Spirit Mountain Wilderness Area is a

wilderness area Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

located in the Newberry Mountains in Clark County,

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

, northwest of Laughlin. Spirit Mountain lies within the area. It is managed by the Bureau of Land Management and the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

. Most of the wilderness is located in the

Lake Mead National Recreation Area Lake Mead National Recreation Area is a U.S. national recreation area in southeastern Nevada and northwestern Arizona. Operated by the National Park Service, Lake Mead NRA follows the Colorado River corridor from the westernmost boundary of Gra ...

, and all of it is within

Avi Kwa Ame National Monument Avi Kwa Ame National Monument ( ; Mojave: ''ʔaviː kʷaʔame'', "highest mountain", from ''ʔaviː'', "mountain, rock", and ''ʔamay'', "up, above") is a national monument that protects approximately of the Mojave Desert in southern Nevada. P ...

. The area is adjacent to both the Nellis Wash Wilderness Area and the Bridge Canyon Wilderness Area. Ancient Native American petroglyphs abound in Grapevine Canyon, located just south of Spirit Mountain. Located within the Lake Mead National Recreation Area just west of the 67-mile-long Lake Mohave, Grapevine Canyon offers visitors the opportunity to see numerous abstract, anthropomorphic, and animal depictions pecked directly into the basalt rock near the mount of the canyon. A parking area with restrooms is provided and a about a half-mile walk through desert scrub is required to see the petroglyphs. Ranger-guided hikes are offered by National Park Service staff based at Katherine Landing, located on the east side of Lake Mohave 2 miles north of Bullhead City, Arizona, and accessed via Arizona Highway 95 and Highway 68. The area was in the homeland of the

Yuman Indians The Quechan (or Yuma) ( Quechan: ''Kwatsáan'' 'those who descended') are a Native American tribe who live on the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation on the lower Colorado River in Arizona and California just north of the Mexican border. Despite th ...

. Yuman and

Mojave people Mohave or Mojave ( Mojave: 'Aha Makhav) are a Native American people indigenous to the Colorado River in the Mojave Desert. The Fort Mojave Indian Reservation includes territory within the borders of California, Arizona, and Nevada. The Colorado ...

believe all life began on this mountain, which is visible for miles from

Bullhead City Bullhead City is a city located on the Colorado River in Mohave County, Arizona, United States, south of Las Vegas, Nevada, and directly across the Colorado River from Laughlin, Nevada, whose casinos and ancillary services supply much of the em ...

in Arizona, Needles in California, and Laughlin, Cal-Nev-Ari, and

Searchlight A searchlight (or spotlight) is an apparatus that combines an extremely bright source (traditionally a carbon arc lamp) with a mirrored parabolic reflector to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a particular direc ...

in Nevada. Descendants of the first Native Americans to reside in the area still live on the Fort Mojave Indian Reservation, located about 20 miles south of the Spirit Mountains Wilderness. The

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

designated the Spirit Mountain Wilderness in 2002.

Notes

External links

Spirit Mountain Wilderness
- NPS
Spirit Mountain Wilderness Fact Sheet
- BLM Archaeological sites in Nevada Protected areas of Nevada Protected areas of the Mojave Desert Protected areas of Clark County, Nevada Bureau of Land Management areas in Nevada National Park Service areas in Nevada Lake Mead National Recreation Area {{ClarkCountyNV-geo-stub