Upper High Rock Creek Trail

Located along the Applegate Trail, Black Rock Hot Spring was the first watering hole for emigrants as they crossed the vast playa of the Black Rock Desert. Getting there today is no easy task, particularly after it rains when the playa is totally impassable. The only "road" on official maps (whether Google or USGS topos) is an unmaintained dirt/mud trail that leads directly south from the north...

Overlooking the Applegate & Overland Emigrant Trail Split, Black Rock Point is a large, dark rocky outcropping from which the Black Rock Desert derives its name. The views are perhaps the best in the entire Black Rock Desert - High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area. The hike to the summit itself is straightforward; it is getting to the trailhead itself that can be trick...

Tucked away in a remote corner of northwest Nevada on the Oregon border, Bog Hot Springs is perhaps the ideal of the Nevada Hot Springs experience: public land, no amenities, minimal-to-no-development, an abundance of wildlife, and solitude almost year round (hunting season excepted). The Hot Spring itself is actually a creek that has been damn in a series of pools, with the hot springs themsel...

Trego Hot Springs resides on the southeastern edge of the Black Rock Desert just off of County Road 49 aka Jungo Road, about 17 miles from the small town of Gerlach, Nevada. Jungo Road is rugged and unmaintained, and as an alternative approach one can cut across the Black Rock Desert from County Road 34 to the north to the railroad crossing near the hot spring.  Note that the desert *and* the t...

The trip begins by turning off Nevada highway 447 onto the unmaintained Jungo Road (county road 49) and driving 19 miles to the end of the northeast spur of the mountain at a clear turnoff and rise in the road.There is an obvious use-trail for the first 500 meters or so, and simply follow the ridge to the obvious summit. There are a couple of false summits where contouring slightly below the hi...

The Frog Pond on the east side of the Black Rock Desert playa just off of County Road 49 aka Jungo Road about 15 miles from Gerlach, is a more-warm-than-hot-spring with temperatures roughly in the high 90s. The trees and plants that overhang the spring create a unique microclimate that serves as a haven for frogs (and fish), wherein it got its name. There is access from the playa by cross over ...