Mount Moriah, 12,067', from Big Canyon, Nevada

Essence: Every mountain creates a visual memory and makes a visceral impression. Outlandish rock features, an elevated table that goes on forever, and ancient Great Basin bristlecone pines present a phantasmagorical landscape. A storm rolled in and curtailed our exploration but fortuitously enhanced the cloudscape. The only impediment was the demanding 4WD road to the Big Canyon Trailhead. (An alternate approach is offered.) The peak is the Mount Moriah Wilderness highpoint. The 89,790-acre wilderness lies north of Great Basin National Park in the north quarter of the 60-mile-long Snake Range within Nevada's Basin and Range Province, administered by Humboldt–Toiyabe National Forest. Consider doing this hike as a companion to sojourns in the national park. LiDAR has adjusted its height slightly to 12,065'. Mount Moriah ranks No. 59 among the Lower 48 Top 100 peaks by prominence with a 4,927-foot rise. 

Travel: A vehicle with 4WD low, high clearance, and tough tires is required. From Sacramento Pass on U.S. 50, mile marker 83.2, drive west for 3.6 miles. At mile marker 79.6 turn north on Eight Mile Road/CR 37. There is no sign on the highway or the road. Go over a cattle guard. The well-graded gravel road descends onto the valley floor and swings north. At 7.6 miles, significant roads diverge. Stay straight. It took us 15 minutes to drive the 11.3 miles to FSR 469. It was bow season and several trucks with OHV trailers were parked in the large lot. Measure distance from there. The road is narrow with no room to pass. At all junctions, stay on FSR 469 to the trailhead. The track is steepest with sharp rocks in the switchbacks. The steel lips of cattle guards were nasty. The annoying road improves around 7.5 miles on a wide-open sage flat. Pass a tiny blue shack at 9.1 miles. Descend into a drainageway at 10 miles. Turn right at 10.2 miles. Park on a broad ridgeline at 11.2 miles. In a Renegade Trailhawk with oversized KO2 tires it took 1:15 to drive FSR 469.

Distance and Elevation Gain: 8.8 miles; 2,760 feet
Total Time: 5:00 to 6:30, allow for wandering on The Table.
Difficulty: Trail, off-trail; navigation moderate; Class 2 with mild exposure on the sidehill trail.
Map: Mount Moriah, Nevada 7.5' USGS Quad 

Date Hiked: August 11, 2026
Quote: Let’s be rowdy investigators of wonders and miracles. Let’s hack our way through the frontiers to discover the wildest beauty and truth ever. Rob Brezsny 

 

What planet is he on? Mount Moriah wasn't even on our radar until an ecologist we met the previous week on Wheeler Peak excitedly insisted we explore the mountain. The dreamlike landscape unfolded with irresistible freakish beauty.

Route: From the Big Canyon Trailhead bear south and cross the canyon. Turn east and ascend onto The Table. Hike southeast about half a mile, leave the trail, and ascend south to the northeast ridge of Mount Moriah. A sidehill trail contours under a subsidiary peak and then rises to the south ridge. Climb north to the summit. We did an out-and-back because of thunderstorms in the area but alternative routes are suggested. 

There is a large OHV parking lot at the junction of Eight Mile Road and FSR 469. Hunters with off-road vehicles were having an easier time of it on the rough road. 

What a beautiful morning. Looking north from Big Canyon Trailhead, elevation 9,911 feet, rolling grasslands mimicked the color of the sun. I've long known about crepuscular rays--visible light beams passing through gaps in clouds. But here, the mottled sky in every possible shade of blue had curious dark streaks. They are made by shadows cast by dense parts of clouds blocking sunlight. Let the wonders begin. (Thomas Holt Ward, photo) 

Looking south, our destination is seen from the expansive parking area. The true summit is on the right. (THW, photo) 

 

Enter the Mount Moriah Wilderness at the trailhead. If anything, the dilapidated Big Canyon Trail sign had a certain historic charm. It's a little optimistic with its mileage to the "Moriah Table."

