South Peak | Rainbow Mountain Wilderness, Nevada

South Peak | Rainbow Mountain Wilderness, Nevada | Visit lasvegasareatrails.com/south-... | Explore the Southern edge of the colorful Rainbow Mountains! South Peak is the furthest named peak to the South in the colorful Rainbow Mountain Range. There is a smaller, unnamed peak I refer to as “South of South Peak” bordering Highway 160 just opposite of Potosi Mountain. However, South Peak by far has the best view of Potosi Mountain to the South and the Rainbow Mountain Range to the North. Most climbers ignore South Peak, choosing to ascend the more popular peaks to the North: Hollow Rock Peak and Windy Peak. However, South Peak deserves some attention due to its remoteness and unique, spectacular views. It’s a fun navigational challenge. The route begins at the Mountain Springs Trailhead on Hwy 160. From there head for a communications tower above. The approach trail begins behind the communications tower. Ascend that trail to the Rainbow Mts. Upper Crest Ridgeline.
Turn right on the Upper Crest Ridgeline, ascend to a high point, then descend toward the Hollow Rock Peak ridgeline. You might catch a glimpse of South Peak behind and to the South of the Hollow Rock Peak ridgeline.
Once you’ve begun to ascend the Hollow Rock Peak ridgeline, that peak you see to the South is South Peak. Notice a connector saddle between the Hollow Rock Peak ridgeline and the South Peak ridgeline. Once you’re above that saddle, descend to the saddle and begin ascending toward the South Peak ridgeline. There are a few cairns marking the way up to the South Peak Ridgeline, but it’s not difficult to weave around the sandstone formations and find the path of least resistance to the South Peak ridgeline.
Once you’re on the South Peak ridgeline, keep to your left to navigate that ridgeline to South Peak summit. On this day, navigating this route for the first time, and in 95-degree temperatures ate up enough of my energy…and water supply… that I turned around about half-way along the South Peak ridgeline. I was at a high point faced with a barrier drop-off and the need to backtrack to find the route I could clearly see below to the left. It looked pretty easy to return on a cooler day and continue the route toward South Peak’s summit at the far edge of its ridgeline.
When you’re on South Peak’s ridgeline, look around to see a network of routes below leading to the Late Night Trailhead on Highway 160 and on up to the Mountain Springs Trailhead. You will be able to make out alternate routes from below to many of the Southern peaks on the Rainbow Mountains including South Peak, Hollow Rock Peak, Windy Peak and Black Velvet Peak. Many of these routes look well enough established to accommodate mountain biking, which is one of the main attractions of the Late Night Trailhead.
South Peak summit is a fun, relatively easy route to navigate with incredible unique views along the way. The fun part is weaving around various sandstone formations between Hollow Rock Peak and South Peak, and the formations on the South Peak Ridgeline. Though there are a few cairns at points along the way, take them with a grain of salt and keep the big picture in mind with your sights set on the main route features: Hollow Rock Peak ridgeline, South Peak ridgeline, and the connector saddle between.
The entire round trip from the Mountain Springs Trailhead is a little over 5 miles, but the navigational challenges on this unmarked route can add a lot of time. Choose a cooler day: Early to mid-Spring or late Summer through Fall. Summer can bring temperatures easily exceeding 100 degrees. Winter might bring icy conditions that could make navigation on the sandstone slabs a bit treacherous.