21 The Table

Bristlecone pine on The Table

Although the approach road is long and requires a four-wheel-drive vehicle, this high-elevation trailhead provides the easiest access to The Table and Mount Moriah.

• Distance: 6.2 miles out-and-back
• Time: 4 hours
• Difficulty: Moderate
• Elevation change: 9,900 to 11,000 feet
• Season: Summer and fall
• Permits: None. Hikers should leave word of their hiking plan with a reliable person
• Water: Spring in Big Canyon
• Maps: USGS: Sixmile Canyon, Mount Moriah; USFS: Mount Moriah Wilderness

Finding the Trailhead: From Baker, drive 5.0 miles northwest on NV 487, then turn left (west) on US 6-50. Continue 14.4 miles, crossing over Sacramento Pass, then turn right on a maintained dirt road. This road starts westward but then turns north along the east side of Spring Valley. Go 12.1 miles, then turn right (east) onto the Fourmile Road, an unmaintained dirt road (Forest Road 469) found just before crossing a cattle guard. Drive east 2.6 miles to the foothills, then bear left. The road crosses a drainage, then climbs to reach a small saddle and a cattle guard after 0.3 miles. To continue beyond this point, you’ll need a high-clearance, four-wheel-drive vehicle. The road beyond climbs steeply up a scenic ridge, gaining 2,000 feet in 3.0 miles. At the top of the climb, several minor roads branch left; stay right on the main road. After another 3.2 miles, a minor road turns left; go straight on the main road. In 0.1 miles, you’ll pass a small Forest Service cabin on the right in a stand of aspen. The cabin is open to the public and would make a good emergency shelter; please leave it as you found it. Continue 1.9 miles, crossing Deadman Creek, to the signed trailhead at the end of the road. There is a small campsite just north of the trailhead. UTM: Zone 11 740426mE 4353983mN

Key Points

• 0.0 Big Canyon Trailhead (UTM: Zone 11 740426mE 4353983mN)
• 1.1 Spring where trail starts to climb out of Big Canyon (UTM: Zone 11 740969mE 4352327mN)
• 2.1 The Table (UTM: Zone 11 742028mE 4352295mN)
• 3.1 Junction with Hendrys Creek Trail (UTM: Zone 11 743408mE 4351865mN); return the way you came
• 6.2 Big Canyon Trailhead (UTM: Zone 11 740426mE 4353983mN)

The Hike

This hike is worth it just for the view from the trailhead. As you start the walk south into Big Canyon, the rugged northwest face of Mount Moriah is framed in the canyon before you. The trail drops gradually into the bottom of Big Canyon, then follows the bed upstream through aspen, fir, and limber pine forest. Big Canyon is normally dry, but there is a small, unnamed spring (not shown on the topographic map) next to the trail just after it turns sharply left and starts to climb the east slopes of the canyon. Climb this steep, switchbacking section for about a mile to reach the southwest rim of The Table. Continue east as the trail skirts the north ridge of Mount Moriah. At first, The Table is graced with a fine stand of gnarled, timberline bristlecone pine, but soon becomes a treeless, arctic plateau. After walking across the plateau for a mile, you’ll reach a cairn marking the junction with the Hendrys Creek Trail, which drops south into Hendrys Creek.

With such an easy approach trail, you should have plenty of time to explore The Table. Mount Moriah is an easy, 1,000 foot climb from anywhere along the last mile of this hike. Another great hike is to go out to the north edge of The Table, a walk of about a mile one way. More bristlecone groves skirt the north edge of the plateau, and the view into Deadman Creek and the other tributaries of Smith Creek is excellent. With a car shuttle, you could use the Hendrys Creek Trail to do a two or three day backpack trip traversing the range.