Bridge Mountain is a

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

located in the Spring Mountain range of southern

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

. It is located on land managed by the United States Bureau of Land Management as the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, part of the Rainbow Mountain Wilderness. Bridge Mountain is named for the natural feature of a bridge-like

natural arch A natural arch, natural bridge, or (less commonly) rock arch is a natural landform where an arch has formed with an opening underneath. Natural arches commonly form where inland cliffs, Cliffed coast, coastal cliffs, Fin (geology), fins or Stack ...

of sandstone near the summit.

Hiking Route

The Bridge Mountain hike begins at the Rocky Gap Summit Trailhead, accessible by 4WD drive only. Hikers can park at the north Willow Springs campground and walk to the summit. Alternatively, hikers can turn North from Highway 160 and drive North on the Lovell Canyon Road and park where the pavement ends. The hike from here to the summit is about and has less elevation gain. The hike climbs over the crest of the

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of Clay mineral, clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g., Kaolinite, kaolin, aluminium, Al2Silicon, Si2Oxygen, O5(hydroxide, OH)4) and tiny f ...

formed, north-south oriented Spring Mountain Ranges, and rewards the hiker with panoramic views of the Red Rock Escarpment below. A marked trail along the crest descends to the sandstone escarpment. Here, steep free climbing down a chimney—possible without technical gear—takes the hiker to a narrow neck of rock that separates the drainages of Pine Creek to the south and Icebox Canyon to the north. The hike is marked by cairns that show the route to proceed up toward the base of a cliff, angling left just above the northern drop-off. The hike ascends the slickrock here, in a crack in the rock. After about , the route comes to a point where there is a broad, flat ledge on the left, then continues about several feet to the left where a wider gully climbs to the top of the cliff. This leads up to the natural bridge for which the mountain is named. The bridge itself is the remains of a tinaja, or water tank, that eroded and left a remnant of the side, now a bridge. In order to get to the top, one must climb over a fallen tree, bringing the person within reach of several pools, access to the bridge, and near the Hidden Forest (see below). Heading south for several hundred feet, one then must climb along a steep, difficult ridge to get near the top. At the top, a small ammunition box contains the peak's sign-in book. In a cleft in the sandstone of Bridge Mountain's summit, there is a small hidden forest of

Ponderosa pine ''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine, is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is t ...

. Expansive views of the

Las Vegas Valley The Las Vegas Valley is a major metropolitan area in the Southern Nevada, southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada, and the second largest in the Southwestern United States. The state's largest urban agglomeration, the Las Vegas Metropolitan St ...

can be seen from the Eastern end of the hidden forest.

Gallery

File:Pine Creek Canyon 1.jpg, Pine Creek Canyon with the south side of the Bridge Mountain on the left File:Bridge Mountain 3.jpg, View from South East with entrance to Pine Creek Canyon on the left File:BridgeMountainRedRockCanyon.jpg, View from East File:Bridge Mountain 4.jpg, View from North East with entrance to Icebox Canyon on the right File:Bridge Mountain summit 3.jpg, Summit File:Bridge Mountain 1.jpg, Summit from Turtlehead Mountain to the North East File:Bridge Mountain from west 1.jpg, Summit from the West

References

{{reflist Spring Mountains Mountains of Nevada Natural arches of Nevada Mountains of Clark County, Nevada