Spring Mountains National Recreation Area

Spring Mountains National Recreation Area
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)
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Location	Clark / Nye counties, Nevada, United States
Nearest city	Las Vegas, Nevada
Coordinates	36°16′18″N 115°41′40″W / 36.27167°N 115.69444°W / 36.27167; -115.69444
Area	316,000 acres (494 sq mi; 1,280 km²)
Established	August 4, 1993
Governing body	United States Forest Service
Website	Spring Mountains National Recreation Area

The Spring Mountains National Recreation Area (SMNRA) is a U.S. national recreation area, administered by the U.S. Forest Service, west of Las Vegas, Nevada. It covers over 316,000 acres (494 sq mi; 1,280 km²). The area runs from low meadows (around 3,000 feet or 910 meters above sea level), to the 11,918-foot (3,633 m) Mount Charleston. The SMNRA is a part of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. It adjoins the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, which is administered by the Bureau of Land Management.

Spring Mountains National Recreation Area is home to several plant and animal species that are threatened. This was the driving force to create the Mount Charleston Wilderness area.

The SMNRA offers activities such as hiking, picnicking, and skiing at the Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort.

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The Spring Mountains National Recreation Area on the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest is a very special place. Mountain ranges that tower up to twelve thousand feet, have many endemic species. Are the ancestral home of the southern Paiute Tribes. And feature a site of a plane crash during the cold war that will be commemorated in a national cold war memorial at the new gateway visitor center that will be open to the public. Besides just the Forest Service Visitor Center, the cold war memorial will be on site as well as the seven sacred stones of the southern Paiute tribes, the Nuwuvi tribe. It's important to recognize how the visitor center ties into all the other projects on the mountain. All the projects on the mountain are about two things. One is to serve the people, benefit the American people. And the other is to serve the mountain. Campgrounds and facilities are being overrun. Because the population has increased since 1970. Or in our case all the way back to the CCC era. You need to increase that capacity. But you also need to inform the visitor where the best place for them to recreate is. Well where can they go? Well they need to learn that. So the visitor center is placed at a very obvious spot. Before you get to the assets on the mountain so that every person can see that visitor center and say oh, I can find out information here. Rather than parking where all the cars are. The visitor center provides for opportunities all the way from just sitting next to the fireplace to climbing the cliffs behind the visitor center. We have opportunities for full day hikes, three hour hikes, one hour hikes, and what I call the stroller loop around the top. So if you got all those opportunities, people will come in to find out where they need to go, probably use the restroom. And then they'll say wait a minute, this is a cool place. And the visitor center will be a destination on it's own.

History

The area was first named the Charleston Forest Reserve in 1906.

Additional land was added in 1989 to bring the area up to the current 316,000+ acres (1,279 km²). The area was designated as Spring Mountains National Recreation Area by the U.S. Congress in 1993.

Activities^[1]

Mountain Biking

Bristlecone Trail
Lower Bristlecone Trailhead
Sawmill Trailhead
Upper Bristlecone Trailhead

Campgrounds

Fletcher View Campground
Hilltop Campground
Kyle Canyon Road
McWilliams Campground
Mt. Charleston Scenic Byway

Backpacking

Kyle Canyon Road
Mt. Charleston National Recreation Trail (S. Loop)
Mt. Charleston Scenic Byway
North Loop Trail

Hiking

Bonanza Trail
Cathedral Rock Connector Trail
Cathedral Rock Trail
Cathedral Rock Trailhead
Echo Trailhead
Fletcher Canyon Trail
Fletcher Canyon Trailhead
Griffith Peak Trail
Griffith Peak Trailhead
Kyle Canyon Road
Lower Bristlecone Trailhead
Mary Jane Falls Trail
Mary Jane Trailhead
Mt. Charleston National Recreation Trail (S. Loop)
Mt. Charleston Scenic Byway
North Loop Trail
North Loop Trailhead
Robbers Roost Trailhead
Sawmill Loop Trail
Sawmill Ridge Route Trail
Sawmill Trailhead
Trail Canyon Trail
Trail Canyon Trailhead
Upper Bristlecone Trail
Upper Bristlecone Trailhead

