Mount Irish

Mount Irish

Place Name: Lincoln County

Place Description: State: Nevada
Date: 03/17/2022
Elevation: 8,743 Feet
Prominence: 2,543 Feet
Miles: 3.6
Elevation Gain: 1,755 Feet
Lists: Great Basin Peak List, Nevada P2K List

• Difficulty
• Solitude
• Kid Friendly
• Summit Views

The Southern Guardian To The Great Basin

Mount Irish sits in the south central region of Nevada and acts as an unofficial gateway between the desert and Great Basin. While most people visit the area for the wonderful petroglyphs, a climb to the summit is more than worth your time!

Overall

3.5

Pros

• Good access road
• Great views
• Lots of peace and quiet

Cons

• No trails
• Antennas on top
• Would be hot in summer

Acting like a guardian to the Great Basin, Mount Irish beckons peak baggers from near and far to its summit. Even though it’s only a couple hours north of Las Vegas, the area feels worlds apart as the desert transitions to the basin terrain. There are lakes, ranches, and wetlands making this a very different area from the Highway 93 south of here.

Getting There

The approach to Mount Irish is about as easy as it gets for a Nevada peak. 

The gateway is the town of Alamo which has a nice grocery store and accommodations at the Sunset View Inn.

Head north on US-93 before heading up NV-318 for a couple miles and you will then turn left onto Logan Canyon Rd. There is a closed cowboy fence here that you will need to open and close behind you.

Road into Mount Irish.

Logan Canyon Rd. Is mostly used to access the wonderful Mount Irish Petroglyphs site. This is road is high speed dirt until after the Petroglyphs, then it narrows and gets a little steeper. It’s still passable to any car with moderate clearance up to the pass. It’s about 11.8 miles on dirt.

Mount Irish Petroglyphs

The Trail

Accessing Mount Irish is a fun cross-country adventure. From the pass, it’s an initial steep climb. About 400 feet in the first 1/4 mile.

Starting up the hill from the road.

This will pop out at a beautiful limestone ridge that has a couple easy class 2 scrambles.

On the limestone ridge.

Drop off the left side and aim towards the cliff band above you. There is a weakness on the left side that becomes apparent as you head up the gully. For the most part, the terrain is stable and easy going despite going upwards.

Headed up to cliff bands

Above the cliff band, the terrain becomes much easier passing through the tree covered slopes. There is a ridge to the right and the summit is straight across.

Snow coverage on the way to the summit.

We found it easier to work around the ridge side of this area before heading up to the summit

The Summit

Unfortunately, Mount Irish has some communication crap on top of it. Really takes away from the wilderness experience.

The views are pretty fantastic and extended out to Wheeler Peak. Troy Peak, Badger Mountain, and Tikaboo Peak are much closer to view. Bald Mountain lies in the restricted space of Area 51 looks so awesome and is a crying shame that it can’t be climbed.

Looking out to Troy Peak

Bald Mountain in Area 51

The Final Word

Mount Irish is a nice quick hike that packs a lot of punch. It can be done as the main course or one can combine with other peaks in the region. There are some nice P2K peaks in this area that see little visitation.

This section of Nevada is easy to overlook, however, it’s quite a nice region to visit and explore!