South Loop Trailhead — Attraction in Summerlin South

Review for: Mt. Charleston National Recreation Trail, South Loop TO Griffith Peak

Attempted this trail yesterday (04/25/18) with a goal of making it to Griffith Peak (total = 4.0mi one-way), and unfortunately only made it to 10,000' before I had to turn around (vertical 1000' / 0.7mi short of Griffith Peak). While the first ~3mi on the trail were mostly clear of snow (with some patches of 6-12"-deep snow on thinner parts of the trail over hills, which should be considered very carefully), the last mile of the trail's switchbacks are pretty heavily loaded in deep snow. At one point, the tracks I was following made by previous hikers became too unclear, and I decided to play it safe and turn around. It is worth noting that I passed a few other hikers coming down who had made it to Griffith, but each of them noted some trail-finding would be necessary as the upper portion of the trail was unclear to them, too.

Aside from the snow, this trail was beautiful -- steep and challenging, especially when considering the altitude (you'll be going above 10,000' if you do the whole thing, and starting at 8000' in the parking area), but really wide-open scenery with tons of great views and lookouts that get better and better the further you ascend. Highly recommend. Bring poles and consider microspikes, if available for the snowy patches, and definitely take your time and be safe with the snow. As always, avoid altitude sickness by staying well hydrated (water with...

This is the trail for Griffith Peak and Mt. Charleston’s South Loop. If you’re aiming for Charleston’s summit but are scared of heights, this route has fewer cliff edges and becomes accessible earlier in the year. Though some places may have snow as late as July.

After 4 miles you will walk within the tree graveyard from 2013’s Fire. Haunting beautiful is the best way to describe it. However even at 2 miles in you get a couple scenic overviews of Kyle Canyon.

There are many sights to see and reasons to choose this trail. There is overflow parking (but is still usually full by 9 a.m. in the summer) and the restrooms have plumbing and are not just a hole...

Hiked Cathedral Rock today. It's a short trail, but challenging. Beautiful view from the top. We took a little side trip coming back, thinking that we could connect with the Little Falls trail, but after bushwhacking our way to the top of a little gorge, we wended our way back...