 

The trail started off level and then headed gently downhill through monochromatic big sage, piñon, and cattle dung. It was dry on the south facing slope, flowers were limited to a few Indian paintbrush. It was wetter and shadier on the other side of Big Canyon where conifer and aspen had taken hold. The look and feel was quintessential American West. 

We shared the trail with deer tracks. At 0.7 mile we reached the low point of the hike alongside the stone-dry creekbed in Big Canyon, 9,740 feet. The track paced the canyon for half a mile before crossing and swinging northeast. We moved through a grove of young and old aspen with synergistic snowberry on the forest floor.

The shade of conifer trees was welcome as we wandered up the west slope of The Table. The first 

bristlecone pine was alongside the trail at 10,000 feet. The needles of this venerable, double-trunked limber pine are bunched in groups of five.  

A river of talus flows down to meet the trail at 10,200 feet. A rivulet ran out from under the rocks. The trail splintered every which way and there were no cairns. We took a moment to sort it out. (THW, photo)  

 

The trail is distinct once again on the north side of the block field.  

The stones beside the trail look like marbleized limestone, or perhaps quartzite. The Friends of Nevada Wilderness write, "The geology of the Mount Moriah Wilderness is dominated by very old sedimentary rocks, dating from the Cambrian period (538 to 486 million years ago). These rocks form most of the highest country within the Wilderness. The most prominent structural feature of the range is the northern Snake Range decollement, a low-angle fault that places highly folded and faulted limestones atop fairly horizontal and undeformed quartzite. The highest peaks of the range are formed by the deformed limestone. The unique Moriah Table and steep canyon walls below The Table are created by the harder, undeformed (metamorphic) quartzite." 

Switchbacks commence at 10,340 feet and maintain a mellow grade. A cluster of elder (who knows how old) Great Basin bristlecone pines stand sentry at the entrance to The Table at 11,000 feet, 2.2 miles. (THW, photo) 

The trees stopped us in our tracks to marvel at these magnificent creatures. "Methuselah" is a Great Basin bristlecone pine living in the White Mountains of eastern California. At 4,858 years, it is thought to be the oldest known living non-clonal organism on Earth. In very old specimens, often only a narrow strip of living tissue connects the roots to a handful of live branches, laying bare the golden trunk. (THW, photo)  

The Table is an elevated plateau 1,000 feet below the peak. Its surface is uniform--small caliber chipped rock with nondescript ground cover. It measures roughly two miles by one mile but it may as well be infinite from the feel of it. We saw a variety of scat and tracks. Watch for Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, mule deer, mountain lion, bobcats, and coyotes. (THW, photo, looking north)   

The bare root ball of a fallen tree is a work of art. Dead trees are so durable they can persist for 7,000 years. 

(THW, photo)  

Every bristlecone pine in this outdoor museum is a unique sculpture. (THW, photo)  

I wish we had all day to wander around and consider the complexity, personality, and beauty of these trees. Their appearance is quite different from the Rocky Mountain bristlecone pines we visited on West and East Spanish Peaks in July. (THW, photo)  

The fluted north face of Moriah's sub peak in variegated pastels fascinates from the Table. Mount Moriah is image-right. (THW, photo)  

 

To climb the peak hike southeast across the virtually empty plain. (THW, photo)   

At 2.7 miles, leave the trail and hike due south. In 2026 this critical route shift was marked with a tall cairn. Were you to keep traveling on the trail you would eventually engage Hendrys Creek Trail, Horse Canyon Trail, and the Hampton Creek Trail. (THW, photo)  

  

Ascend the gray slope. The gravel was spongy and game left stairstep platforms. Hold a south trajectory to the ridgetop. A social trail is unlikely to develop when people are free to scatter over a broad area.

There wasn't much growing in the pebbles. This tiny columbine was a purple exception.

 

Without trying, we somehow gained the ridge at a cairn marking the exit for returning hikers, 3.0 miles, 11,400 feet. Cairns will get you started on a sidehill trail that does its best to follow the contour. 

