Hike Parsnip Peak Parsnip Peak Wilderness Area BLM, NV

May 22, 2022 — Parsnip Peak is the high point of the Parsnip Peak Wilderness Area in the Wilson Creek Mountains. It's a remote mountain in central Nevada that requires a fair amount of bushwhacking. The standard way to reach the peak seems to be from Blue Rock Spring on the southwest side of the peak. To get there take one of many excellent dirt roads from the highway to reach here (38.11643, -114.37382). Veer left on this significantly less good road where high clearance and good tires are required, though not 4WD. If you have a sedan, expect to add about 5 miles of hiking round trip from this spot. The road continues past where I parked, but it gets quite narrow and has high brush in the center so I decided to park at a destroyed old fence and hike from there. If you have an ATV or don't care about your paint job, you can get closer and cut about 2 miles off this hike's stats.

I followed Eric Kassan's route, which had some sparsely placed cairns during my visit. While it might be tempting to try a more direct route to Parsnip Peak, the bush on the southside slope is dense and horrible. At least along the ridge crest there's a fair amount of open space and a pretty excellent animal trail if you manage to stick to it, while the slope looked like a sufferfest.

After hiking along the ATV road for a mile or so I reached a little fire pit at where Blue Rock Spring was marked on a map. I found no spring, but plenty of dense foliage within the drainage, which thwarted my initial plan to hike this drainage to get up to the ridgeline. Instead I passed over the drainage and started ascending steeply to the north where there were plenty of options for gaining the first few hundred feet. On the way up I stuck to solid Class 2 rock, and on the way down later there was a steep and dirty slope that made descending a mindless endeavor. At around 7800' there is a rock outcrop that I avoided by keeping to its right (south) and made an ascending traverse to a minor saddle to the north.

Once at this minor saddle, the long-term route-finding was trivial since I'd be more or less on the ridge crest all the way to Parsnip Peak. The issue is with the short-term route-finding, since going the wrong way could result in significant bushwhacking. Somehow on my way back I was able to stay on animal trails for pretty much the entire way, but on the way to the peak I messed up constantly. I sort of noticed a pattern for brush avoidance: keep mostly to the northern (left) side of the crest where the growth isn't as fierce, and pay attention to the ample sheep poop along the way.

There are two significant humps along the way to Parsnip Peak, both pretty much identical, and they add lots of vertical gain to the hike. The east ridge of both humps had a significant animal trail off the crest on the north side, very helpful since the brush was particularly bad elsewhere in these portions. The final ascent to the summit of Parsnip Peak introduced some light Class 2 and was overall actually pleasant, a nice ending to an otherwise not particularly memorable hike. I also enjoyed the green meadows that popped in and out along the duration of the ridgeline.