Hike The 5-Arch (Fire Horn Peak) Valley of Fire State Park, NV

Jan 9, 2020 — The 5-Arch is really a cool-looking rock pinnacle visible from many areas in Valley of Fire State Park. The peak is also known as Fire Horn Peak. Starting from the side of Valley of Fire Highway, I noted a notch to the west of The 5-Arch, the obviously largest rock tower to the north. This notch would be my gateway to the peak. I walked up a maintenance road to a fenced-off area, then followed the fence into Fire Canyon Wash. I continued northwest in the wash until I decided to head through the colorful sandstone badlands toward the notch, still visible ahead. I don't know that there's a best way through this smalls ection of badlands north of Fire Canyon Wash, but avoid stepping on the fragile cryptobiotic soil. A loose Class 2 talus slope led up the right side of the gully and to the notch without difficulty.

A short flat section wrapped me around to the north side of The 5-Arch, where I encountered some light Class 2/3 scrambling to ascend. There were at least two gullies that could be used, so there's no one right way from here to get to higher ground. Note that my attached map has the correct track, but the contours were incorrectly placed in the map imagery for the peak itself. However, navigating should be pretty clear as you start ascending on the north face of The 5-Arch where to go.

I located the Class 4 chimney section, where there was a nice piece of webbing in place (thank you, whoever added this!). Without it, the move would definitely be a bit of work in the low Class 5 range. Although there wasn't any exposure to be concerned about, it's a tough enclosed set of moves. The Class 4/5 section led to a couple of Class 3 scrambles on fun features with some minimal route-finding to gain the summit.