If we hadn't been racing rain we would have climbed the ridge over the sub peak rather than follow the trail flanking it on the south. (THW, photo)  

If you do opt for the ridge route, I recommend you take the standard, sidehill trail in one direction or the other because it is fantastical. My partner is in the saddle northeast of the sub peak. A large bristlecone grove with 100 or more trees is on the slope below. 

The sidehill trail is a thin thread but comfortable enough to start. We were delighted to meet seven crew members with Friends of Nevada Wilderness. They had just finished reconstructing the Hampton Creek Trail. In July 2014, the Hampton Fire burned over 12,000 acres in the wilderness. Subsequent flash flooding obliterated the trail. The rebuilt track is 7.0 miles one-way to the summit of Mount Moriah but, "You can get to the trailhead in a Subaru."

The trail passes under and through some mind-bending rock features composed of deformed limestone, a sedimentary carbonate rock composed primarily of the mineral dolomite. The trail is one boot wide in places and some hikers will no doubt feel a sense of exposure. 

 

A water-stained pouroff enhanced mesmerizing stone essence.

 

Dolostone bedrock beside the trail was wearing shades of pink.

The trail exploits a rift in white standing stones. 

Contact the southwest ridge of Moriah at 4.0 miles, 11,800 feet. There are no obstacles on this ridge, rather small rocks on a forgiving surface. It was sprinkling so we booked it for the summit. 

 

I would have enjoyed spending more time among these time-worn blocks.

My partner has lit on the rust-colored summit beneath a tempestuous sky at 4.4 miles. 

Reference Mark No. 2 was created with care and artistry. (THW, photo)  

The Mount Moriah Benchmark was placed in 1958. (THW, photo)  

We did the traverse from Wheeler Peak to Doso Doyabi a week prior. From there, the double-humped stone summit of Mount Moriah was clearly visible. On this day a smoky sky compromised the visibility but there was the traverse in all its glory, nevertheless. 

The northern quadrant of The Table awaits stoically under a cloud bound sky. 

The descent options from the summit were tempting but thunderclaps argued for retracing our steps. If I did this hike again I would climb the sub peak, shown, and return to the upcoming route. I have read reports of hikers dropping into the northeast saddle and then pitching down to the sidehill trail. Or, equally appealing was riding the northwest ridge all the way back to the Big Canyon Trailhead. Needless to say, I can't vouch for routes I have not taken.

Returning, I'm on a dicey strip of sidehill trail. (THW, photo)  

We passed back under and through the organic limestone cliffs. (THW, photo)  

When we got to the saddle northeast of the sub peak we broke for the ridgeline. This was a serendipitous decision. (THW, photo)  

We looked through an opening in the ridge to the most beautiful stone on the entire hike. There were soft spires and globular domes, all swirled in every color limestone is capable of generating. (THW, photo)  

Here's a slightly different angle taken from the same location.

 

Continue east down the ridgeline until you get a bead on the upcoming trail. (THW, photo)  

I could easily spend an entire day walking the circumference of The Table visiting trees. (THW, photo)  

Below, I'm sitting on a living log under a rain-washed sky contemplating the wonderment of Mount Moriah and its community. We left too much untamed wild unseen. Now, if we can just hack our way up that road once again...

(THW, photo)   

Doso Doyabi, 12,771', via Wheeler Peak, 13,063', Great Basin National Park, Nevada

Essence: The trail to Wheeler Peak, the highpoint in the Snake Range, is masterfully graduated and rigorously maintained. This is an ideal family hike for enthusiastic preteens eager to top a thirteener. The second tallest peak in Nevada has unbounded views into the absolute distance. Doso Doyabi is typically climbed via its north ridge. Trip reports universally disparage this approach as tedious and unpleasant. Instead, we traversed the ridge there-and-back from Wheeler. It is spectacular in both directions and deserves to be traveled twice. This strenuous, off-trail segment should only be attempted by hikers experienced with teetering, unseated, blocks of talus. Wheeler Peak is named for George Wheeler who surveyed the Great Basin region in 1869. Doso Doyabi was formerly named Jeff Davis Peak. Davis was the president of the Confederacy during the Civil War. In 2019, the name was changed to Doso Doyabi, Shoshone for “white mountain." Tribal elders claim it references the year-round snow-covered summit. The glacier has melted but my field notes from a previous hike describe the peak as dressed in white quartzite. LiDAR has more accurately measured Wheeler at 13,062' with an astonishing rise of 7,568 feet (No. 12 among the Lower 48 top 100 peaks by prominence.), and Doso Doyabi at 12,773' with a rise of 445 feet. Both mountains are within Great Basin National Park. The park is in the south-central portion of the 60-mile-long Snake Range, within Nevada's Basin and Range Province. 

