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)