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Bowl of Fire North Loop
Muddy Mountains Wilderness Area, Hiking Around Las Vegas, Lake Mead NRA
Bowl of Fire Loop
Bowl of Fire Loop
Northshore Summit Trailhead (view W)

Overview

The Bowl of Fire (BOF) is an area of brilliant-red Jurassic-Age sandstone outcrops surrounded by gray limestone mountains. The limestone forms the sides of the bowl, and the red sandstone forms the fire in the bottom. The BOF is a place to wander about in a wonderland of jumbled piles of red sandstone; a place to go and just hike about with no particular destination. If you have a map, you can try to keep track of where you are (at least in general), but if you get confused about exactly where you are, just hike downhill to get out. The BOF Loop Route runs 8 miles as it circles around the northern section of the BOF and swings south to skirt the southwestern section of the BOF. This can be done as a true loop, but as described here, the hike requires a car shuttle.

Link to map or elevation profile.

Bowl of Fire Loop
Starting up Northshore Summit Trail (view N)

Watch Out

Other than the standard warnings about hiking in the desert, ...this is fairly safe hike, but there are a number of high pour-overs to climb up and down. Always be extra careful when you are high enough to fall and get hurt. This is wild country, so a rescue would be time consuming and fairly difficult. It would be easy to get turned around in the maze of side canyons and boulder piles, so if you get "lost," just hike down any wash (always go downhill) and you will eventually come out.

This is a good route to load up your GPS and pay close attention to following the waypoints.

While hiking, please respect the land and the other people out there, and try to Leave No Trace of your passage. Also, this is a long hike in a remote area, so be sure to bring the 10 Essentials.

Bowl of Fire Loop
From the high ridges of Northshore Summit, the goal seems a long way off (view NW)

Getting to the Trailhead

This hike is located along Northshore Road in Lake Mead National Recreation Area, about 50 minutes northeast of Las Vegas. From town, drive out to Lake Mead, then drive north on Northshore Road to the Mile 20.6 (Northshore Summit) Trailhead. Park here; this is the trailhead.

Along the way, at the Mile 16.0 Trailhead, the unpaved Callville Wash North Road (Road 94) starts up Callville Wash. This deep-sand, 4WD road provides shorter access to the BOF, but lots of vehicles get stuck in the sand.

Also along the way, notice the Mile 18.2 Trailhead on the left side of the road. This is where the "loop" route ends. Leave a vehicle here for a car shuttle at the end of the hike.

Bowl of Fire Loop
Hiker descending a canyon (view W)

The Hike

From the Northshore Summit trailhead (Table 1, Waypoint 1), the route starts on the Northshore Summit Trail. The route follows the trail, staying right at the fork, and climbs onto a saddle on the summit ridge (Wpt.  02).

The route follows the ridge northwest for 0.34 miles to another saddle (Wpt.  03), and from the low point, drop off the west side of the ridge into the canyon below (Wpt.  04). The route follows canyons downhill until they empty out onto the Callville Wash North Road (Wpt.  06).

Bowl of Fire Loop
Hikers on Callville Wash North Road (view N)

The route turns north and follows Callville Wash Road for 0.87 miles to a side canyon on the west side (Wpt.  07). The route turns into the side canyon, passes a Muddy Mountains Wilderness Area sign, and heads upstream. The canyon gets narrower and narrower, but eventually the canyon walls fall away, and the route follows the wash.

The wash winds around, passes a couple of pour-overs and a nice little arch, and continues west to an overlook (Wpt.  11) with views down into the major canyon that splits the northern BOF.

Bowl of Fire Loop
Leaving Callville Wash North Road (view W)

From the overlook, the route runs northwest and circles around the head of the major canyon, then turns southwest climbs onto the low ridge across the canyon.

Beyond the low ridge, the route starts down (Wpt. 12) into yet another major canyon, which is followed west and then south, and rather circuitously, all the way to the southwest corner of the northern BOF (Wpt 18).

At this point (Wpt 18), the canyon joins another major canyon coming in from the west. If hikers intend to hike back to the trailhead (Wpt. 01), this would be a good place to start back. In this case, follow the wash southeast and around the south side of the BOF cliffs, then make your way cross-country towards the point where the route first hit the Callville Wash Road (Wpt. 06).

Bowl of Fire Loop
One of several water hazards (view W)

Continuing south towards the southwestern BOF, climb out of the wash on the steep dirt bank, and pick up a use-trail (Wpt. 19) that runs south.

The use-trail fades in and out, but it continues south past red sandstone crags (Wpt. 20) and onto a low saddle (Wpt. 21). The route drops into the wash beyond the saddle (Wpt. 22), and follows washes southwest and downstream passing more high pour-overs until reaching the southwest BOF (Wpt. 25).

