Trip To Mt Charleston - 6/2006

Mt Charleston is in the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area, part of the Toiyabe National Forest. It is the highest peak in Southern Nevada, 11,918 ft, and the third highest peak in the state. It is about 30 miles northwest of Northern Las Vegas, about a 40-minute drive.

As you turn on Hwy 157, the scenery begins to change and the you'll travel in five different climactic zones, from 3,000 to 9,000 ft above sea level. The Mt. Charleston Lodge was about 25 degrees cooler than Northern Las Vegas.  There are 40 plant and animal species found nowhere else in the world. Trees and plants found at Mt Charleston include Joshua tree, Ponderosa pine, bristlecone, creosote, blackbrush, banana yucca, horsebrush, sagebrush, aspen, and white fir. The bristlecone pine is considered to be the oldest living thing on Earth. Present in the area are desert tortoises, rattlesnakes, desert bighorn sheep, roadrunners, coyotes, deer, bobcats, gray foxes, elks, mountain lions, red-tailed hawks, and Palmer's Chipmunks (the only place on Earth where you can see them).

Mountain peaks, taken by the Lodge were we had lunch.

The hiking trails of Mt. Charleston

Road leading to the Lodge

Road leading to the Lodge

The Mt. Charleston Lodge

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Mountain peaks, taken by the Lodge were we had lunch.