How about a quiet and peaceful drive into the desert wilderness? Bitter Springs Trail is just east of Las Vegas and is a nearly 28 mile trek that runs point-to-point along the Muddy Mountain Wilderness Area. Slow roll through this terrain and enjoy the sound of your tires crunching over the dirt. In the cooler months of October – early May you can find a spot to set up camp and relax in the open air.
Travel from North to South and the trail will deposit you close to Echo Bay on Lake Mead. The first 6 miles takes you from 2034′ elevation to 3435′ and then does a moderate descent to ~1600′. An easy day trip, or split into two parts with plenty of dispersed camping options.
Trail Review: Bitter Springs Trail, Nevada
Verfied and approved by Overland Bound Ambassadors CB Overland
Trail Type: Point-to-Point
GPS Coords: 36.48278, -114.74750
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From CB Overland:
“From the barren desert, thru vibrant orange rock formations, all the way down to the water of Lake Mead. Bitter Springs Trail is a twenty-eight-mile, two-hour journey through the Muddy Mountains of Nevada.
The first time Blake and I drove the Bitter Springs trail, we were new to Overlanding and still living in Las Vegas in the late teens. We were taken back by the beauty of iron ore rocks and odd patches of green coming from the mountains down to the desolate desert. As we drove along we marked out camp spots to seek out in the future.
Traveling full time out of The Fox, our 1998 Jeep TJ, with our two basset hounds and coming back to this part of the SouthWest felt like home. It was an absolute pleasure to camp in a slice of the beautiful American landscape we enjoyed so much.
-Blake and Chelsea”
I don’t care what you’ve heard, there’s no good overlanding in Nevada! Idaho and Utah will have some well publicized trails that will be much more satisfying. Please save yourself the misery and just drive around Nevada(same goes for Arizona). Nothing to see here… move along.