Hike Crimson Staircase Valley of Fire State Park, NV

What a great little route in Valley of Fire State Park. I have consistently loved the intricate route-finding on the sandstone peaks in this area, and Crimson Staircase was no exception. I rarely use satellite imagery for my attached route map, but the terrain contours were pretty inaccurate for this peak, and honestly the satellite mode is probably more helpful for figuring out how to navigate around the washes and cliffs in this instance.

I started off Valley of Fire Highway, heading north up a sandy wash as it narrowed into an interesting canyon filled with crooked rocks and mini sandstone arches. I followed this canyon up to higher ground, just southeast of Crimson Staircase. A drainage appeared on the left, which I followed as it descended toward the west side of the peak. I tried at least four options to ascend out of this drainage to head to the peak, the first three complete failures. To save you some time (though the route-finding aspect of this route was incredibly fun), I removed all my incorrect routes from the map, providing the only viable one I could locate.

Locate a small Class 3 dryfall on the right that looks more solid and quite different than the other sandstone nearby, and ascend this to gain another small wash. From here, keep left and enter a narrow canyon heading north that doesn't look obvious at all. Photos below may be more specific in helping to locate this micro-route-finding. This narrow canyon abruptly turns southeast and ascends toward a boulder-choked section. At first glance, the boulders may appear really difficult to ascend, but to my pleasant surprise, you can easily climb underneath and out the top of them (Class 3). A little farther up the canyon, the same thing happens. And then a third time. What are the chances of three talus cave obstacle bypasses in a row? Anyway, after the final boulder obstacle, the canyon continues to its head, and a Class 3 series of boulder steps continues northeast in a sandstone gully. Aside from a rock rib with fair exposure that I'd call Class 3+, the route goes at Class 3 and is incredibly fun. Once out of the confines of this gully, the views become incredible and a little bit of intricate navigating leads around a massive boulder and up a couple of Class 3 faces to the summit. I recommend keeping right if in doubt. Crimson Staircase was definitely a really great little sandstone peak.

The eastern line on my attached map is an alternative descent route, which we did on a later ascent of Crimson Staircase. It's much more direct and a lot less fun, though it's got a Class 3 chimney and some other little obstacles. I didn't describe that route fully since it's significantly less fun than the other route option.