery on Rocky Gap Road is beautiful as the road winds through that rocky gap in the Wilson Ridgeline.
From the Bridge Mt. Trailhead, located at the summit of Rocky Gap Road, take the one-mile trail up to the Rainbow Mountains Upper Crest Ridgeline then turn right. Within a short distance on the ridgeline you’ll see a full view of Bridge Mountain in all its glory, along with most of your route to from that point to Bridge Mt. summit. From this perspective and about every other perspective all the way along, the tall vertical crack and exposed ridge between the base of Bridge Mountain and the Arch, Tinajas and Hidden Forest looks impossible and insane!
Continue South for about a mile on the Rainbow Mountains Upper Crest Ridgeline, then take a left down a long ridge toward the base of Bridge Mountain. About halfway down you’ll cross over the famous Keystone Thrust Faultline boundary between the limestone and colorful sandstone area.
There are some challenging chutes and honeycomb descents on the sandstone before arriving at the base of Bridge Mountain. Then, there’s the ascent along some gradual sandstone slabs to the base of the big bad vertical crack. Once at the crack, you have a choice of ascending the chute or the more exposed, but strangely easier honeycomb ridge/cliff above and to the right. We chose the more exposed honeycomb ascent. Good choice, but rather scary!
Once at the summit of the crack you’ll round a corner and come face-to-face with the famous Bridge Mountain Arch. Totally incredible! The huge area under the arch dwarfs people standing below. And, when you pass under the arch into the echoing bowl beyond, turn around to see a perfectly framed view of Griffith Peak in the Mt. Charleston Wilderness!
Now ascend the bowl along a narrow exposed ledge (small backpacks are a benefit here) to the long wide ledge below the final summit approach to Bridge Mountain. From that ledge you can look down upon two beautiful tinajas (ephemeral pools) and the mysterious hidden forest of majestic ponderosa pines just below the summit.
We ran out of time and had to turn around before the final summit approach. The cairned route descends to the hidden forest before ascending by a series of switchbacks (more gradual than the big bad crack below) to Bridge Mountain summit.
I thought the return trip down that crack and honeycomb ridge would be more difficult. It was actually easier than the ascent…probably because I knew what to expect and that I was able to do it. Big thanks to Bridge Mt. veterans John and Greg, without whose patient, experienced guidance I guarantee this would have been impossible for me!