From the ranger station, backtrack two miles to Highway 158, turn left and go four and a half miles to a small parking lot on the left signed North Loop Trail. This hike starts at 8,300 feet and heads up, up, up. After about one and a half miles, you'll reach a small plateau offering views of the Las Vegas Valley to the southeast and the Nellis Air Force Base Bombing Range, former site of hundreds of nuclear tests, to the northeast. Then it's up again through the ponderosa and mountain mahogany forest on switchback after switchback. The trail finally levels off at 10,000 feet, makes a hairpin turn toward Mummy Mountain and heads west and downhill to the Mummy Springs cutoff. The bucolic springs are a half-mile away. Return the way you came.

Information: Contact Spring Mountains National Recreation Area at (702) 873-8800.