Trip report
Jul 11, 2019 — This is a great loop in the Spring Mountains, and follows an easy-to-follow trail system for its entirety (except for a short, avoidable, extracurricular excursion to Lee Peak), and summits Griffith Peak and Charleston Peak by combining the South Loop Trail, North Loop Trail, and Trail Canyon Trail. These well-maintained, though confusingly-named trails, have some great views. We decided to start up to Griffith Peak via the South Loop Trail from the Cathedral Rock Trailhead, then hike along the ridge to Charleston Peak, tack on Lee Peak, and then return via the North Loop Trail. The South Loop Trail trail was closed due to a 2014 forest fire, so I was looking forward to finally getting to hike Griffith Peak.
The trail to Griffith Peak starts by leading along open scenery on a popular trail as it ascends to a drainage on the north side of Griffith Peak. The trail then switchbacks incessantly through the forest, nice views along the way. Once on the ridge, reaching Griffith Peak means leaving the South Loop Trail and continuing southwest up the steep trail to the summit.
From the summit of Griffith Peak, we continued northwest more-or-less along the ridgeline into a section locally called "The Meadows", where the ridge is coverd in grasses and the views are expansive into the desert. The Meadows were followed by the obviously burned region, but the trail has been fixed up and it was in great shape. The trail took us to the summit of Charleston Peak, along the way the scenery among the best in the Spring Mountains. There was one hump along the way that forced us to lose a few hundred vertical gain before ascending to Charleston Peak.
On the way down from Charleston Peak we encountered some snow, but that's likely just because this was a weird weather year for the Las Vegas area. Be cautious attempting this loop if there's potentially snow because it can get treacherous since the trail is built along the cliffy face. I might recommend doing this loop counter-clockwise instead just in case there's more snow than anticipated and it's easier to turn around. The North Loop Trail hugged typical limestone cliffs for the Spring Mountains, with great views into the valley below. I took a quick jaunt up to Lee Peak (off-trail, but not even Class 2, just steep and sandy), where the view of Charleston Peak was really quite impressive.
The North Loop Trail continued along the ridgeline, quite a construction feat built into the cliff face, before making a couple of wide siwtchbacks and leading past Cave Spring and down to the junction with the Trail Canyon Trail. We followed the Trail Canyon Trail down to the trailhead (36.2662023, -115.6587103), then walked along the paved roads for a mile or so back to our car at the Cathedral Rock Trailhead.
If hiking this entire loop feels like too much and you want to hike Charleston Peak, you can start from the Trail Canyon Trailhead and head along the North Loop Trail, a bit of a shorter and less committing hike.