Travel: From U.S. 50 in Snake Valley drive south on NV 487 for five miles. The Great Basin Visitor Center is on the outskirts of Baker at the junction with NV 488. Measure distance from there and drive west toward the park. At 4.7 miles turn right on Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive. The paved road is curvy with some shelf sections. There are no passing lanes so please use turnouts. Wheeler Peak trailhead parking is in a large paved lot at 15.6 miles. No facilities, no water, no fees. Bring and carry all the water you will need.

Distance and Elevation Gain: Wheeler Peak: 8.9 miles; 2,940 feet. Doso Doyabi: 11.8 miles; 4,300 feet.
Total Time: Wheeler Peak, 4:00 - 6:30; Doso Doyabi, 7:00 - 10:30 
Difficulty: Wheeler Peak: trail; navigation easy; Class 2; no exposure; snow lingers into summer. Doso Doyabi: off-trail on talus; navigation moderate; Class 2+; mild exposure. (You may moderate your distance from the cliff edge.) 

Maps: Windy Peak; Wheeler Peak, NV 7.5' USGS Quads
Latest Date Hiked: August 6, 2026
Quote: Each kind of rock can change your mood. Not in some subtle, subliminal way, but like a sudden turn of emotion…Each of your sensations will be scratched down to whatever formation lies below your hands or feet. Craig Childs

Diminishing daylight ignites Doso Doyabi and Wheeler Peak in refracted luminosity. Crisp shafts of shadow make the traverse between the peaks appear all the more improbable. Indeed, the effort is considerable but the Class 2+ traipse across dazzling quartzite blocks will exhilarate experienced scramblers. (Thomas Holt Ward, photo) 

 

Route: On-trail, hike generally southwest to the north ridge of Wheeler and ascend to the summit. From the east end of Wheeler's summit ridge, off-trail descend southeast, east, and northeast through undulating terrain. From the 12,328-foot saddle, climb northeast to the Doso summit. The most stable rock is proximal to the cliff edge. The return to Wheeler finishes with a significant, steep ascent. 

Wheeler Peak

Shallow stone steps introduce the hiker to the Wheeler Peak Summit Trail, elevation 10,161 feet. I visited Lehman Caves as a child in the 1960s. The tour left an awe inspiring impression I still can recall. In 2001, I ascended the primarily Class 1 trail with my eleven year old son. He buzzed up and back gleefully. In 2022, on the Wheeler summit my partner and I vowed to return to do the traverse to Doso Doyabi. On this trip in 2026, nearby wildfires shrouded the area in smoke. It compromised visibility but not the hike.  

Aspen are in their element at 10,100 feet and the nearly flat trail passes through a quaking grove sure to quicken hearts with flickering light. It is not uncommon for aspen growing on hillsides to develop a sway in their pliable young trunks where snow has applied pressure. (THW, photo) 

It is unusual to see a route splayed out over the entire ascent. This dramatic visual was snapped at 0.6 mile. The intimidating north ridge of Doso Doyabi is image-left. It is so steep that big blocks of stone are sure to be at the angle of repose. Step and they slide. Wheeler Peak has a Mount Whitney look with a sheer, near vertical wall on its northeast face and a rounded backslope. (June, 2022 image)

 

The immaculate trail bears southwest toward Wheeler's north ridge. There is a great variety of conifer trees in the park, including Utah and Rocky Mountain juniper; piñon, ponderosa, and limber pine, shown; white and Douglas fir; and, of course, the Great Basin Bristlecone Pine, the world's longest living tree. Red metal flags attached high in trees mark the trail rather than blazes cut into the bark. 

