Crystal Spring & Wood Canyon

By Denis & Sandi Inman
Three Jeep Wranglers transporting, me, Matt, and Gary & Sherrie left Smith’s parking lot promptly at 7:00 AM this morning and drove North on Highway 160 to Road 928500 where we found a spot to air down. Traveling Eastward a couple miles, we took the left fork and proceeded up the canyon to Crystal Spring. Our group took several short breaks on the way up and really stretched our legs when we reached the structures at the end of the trail.
Retracing our path back down to the junction, we made an almost 180 degree turn and headed towards Wood Canyon. Just past the Rainbow Springs cut-off, we took the scenic route to just outside the canyon entrance where we rejoined the road more traveled. There was a little water at the spring, very little. When we descended the mountain, the trio of Jeeps took the Wood Canyon Wash to Roadrunner and headed home. There was not much wildlife to view, the animals must be more nocturnal this time of year.
We arrived back in Pahrump at close to 12:30, a little later than my estimate, but nobody seemed to be complaining about the length of time it took to do the trails.