Trip report
Jan 30, 2019 — Hamblin Mountain is a more popular hike for Lake Mead's northshore, mostly due to the fact that it has a trail most of the way, but also because the views toward Lake Mead are among the best. Austin and I hiked this peak as a loop in order to include Hamblin Mountain West, the lower neighbor of Hamblin Mountain. The ridgeline connecting the two is really pretty, but the descent from Hamblin Mountain West is rocky and loose, so most will probably prefer just going back along the trail instead of doing the loop. Additionally, we hiked a minor peak called Jacal Peak to the east of Hamblin Mountain so I included that detour on my attached map, but I recommend just using the trail the whole way.
We parked along Northshore Road and started along a trail that leads from the parking area. This drops into Cottonwood Wash shortly after starting, so it's also fine to just walk along the road and enter Cottonwood Wash from the north. We continued up Cottonwood Wash through some colorful sections of dirt/rock. For the majority of the wash, it was easy to stay within the primary drainage since all other options were tiny runoffs, but then we reached a massive boulder that split the drainage. We kept left here and scrambled up a Class 2 minor dryfall and past some sandstone slickrock features. Keep right when the wash splits here (36.1981, -114.63802), and follow this for a bit as it leads through a short section of narrows. A bit past the colorful narrows bear right and enter a drainage, now hiking west.
Once in this smaller drainage, initially the trail is fragmented so it's easiest to just stick to the watercourse until the trail climbs out of the drainage and continues southwest. On our first visit to Hamblin Mountain, we headed up to Hamblin Mountain via its north ridge in order to get more ridge time and also to get Jacal Peak along the way. This route is not a trail, but I left it on my map for reference. I recommend keeping to main trail in order to stick to the most pleasant route, and I provided photos below of both options. The views were similar using both options, so you won't be missing out on much.
If you take the Hamblin Mountain Trail, you'll be led over a few lumps and down into another drainage, which ascends south. On the way back it could be easy to miss the trail that dropped you into the drainage, so pay attention or you'll be heading back the wrong way. This new drainage progressively steepens as it nears the ridge above, and along the way there's a Class 2 section through some loose rock.
If you leave the Hamblin Mountain Trail and ascend like we did to Jacal Peak, it's a more direct and steep ascent to the ridgeline. Either way you'll end up on Hamblin Mountain's east ridge, where the trail continues to the summit. The ridgeline has great views of the Muddy Mountains, Lake Mead, and the colorful badlands surrounding Razorback Ridge and Pinto Ridge.
Most stop at the summit of Hamblin Mountain, but we opted for a bit of desert wandering and loose rock, plus tacking on Hamblin Mountain West. The trail disappears along the ridge to Hamblin Mountain West, but it's all Class 2 stuff at max if you stay basically on the ridge crest. A steep section leads to just below the base of Hamblin Mountain West, where a Class 2+ section leads to the summit. We followed the north ridge down, dropping into a talus-filled gully. We headed north through the desert, up and over a minor saddle shared by two small peaks, and continued back to Northshore Road.