At 1.1 miles the trail from the Wheeler Peak Campground joins in a spacious meadow. This is the first of two sharp turns to the right for Wheeler Peak. The drought in the American West is tightening its grip and all the meadowlands were parched. Ericameria, looking rather like a stunted rabbitbrush, was faithfully blooming.

At 1.2 miles, the trail to Stella Lake stays straight and the Wheeler Peak trail cranks north on a half-mile-long switchback. Trail engineers prioritized grade over length on this carefully surveyed trail. 

Adjacent to the trail is a sheet of foliated slate, a low-grade metamorphic rock. This two by three-foot layer is just one of many beautiful examples resembling sedimentary bedding in this immediate area.  

The footpath turns southwest at 1.7 miles and then due south at 2.0 miles. In 2022, early-morning speed hikers reported seeing a large deer herd. Surely they have roamed into, and are intimately familiar with the glacially carved amphitheater between the peaks.

The trail crosses a slope covered in calibrated chunks of white stone with intriguing striping. Look down on Stella Lake as the path makes a clean run through a scree field at 10,800 feet. Snow stakes marking the trail are secured in tall piles of rocks. 

Gain the ridge at the Wheeler Peak--Bald Mountain saddle, 2.4 miles, 10,874 feet. Composed of chipped and crushed rock, the trail is in impeccable shape. This is remarkable considering how much use this popular footpath gets. We ran into a dozen or so cheerful people on the Wheeler Peak segment of our hike. 

Pass through tree limit at 11,000 feet on a very old treadway. 

Switchbacks moderate the grade on the broad open slope. Below, a hiker can be seen rounding off on the horizon, image-right. 

  

Several bivouacs provide shelter from the prevailing west wind on the false flat at 11,900 feet. The mountain falls off to the west in a hurry but there's no sense of exposure on the trail. 

The final ridgeline pitch begins at 12,000 feet. In June, 2022, snow covered the trail and we scratched our way up on social alternatives. This image was taken at 12,700 feet and captures two hikers mounting the trail. Seven thousand feet below, the Spring Valley Wind Farm is spinning away north of U.S. 50. Nevada's first wind farm began operations in 2012 and utilizes 66 turbines on public land administered by the Bureau of Land Management. (THW, photo)  

 

Switchback up through a block field on a Class 2 trail. The white to gray rock is Prospect Mountain Quartzite, a hard, metamorphic rock resistant to erosional forces that was originally pure quartz sandstone. Sedimentary rock formations exposed in the Snake Range measure about 14,000 feet thick. These rocks formed from sediments deposited during Paleozoic time along shallow marine margins. They were subsequently buried and metamorphosed  into quartzite through heating and pressure related to tectonic compression during mountain-building episodes. Prospect Mountain Quartzite occurs throughout the high-peaks region of the Snake Range and extends from Eureka, Nevada to the House Range in western Utah.

Crest the Wheeler Peak summit at 4.45 miles after almost 3,000 feet of vertical. If this is your first thirteener, it was hard won with a big effort. Congratulations!  

The peak register is inside a mailbox protected by the walls of a bivouac. It looks like the same box my son discovered in 2001.

We found reference marks No. 4 and 5 placed in 1944, but could not locate the actual Wheeler Peak benchmark. 

 

Visibility was good in 2022. Looking north, Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive is along the lower skirts of Bald Mountain, U.S. 50 is going up and over Sacramento Pass, and Mount Moriah is the double summit above timberline well to the north in Humboldt National Forest.  

There are four named ranked summits within the park to the south. First, is the east-west Baker Peak ridgeline with the taller summit on the east (12,305'). Next, is Pyramid Peak (11,926'), followed by Mount Washington (11,658'), and finally, Lincoln Peak (11,597'). This image was shot at 5:15 pm. The smoke had largely cleared out during our trek to Doso Doyabi and back. The double traverse chewed up a lot more time than we anticipated.

