Hike Windy Peak Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, NV

Dec 03, 2022 — I first hiked Windy Peak March 8, 2017, but I made a lot of errors in that route, especially during my descent choice. At the time, I intended to make this hike into a loop by descending one of the canyons to the north, but I spent hours finding out the hard way that the canyons all ended up being technical. I don't recommend casually trying to descend any canyons in Red Rock Canyon without first knowing if they require ropes and gear, so lesson learned back then. Today I returned with a new friend Alec to repeat the route.

Windy Peak is probably best done as an out-and-back using the route described here, or by looping in Hollow Rock Peak just to the south by using a social trail that follows the ridgeline. Either way, it's a nice hike in the southern region of Red Rock Canyon that doesn't require entering the scenic drive. Many hikers seem to prefer accessing Windy Peak from the west near the small town of Mountain Springs, but that's an easier route that doesn't scrambling through the gorgeous sandstone like we did when coming from the east. The only issue with this eastern approach is that the road requires decent clearance (Crossover or better) due to a couple of notable ruts. Leave pavement here (36.007689, -115.4367441) and head northwest. We parked where we did because the road only deteriorated further.

We walked along the dirt road until reaching a somewhat clear social trail on the right. This trail led through the desert toward the base of Windy Peak, and was overall pretty easy to follow with a few small exceptions where it's more faint, though we were chatting and not giving the route our full attention at times. The trail begins to ascend more steeply onto a hump on the south side of Windy Peak. Nothing exceeds Class 2, but there are some loose boulders to pay attention to. The top of this hump has a short, flat section before the trail ascends steeply again toward the southern cliff of Windy Peak. A wide notch above becomes the goal, some slickrock and light Class 2 along the way. The route was well-marked by cairns.

Once at the wide notch, we continued along the base of the cliff toward a brushy-looking drainage, still on a well-defined social trail. Fortunately all the brush can be avoided and we found ourselves on the western slope of Windy Peak. From here, you can reach the summit by heading directly up the slope, but we chose to take a cairned route that follows a wide, slabby Class 2 ledge that zig-zags once up the face. It's not exposed, but the views are great, though the dropoff could be unnerving for some. Class 2 led to less-steep slickrock sandstone above, and ultimately the summit.