Hike Hidden Valley Peaks via Colorock Canyon Muddy Mountains BLM, NV

Mar 18, 2023 — The region north of the Muddy Mountains feels very remote, despite being so close to Las Vegas. It's mostly known for the Bitter Springs Backcountry Byway, accessible by hardy vehicles and ATVs, but also for the Colorock Quarry point of interest and the locally named Hidden Valley. Hidden Valley is a wide drainage with a series of nice summits lining its western reaches, large pockets of sandstone amongst limestone. Colorock Peak was already a pretty obscure outing a couple of years ago on the northern end of Hidden Valley, but today's hike would use Colorock Canyon in order to reach even deeper peaks, both unnamed: Peak 4029 and Peak 4436. Much of the hike just follows Colorock Canyon/Wash, but the scenery is really lovely.

Accessing the trailhead requires decent clearance since there are a few dips and larger rocks. The road was in surprisingly good shape until the last mile. I parked where I did because the road deteriorated too much for my comfort, plus the wilderness boundary was just ahead. Others may prefer to park farther back to avoid poor roads, depending on how the washes fare in the coming years.

I hiked south and took a moment to check out the historic Colorock Cabin. This stone dwelling has unfortunatelly been graffiti'd, but it's still in good enough shape to feel like a cool piece of history. I continued through Colorock Canyon, which narrowed into a deep set of limestone narrows. With some light Class 3 scrambling, I hopped over some boulder obstacles and dryfalls. The canyon opened up and I continued south through the sandy wash for a few miles. Along the way there were some fun slickrock sandstone sections, pretty monoliths lining the wash, and also petroglyphs carved into a sandstone face here (36.34270, -114.70945).

Peak 4029 came into view, a heap of sandstone boulders similar to what you might find in Red Rock Canyon NCA. I pretty much followed Adam Walker's route for the rest of the hike, which efficiently reaches both peaks I was interested in. Leaving the wash, I headed west through the desert and wrapped around some outcroppings on Class 2 scrambly bits in order to reach a major gully on the northeast side of the peak. Starting up this gully, I encountered some light brush and otherwise just typical Class 2/3 boulder-hopping. The gully steepened and introduced some Class 3, more typical sandstone gully scrambling. I made my way out of the gully and up a slope, leading to the summit block of Peak 4029. Knowing I probably wasn't going to be reaching the true high point since the summit block was exposed Class 5, I tagged the second highest point. Previous peakbaggers reached the summit from its south side using a large boulder slab someone placed to facilitate the climb. I poked around on it and was immediately disinterested. If Adam had used his "head is higher" rule from the second-tallest point, that was good enough for me, too.

I dropped south down the bouldery slope, Class 2 leading me to a major drainage below that separates Peak 4029 from my next peak, Peak 4436. Following this wash south, my aim was to reach the saddle on the peak's south side. The wash gradually gained elevation and eventually introduced brush and boulders as I neared the last half mile to the saddle. Rather than head directly to the saddle, I chose to ascend using a limestone gully with some Class 2/3. I found it fun to have a hike with both limestone and sandstone scarmbling, a rare occurrence. The gully opened into a slope and gained the summit.

I backtracked to the wash, realizing I now needed to get back into the upper reaches of Colorock Canyon/Wash, but a hump at the foot of the Muddy Mountains lay in the way. I traversed northeast through the lumpy desert and ascended the steep hump, a final push of vertical gain for the hike. I dropped down its opposite side and reached Colorock Canyon/Wash. I took this back and merged with where I'd left it earlier.