Boundary Peak, NV Road to Trail Canyon

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turbocat
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Boundary Peak, NV Road to Trail Canyon

Post by turbocat »

Curious if anyone has been up to the Trail Canyon Trailhead for Boundary Peak (NV High Point) recently (or in the past few months) and can give me conditions of this road. Summit post says 2wd, preferably high clearance. I am renting a car in Vegas in early Sept and heading there and trying to figure out if I can get a basic rental...like a Ford Focus, up there, or do I really need to upgrade to a high clearance. Thanks in advance for any input.
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Teresa Gergen
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Re: Boundary Peak, NV Road to Trail Canyon

Post by Teresa Gergen »

There are 2 ways to get in there. The Chiatovich Rd that starts farther S is easier. Joins up with Trail Canyon Rd. I'd personally still want high clearance. Topo maps are incorrect. Use Google maps and satellite imagery. Google may direct you in from the north. Don't do that.
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Re: Boundary Peak, NV Road to Trail Canyon

Post by kaiman »

Teresa Gergen wrote:There are 2 ways to get in there. The Chiatovich Rd that starts farther S is easier. Joins up with Trail Canyon Rd. I'd personally still want high clearance. Topo maps are incorrect. Use Google maps and satellite imagery. Google may direct you in from the north. Don't do that.
You can also take the Queen's Ann Mine road/route off Highway 6 from the north which is 2WD (but a little steep) until you get to the Queen's Anne Mine and then becomes 4WD for the last 3/4-1 mile and 500 +/- feet to the saddle where the official trail head is. When I was there in 2011 we were coming from Great Basin at dusk so we decided to park/camp at the mine entrance (where the track comes out of the hillside) but realized after hiking the 4WD section the next day we could have easily made it to the top in a full-sized GMC Sierra pickup truck (we may have needed 4WD though). Either way you go, since you'll be in a rental car, I would recommend upgrading to something with more clearance.
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Re: Boundary Peak, NV Road to Trail Canyon

Post by funkyhiker »

Just there two weeks ago. The road has gotten much worse from the summit post 2WD description. Major washouts. Would definitely get something with higher clearance. We did it in a Outback, but scraped multiple times.
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Re: Boundary Peak, NV Road to Trail Canyon

Post by turbocat »

Thanks folks, I really appreciate the input. Probably will just approach from Queen Mine and park at the Mine as well as try to see what they have that is a bit more high clearance. The driving portion looks significantly shorter from that approach.
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Re: Boundary Peak, NV Road to Trail Canyon

Post by wineguy »

I have one other comment about the Trail Canyon Road. There is a sign about 7-8 miles in from the highway that says to avoid the road when wet. Take this seriously. I drove up there last year in a light drizzle, and the road was as slippery as a huge oil slick. I turned around soon after the sign. In June 2016 I drove to the TH via Trail Canyon Road in my RDX and had no trouble. But I wasn't thinking about whether a passenger vehicle could get up there. Most of the road was fine for a car, but there was a rocky hill on the return trip that might require some tricky maneuvering, maintaining momentum while dodging rocks.
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turbocat
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Re: Boundary Peak, NV Road to Trail Canyon

Post by turbocat »

I wanted to bump this thread and follow up after returning from this area and climbing Boundary Peak on 9/6/16. Figure good info for the next folks heading that way or when this same question arises again. Hopefully they can search out this thread.

Based on the input given from this thread and Summitpost I scrapped the Trail Canyon Approach and opted for the road in to Queen Mine which is about 9 miles north of Benton, CA and just after the border crossing into NV from CA. My thought was that the the approach road was much shorter in the event I had to walk it.

I had a 2016 Toyota Camry (rental) and I made it within 1.1 miles (total mileage from main road to Queen Mine is 6.2) of Queen Mine without bottoming out. The final 1.1 was just too washed out and can be walked in 15-20 minutes. I started up it, but it was too steep without AWD and I backed off into a decent pull out that could accommodate about 2 vehicles tightly at mile mark 5.1. Beyond mile mark 5.1, it would require some speed which would have compromised control. I was worried about slicing a tire from them spinning or bottoming out hard because I could not place wheels exactly where I needed at speed...but it could be done if you are an exceptional offroad driver or don't give a darn about your vehicle and it's ability to make it back down the mountain. Also, once committed beyond mile mark 5.1 (the final pull out) it would have been extremely difficult to back off or down and impossible to turn around until the mine. A high clearance 2WD or standard AWD with good clearance would not have been a problem (my 2006 AWD Pilot would have made it no problem to the Mine, and quite possibly even to the saddle above the Mine).