Picnicking

Cathedral Rock Picnic Site
Deer Creek Picnic Site
Kyle Canyon Picnic Area
Kyle Canyon Road
Mt. Charleston Scenic Byway
Old Mill Picnic Site
Sawmill Trailhead

Areas for Group Picnicking at Spring Mountains National Recreation Area Office

Foxtail Group Picnic Site
Kyle Canyon Picnic Area

Winter Sports

Lee Canyon (Ski and Snowboard Resort)
Mt. Charleston Scenic Byway

Gallery

Cathedral Rock Trail Avalanche chute: Destruction of trees taken on June 1, 2008
Little Falls on June 1, 2008
Entrance and Sign
A hiking trail in the mountains.
Forest Service sign at the Visitor center
Charleston Peak South Loop Trail Sign
Fall Colors on South Loop Trail to Charleston Peak

References

^ "Spring Mountains National Recreation Area Office". USDA Forest Service.

External links

v t e National recreation areas of the United States
National Park Service	Amistad Bighorn Canyon Boston Harbor Islands Chattahoochee River Chickasaw Curecanti Delaware Water Gap Gateway Gauley River Glen Canyon Golden Gate Lake Chelan Lake Mead Lake Meredith Lake Roosevelt Ross Lake Santa Monica Mountains Whiskeytown–Shasta–Trinity
U.S. Forest Service	Allegheny Arapaho Ed Jenkins Flaming Gorge Grand Island Hells Canyon Jemez Land Between The Lakes Moosalamoo Mount Baker Mount Hood Mount Rogers Oregon Dunes Pine Ridge Rattlesnake Robert T. Stafford White Rocks Sawtooth Smith River Spring Mountains Spruce Knob–Seneca Rocks Whiskeytown–Shasta–Trinity Winding Stair Mountain
Bureau of Land Management	White Mountains

Protected areas of Nevada

Federal

National Parks and Monuments	Avi Kwa Ame NM (BLM) Basin and Range NM (BLM) Death Valley NP Gold Butte NM (BLM) Great Basin NP Tule Springs Fossil Beds NM
National Recreation Areas	Lake Mead Spring Mountains (USFS)
National Forests	Humboldt–Toiyabe Inyo Lake Tahoe Basin
National Conservation Areas	Black Rock Desert–High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails Red Rock Canyon Sloan Canyon
Wilderness Areas	Alta Toquima Arc Dome Arrow Canyon Bald Mountain Becky Peak Big Rocks Black Canyon Black Rock Desert Boundary Peak Bridge Canyon Bristlecone Calico Mountains Clover Mountains Currant Mountain Death Valley Delamar Mountains East Fork High Rock Canyon East Humboldt Eldorado Far South Egans Fortification Range Goshute Canyon Government Peak Grant Range High Rock Canyon High Rock Lake High Schells Highland Ridge Ireteba Peaks Jarbidge Jimbilnan Jumbo Springs La Madre Mountains Lime Canyon Little High Rock Canyon Meadow Valley Range Mormon Mountains Mt Charleston Mt Grafton Mt Irish Mt Moriah Mt Rose Muddy Mountains Nellis Wash North Black Rock Range North Jackson Mountains North McCullough Pahute Peak Parsnip Peak Pinto Valley Quinn Canyon Rainbow Mountain Red Mountain Ruby Mountains Santa Rosa–Paradise Peak Shellback South Egan Range South Jackson Mountains South McCullough South Pahroc Range Spirit Mountain Table Mountain Tunnel Spring Wee Thump Joshua Tree Weepah Spring White Pine Range White Rock Range Worthington Mountains Wovoka
National Wildlife Refuges	Anaho Island Ash Meadows Desert Fallon Moapa Valley Pahranagat Ruby Lake Sheldon Stillwater

State

Historic Parks	Elgin Schoolhouse Fort Churchill Mormon Station Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort Ward Charcoal Ovens
Recreation Areas	Big Bend of the Colorado Lahontan Rye Patch South Fork Walker River Wild Horse
Other	Beaver Dam Berlin–Ichthyosaur Cathedral Gorge Cave Lake Dayton Echo Canyon Kershaw–Ryan Lake Tahoe–Nevada Spring Mountain Ranch Spring Valley Valley of Fire Van Sickle Washoe Lake
Previous	Belmont Courthouse Floyd Lamb Walker Lake

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