  

Wheeler Peak has a lengthy summit ridge. If this is your turnaround, and especially if this is your first thirteener, don't just tag the highpoint and leave. Rather, walk from one end to the other so you can experience the massiveness of this peak and its overlooks all across the top. This image looks back at the summit from the east end. (THW, photo) 

Doso Doyabi 

The traverse to Doso Doyabi and back to Wheeler is 2.9 miles with 1,360 feet of gain. No matter how practiced and agile you are with talus hopping it will take at least three hours total. It took us four hours but we bungled the outgoing strategy. Take stock of your power and energy before launching. Remember, the return traverse ends with a demanding uphill pitch. This segment should be undertaken only by people comfortable off-trail on unstable rock. Begin by walking to the east end of the summit ridge. Large, angular quartzite blocks are fractured sharply.  

From there the traverse looks pretty tame. 

 

The initial drop on the rock pile gives you a better feel for the task. Phyllite stones have a wavy appearance. Phyllite, like slate, is a foliated metamorphic rock. Quartz, feldspar, and mica crystals give the sheets a shimmering sheen. 

We discovered on the return it is faster and better overall to stay close to the edge, provided you are comfortable doing so. The rock is more stable, there are little patches of grass, and the airy edge is way more fascinating. Having said that, be wary of cliff suck!

 

In this image my partner is teetering on moving blocks. You can partially avoid this tedious situation by staying closer to the rim.

There are at least four significant gashes, or furrows in the ridgeline. Below, Doso's summit is seen from the first gash. (THW, photo)  

This image looks back on the initial descent that must be reclimbed on the return to Wheeler. 

 

Playful opportunities abound. Have fun out there!

  

Below, my partner is standing in the second cleft. In the interest of time we contoured to the third furrow. It was a time-consuming mistake. I complained into my recorder, "Too many huge, rocking rollers. Everything is moving on me." Yes, there is more elevation gain and loss at the rim but it was faster. If the edge makes you queasy, it's possible to stay a few feet away and still take advantage of its benefits.  

All the super drama is along the rim. Look down through the second gash onto the glacial moraine shown on the Wheeler Peak topo. According to park literature there are seven rock glaciers in the park composed of Prospect Mountain Quartzite debris.  

This image was shot from the third cleft west of Point 12,630'. It illustrates the intense degree of verticality on Wheeler's northeast wall.   

My one twinge of regret on this adventure was our choice to pass up Point 12,630', the "Jeff Davis Needle." Seen from below, it is the most prominent free-standing spire midway between the peaks. This image was snapped from the saddle east of the point. 

 

Couloir chaos is so exhilarating!  

LiDAR measured the Wheeler Peak--Doso Doyabi saddle at 12,328 feet. The last 445-foot push was the easiest segment of the traverse. 

I set my partner free to finish at his pace (he is visible on the horizon) and took my time studying the structure of the mountain. I was fascinated by how quartzite fractures uniformly into blocks.  

 

The contrast of color alone was almost too much to process. (THW, photo)  

Below, I'm topping the sub peak, fully enveloped in a world of stone. Exactly where I wanted to be. (THW, photo)  

The summit ridge makes a bit of an arc. It's a close contest but the true summit is further on. (THW, photo)

  

Cresting Doso Doyabi at 5.9 miles, a long-held dream, was as sweet as sweet can be. In 2026, there was an infrequently signed peak register. (THW, photo)  

  

We walked out to examine the north ridge approach. As reported, it looked gnarly, steep, and riddled with gendarmes. The east ridge was more gradual and therefore more plausible. But the nearest road is 5,200 feet below.  

We nailed the return route and had a great time doing so. What a difference a few feet can make on a traverse.

 

The Wheeler wall is so commanding it gives me the shivers. It truly belongs in a national park. (THW, photo)  

When you fall in love with a mountain you have to keep glancing back. (THW, photo)  

We mounted a staircase of stable white stone at 12,900 feet. It's the best! 

Quartzite is found on some of my favorite mountains in Colorado and I've developed a fondness for its razor sharp edges, reliability, and origin story. To spend an entire day immersed in it--elation. (THW, photo)