To put into context, you really just need to know how to take a 2WD standard clearance vehicle on a rough road to make it to mile mark 5.1, it is by no means an easy road and no walk in the park to get to mile marker 5.1. I have become somewhat adept at this over the years in Colorado. Definitely not for the faint of heart or folks that freak out easily...or are in love with their vehicles. Riding the berms (high points) and keeping your rubber on the highest points is essential as is the speed (slow and calculated). Where the trees and shrubs pushed in and encroached on the road at @ 3.5-4 miles, you are definitely going to scrape the sides of your vehicle, I had to polish out some scratches before returning the vehicle, superficial...but noticeable until I cleaned them up.

Next time I would definitely rent an SUV, but unfortunately it was Labor Day in Vegas and the rental company had none available to upgrade to so I just had to go for it. Worked out fine for me. I would have definitely done the same thing if it had been my Camry without a 2nd thought.

Hope this helps out someone down the road (no pun intended)
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Re: Boundary Peak, NV Road to Trail Canyon

Post by mtn_nut »

I'm sorry i didn't see this thread earlier.

Trail Canyon can be reached with 2WD. I did it last year with a BMW X3, the only AWD suv i could find for a decent price out of LAX, and it made it easily. Anything with some decent clearance (read - not a prius, but most normal 2WD) would have made it as well, and it actually has some very nice camping near the trailhead as well and good water from a creek at the trailhead. Its supposedly a longer route than the queen mine, and its definitely a longer drive if you're coming from the west, but i was blown away with how quiet the area is. There's nothing back there, and there were no planes or anything to drone on. Didn't see anyone till i stopped for dinner in Dyer, which has a odd little bar/restaurant. Other than one of the drunks there trying to eat my food, it was a good place to have dinner.
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Re: Boundary Peak, NV Road to Trail Canyon

Post by HikerDan75 »

We went up on the 3rd of September via Trail Canyon. I was in the two wheel drive F150 but did see a Focus at the trail head. They must have driven the road extremely slow though, which would've taken forever. To confirm the previous post, it wouldn't be recommended to travel when wet, lots of rocks and dirt that would turn to mud quickly.

I spoke with a couple that went up Queens Mine and they said there were some deep washouts so they recommended high clearance and definitely 4WD to make it up passed the mine.

If you can make it up the Queens mine, go that direction. The Trail Canyon trail isn't well traveled and therefore not easy to follow in places which forces you to bushwhack through sage. Not too forgiving on the legs.
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Re: Boundary Peak, NV Road to Trail Canyon

Post by turbocat »

As far as the Queen Mine Trail itself, I can confirm that it is a very nice trail and easy to follow. It follows the 4x4 road for 1 mile past Queen Mine, then up another hill to the actual trail register. From there, the trail is very easy to follow along the ridge to the Trail Canyon Saddle and the junction with the Trail Canyon Approach.
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Re: Boundary Peak, NV Road to Trail Canyon

Post by bdloftin77 »

Any recent updates on road conditions for either Trail Canyon or Queens Mine? Which TH would I be able to get closer to in a 2wd sedan? Would bringing a bike and biking the rest of the way to the TH be of any use, or would it be too steep/rocky?

My wife owns a Toyota RAV4 and I own a manual Toyota Echo. She barely knows how to drive stick though, and her car gets maybe half the gas mileage (read “money” and poor newlyweds), so I’d have to somehow borrow a different car for her to drive to school if I used her car, as I’d probably be leaving this Thursday evening. Driving all the way from Colorado Springs, and planning on a summit spree with Peale, Wheeler, Boundary, and Humphreys.
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Re: Boundary Peak, NV Road to Trail Canyon

Post by glenmiz »

Sorry, I can't offer any useful information but share your "pain". My daughter and I were planning on Boundary Peak on the way to Davis and fretted with the condition of the road. In the end, we were lucky enough to get permits to climb Whitney which, until the day before we left, were elusive. I'm hoping to go back sometime and get Boundary Peak so I'd be interested in your experience on the road.

Good luck and enjoy your peak objectives. We've done Humphry's and Wheeler and enjoyed them.
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