Explore the best trails near Las Vegas with hand-curated trail maps and driving directions as well as detailed reviews and photos from hikers, campers and nature lovers like you.
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run, boulder, stroll. it's a playground.
This hike is famous for a reason and it is well worth it. Some call it a moderate hike but it more of a moderate/strenuous hike. You ascend about 900 feet in just under 2 miles (short but steep) The good thing about this trail is that it is clearly marked and while the parking lot might get filled up, there is movement so you can find a car or two leaving frequently.
Mary Jane Trail is cooler during the summer months compared to other Las Vegas area hikes so it was crowded. I don’t care for crowds but that is the price of admission for this easy to access trail.
Views are amazing and its natural beauty is somewhat blemished by the crowds, dogs and kids: this adds up to distraction and possible injuries for the uninitiated: I saw two injured people (elderly and young) along the trail. The good thing about crowds is that you have people to talk to along the way (if that is your thing), hard to get lost and help if you need it.
If you are not in good shape, take frequent breaks along the way and stay on the trail: with the crowds come people who do not appreciate the impact on the environment when you go off trail.
The trail starts off with a long, gradual incline inside a valley then turns into the mountain side and has several switch backs up the side before coming to another relatively straight incline to the falls.
The area has Pines and other “temperate forest” foliage with snow on the mountain tops when I visited. There is indeed “falls” at the end of the trail that shower down cool water. There is a cave or two that requires some rock scrambling to get to as well.
400 feet further from the trail there is another cave that I might check out later.
Excellent Park with three ponds lots of trees to relax.
Not well marked but a great hike!
Pretty quick and easy trail, mild incline and descent is easy, watch for slippery rocks towards the end of the trail.
I fail to see the excitement other hikers express with Mary Jane Falls Trail. We've hiked almost all the major trails in Southern Nevada, short, medium, and long distance and MJFT is by far our least favorite. Between the crowds, out of control kids, dogs with unqualified owners with no idea on keeping them on short leads, the graffiti smeared on the rocks, trashed dropped here and there, and folks veering off trail while cutting corners in the middle of short scree fields, the only thing missing from this hike are cash registers at the waterfall...and this was mid-day on a Monday. Definitely not indicative of other hikes in the Mt. Charleston area, MJFT sits at the bottom of our list in terms of a revisit.
Stunning view! Extremely impressed with the hiking here. Seeing wild horses on the trail was a check off the bucket list for me. Skipped the casino and enjoyed nature instead. I'll be back!
Great moderate trail nothing too technical, but can be listed more moderate to hard depending on the hiker.