Spring Mountains National Recreation Area Link to the campground’s website
Nevada’s Mt. Charleston Area Link to Googlemaps
Reviewer's name: Adam State Road 156; Mt. Charleston, NV
Date(s) of visit: August 2011 702 872 5577
Information about the campground’s location and business:
[This information is largely the same as Hilltop Campground review: they are both run by the same Ntnl Rec Area]
Getting there (proximity to a major road, signage, etc.)
Just north of Las Vegas, go to the visitor centre on st. road 157 (Kyle Canyon Road) in Mt. Charleston
Attractions (what's nearby for a daytrip?)
Las Vegas, Death Valley Ntnl Park, Lee Canyon Ski Area.
Campground Staff (helpful, non-existent, mean?)
Self check-in style, Host was very helpful and informative
Other (cell phone reception, etc.)
My cell phone was spotty, at best. Campground only open May - October
Information about the campground as a place
Facilities (bathrooms, store, etc.)
Plenty of scattered bathrooms
Water (lake, creek, swimming, fishing, etc.)
Various springs in the area (in late august the only water i saw was Mary Jane Falls—a very nice hiking trail)
Hiking Trails (variety, length, difficulty, etc.)
This is sort of in the middle of the Bristlecone Trail, a 6+mile moderate trail through the mountain forest. There are unnamed minor trails, as well as a longer major trail, Bonanza joining it. Bristlecone is good for biking as well. There are many other trails in the area: go to the visitor’s centre mentioned above.
Views (what can you see here that is amazing?)
You’re walking through a forested mountain in the desert. I hiked several trails in this system and was never not amazed.
Information about the campground’s tent sites
Beauty (if you sit at your site all day)
This campground is at a lower elevation than its surrounds, so looking upward is quite lovely.
Privacy (how close do you feel to other sites)
There’s a good amount of space between the sites, but the forest is sparsely treed and there’s little in the way of visual or audio barriers from site to site
Facilities (table, fire ring, tent pad, water, etc.)
They’ve got fire rings or stands at every site and dirt for tent pads. bring lots of water
Convenience (ease of setting up, close to bathrooms?, etc.)
There’s probably a bathroom near your site
Reviewer’s narrative
This and Hilltop are the two (of several) campgrounds I looked at in the Spring Mountain area: This one is great if your goals are exclusively hiking (or biking) since you can walk out from your site right into some major trails. The sites themselves provide an adequate home base for these activities, but not else much in and of themselves. It looks like the place is developing a series of trails that radiate out from the campground in several directions to hit the Bristlecone trail (which surrounds the campground) which will allow you to vary the skill level and duration of some smaller hikes. According to the host, this campground does get quite crowded on the weekends (he did suggest some others nearby that tend to be less crowed), so you may want to make reservations here.
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