Bowl of Fire Loop
Sandstone wonderland (view W)

Either wander up into this section of the BOF, or continue down the wash. The route exits the BOF area at some interesting conglomerate boulders that form a pour-over, then continues down the wash for 0.26 miles to a use-trail that cuts up the left bank of the wash (Wpt 27), then runs southeast towards Callville Wash before fading out. Crossing Callville Wash Road (Wpt 29), the route continues southeast and picks up a use-trail that passes around the north edge of Hill 651, turns due south, and runs out to Northshore Road at the Mile 18.2 parking area. If you end up here, hopefully you arranged a car shuttle; if not, turn east and start hiking up the highway (watch for drunk drivers!).

Bowl of Fire Loop
Most technical spot (Wpt. 13). Not so difficult, but the drop zone is uneven and help from below is useful.
Bowl of Fire Loop
Group of hikers descending a red sandstone canyon (near Wpt. 16; view SW)
Bowl of Fire Loop
Southwest corner of the northern BOF (Wpt 19; view SE)
Bowl of Fire Loop
Approaching the southwest section of the BOF (view S)
Bowl of Fire Loop
Navigating one of the last pour-overs. There are many such spots on the loop route (view S)
Bowl of Fire Loop
Hikers in the wash downstream from the southwest section of the BOF (between Wpts. 26 and 27; view SE)
Bowl of Fire Loop
Hikers approaching Mile 18.2 Trailhead (view S)
more to come
More to come ...


Table 1. Hiking Coordinates Based on GPS Data (NAD27, UTM Zone 11S). Download Hiking GPS Waypoints (*.gpx) file.

Wpt. Location Time Easting Northing Elevation (ft) Point-to-Point Distance (mi) Cumulative Distance (mi) Verified
01 Trailhead 0906 713895 4011573 2,418 0.00 0.00 GPS
02 Northshore Summit Ridge 0918 713646 4011977 2,568 0.38 0.38 GPS
03 Low point on saddle 0931 713365 4012401 2,523 0.34 0.72 GPS
04 Bottom of large wash 0945 713167 4012461 2,315 0.17 0.89 GPS
05 Fork in canyon 0956 712971 4012723 2,174 0.33 1.22 GPS
06 Callville Wash Road 1002 712753 4012806 2,110 0.19 1.41 GPS
07 Leave the road 1033 712666 4014024 2,201 0.87 2.28 GPS
08 Small pour-over 1048 712295 4014110 2,244 0.37 2.65 GPS
09 Bypass pour-over 1053 712129 4014125 2,268 0.15 2.80 GPS
10 Arch 1101 712035 4014097 2,286 0.08 2.88 GPS
11 Overlook down into BOF 1120 711404 4013998 2,365 0.47 3.35 GPS
12 Starting down into canyon 1147 710724 4014097 2,419 0.60 3.95 GPS
13 High pour-over 1158 710441 4014030 2,334 0.22 4.17 GPS
14 Overlook 1249* 710183 4013982 2,299 0.21 4.38 GPS
15 Wet slot 1255 710123 4013936 2,256 0.05 4.43 GPS
16 Pour-over 1306 710067 4013808 2,233 0.12 4.55 GPS
17 Confluence with side canyon 1323 710194 4013447 2,182 0.32 4.87 GPS
18 SW Corner of BOF 1338 710048 4013083 2,117 0.29 5.16 GPS
19 Use-trail atop dirt cliff 1340 710043 4013056 2,147 0.01 5.17 GPS
20 Sandstone crags 1351 709955 4012580 2,146 0.32 5.49 GPS
21 Crossing low saddle 1359 709974 4012235 2,151 0.24 5.73 GPS
22 Down in canyon 1408 710044 4012074 2,081 0.13 5.86 GPS
23 Confluence with side canyon 1415 709907 4011834 2,019 0.18 6.04 GPS
24 High pour-over 1429 709825 4011657 2,006 0.17 6.21 GPS
25 Bypassing pour-overs 1445 709729 4011195 1,960 0.35 6.56 GPS
26 Conglomerate pour-over 1454 709723 4010835 1,902 0.26 6.82 GPS
27 Top of wash bank 1503 709995 4010583 1,887 0.26 7.08 GPS
28 Into Callville Wash 1509 710369 4010358 1,876 0.27 7.35 GPS
29 Crossing Callville Wash Road 1510 710426 4010301 1,872 0.05 7.40 GPS
30 Trail End at Mile Marker 18.2 1524 710751 4009690 1,930 0.50 7.90 GPS

* Stop for lunch.

Happy Hiking! All distances, elevations, and other facts are approximate.
copyright; Last updated 240326

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