The Nevada Traveler: A peek at Nevada’s mountain peaks

The late David W. Toll—one of the state’s most gifted wordsmiths—once described the mountains of Central Nevada as being “like sleeping women, sprawling languorously across every horizon.”

He might well have been writing about any of the more than 300 ranges found in the state.

Nevada’s many mountains have long fascinated people. Another author, John McPhee, wrote an entire book about them, “Basin and Range.” In it, he noted that “each range here is like a warship standing on its own, and the Great Basin is an ocean of loose sediment with these mountain ranges standing in it as if they were members of a fleet without precedent, assembled in Guam to assault Japan.”

The mountains of Nevada not only give the state its name—Nevada is Spanish for “snow-covered”—but also help define its character. Nevada is the most mountainous state in the union and is home to at least 42 peaks higher than 11,000 feet.

The following are a few facts about some of Nevada’s mountains, which, for differing reasons, have interesting stories.

For example, In Humboldt County, on the edge of the Black Rock Desert, you can find King Lear Peak, which has an elevation of 8,923 feet. King Lear Peak was named after the main character of the Shakespeare play of the same name—although no one is quite sure why.

The playwright himself also earned his own mountain as you’ll find Shakespeare Point, a 7,093-foot peak, near, not surprisingly, Lake Tahoe’s famous Shakespeare Rock, a cliff face said to resemble the bard.

A name of a decidedly less literary bent is the bizarrely named Toe Jam Mountain in Elko County. As to why such a descriptive moniker was bestowed on this particular mountain isn’t known, we do know that it is located in the Tuscarora Range and has an elevation of 7,123-feet.

It’s also interesting to note that Toe Jam Creek—perhaps someone should bottle water under that label—runs just below the peak.

Another unusual name for a mountain is Auto Hill, located in the Buckskin Mountains of Humboldt County. Measuring 6,650 feet, Auto Hill’s name reflects the general theme of landmarks in this vicinity, which are generally named after cars and car parts.

The reason is that the prospector who discovered gold in the area in 1907, Jesse Workman, drove a national automobile. He named his original claim, the National mine, in honor of his trusty vehicle.

Later, a town by that name cropped up, and Workman began naming other stuff with car-related names including Radiator Hill and mines with names like Fender, Starter, Brake, Headlight, Transmission, High Speed and Low Speed.

The tallest peak entirely located in Nevada is 13,065-foot Wheeler Peak, which is located in the Great Basin National Park in eastern Nevada. While another mountain, Boundary Peak in the White Mountains of western Nevada, is higher at 13,143-feet, a portion of it extends into California.

Wheeler Peak was named after Lt. George Wheeler, who, in 1869, led a U.S. Army mapping expedition to the summit. Am earlier explorer had named the mountain “Jeff Davis Peak,” after then-Secretary of War Jefferson Davis but the name fell out of favor after Davis became the leader of Confederacy during the Civil War.

Some have described Nevada as God’s Country and that’s certainly true of the magnificent Jarbidge Wilderness Area, north of Elko. One of the peaks found in the Jarbidge Range is named God’s Pocket Peak, which measures 10,184 feet—high enough to feel downright celestial.

Winning the award for most obvious name is Hole in the Mountain, located in Elko County’s East Humboldt Range, southwest of Wells. There, you’ll find not only Hole in the Mountain (the mountain), which is 11,127 feet, but also Hole in the Mountain Peak at 11,306 feet. Locals also refer to it as Lizzie’s Window.

Occasionally, ordinary folks are honored with their own mountains. Perhaps that’s why in Nevada you can find Bill’s Peak (8,113 feet), Joe’s Peak (5,956 feet), Jim’s Peak (6,090 feet), Kate Peak (6,120 feet), Ed’s Hill (6,645 feet), and Maggie Peak (6,272 feet). I couldn’t find a Rich’s Peak but hope springs eternal.

Mountain names also can be quite literal. In Humboldt County, you’ll find Little Peak, which is 6,634 feet, as well as two Big Mountains (one is 8,594 feet and the other is 6,949 feet). Fortunately, both are taller than Little Peak.

Perhaps the two most descriptive mountain name in the state would have to be Old Man of the Mountain, a peak in Elko County that is 7,068 feet high, and presumably looks old.

A close second in the name contest might be the two different peaks in Nevada named, respectively, The Nipple. They’re not located in the same place so the name can’t be plural. Still, maybe that’s what David Toll had in mind.