W7N/CK-228

This low peak is south of Las Vegas, very close to I-15. I used the trailhead and route described by others. I parked near the corner of Cameron St and Roark Ave near the Army Reserve Center, and followed the dirt road that continued off of Cameron.

First bend in the road. Army center with summit behind.

There are a number of dirt roads in the open area before you enter the canyon. There is no route through this area that is obviously better, so just head into the canyon. I had to detour a bit to stay outside of the Army's area. Once you enter the canyon there is only the road and train tracks.

Height of land in the canyon, shortly before the turn off.

A short distance past the height of land in the canyon there is a turn off for the access road that takes you to the summit. It continues up and away from the peak, then turns around in a switchback and heads towards the summit. The road is on the south side of the hill, overlooking the canyon you just walked up in. The road is well graded, and I made good time up to the summit.

Looking back at the switchback.

The road ends at the towers, but the high point is just beyond, outside of the fenced area. I climbed up the final few feet and found a place to set up. No good table-like rocks to sit on. I started on 17 meters and worked my way down the bands. Conditions were not great, but I didn't have to struggle for contacts. I was able to get a summit-to-summit with Jamie, N6JFD up in the Tahoe area on 40.

The view of Las Vegas from the summit.

Before I packed up I checked SotaWatch and saw that there were some activators in New Mexico, and was able to work them on 30 and 20 meters for two more S2S contacts. By this point I was getting hot, so I packed up and retraced my steps back to the car. As I was descending, still near the top, and train went by on the tracks. When I got back down to the road in the canyon, another train went by.

The second train goes by.

Back at the car I cranked up the AC and headed back to the hotel for a shower and some lunch.

Trailhead: I parked at the corner of Cameron St and Roark Ave
Website: SOTA Site.
Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map.
Route: Follow the dirt roads into the canyon. Just past the height of land, take the tower access road up the hill to the summit.
Red Tape: Don't trespass on the army base. The route I took appears to be completely on BLM land, but there are lots of pockets of private land in the area.