Christmas Tree Pass is a 17-mile graded dirt road that twists and turns through the Newberry Mountains northwest of Laughlin. It corsses a 3,500-pass, shadowed by Spirit Mountain, a 5,600-foot peak that was revered by the southern Paiute.
From Laughlin, you take NV 163 (the road that connects US 95 to Laughlin) west for four miles. At the top of a small grade, a signposted turnoff to the right (north) puts you onto a well-graded dirt road. The last time we were there, a sign indicates the distances to Grapevine Canyon (two miles), the West Boundary of Lake Mead Recreation Area (7.3 miles) and US 95 (15 miles -- but really 17).
After two miles, you'll see a left-hand turn into a parking lot at the trailhead for Grapevine Canyon. Step out of the car into some remote and forbidding desert. A trail heads into the canyon along the edge of wash carved out by seasonal flood waters and an occasional creek.
Look carefully for petroglyphs; you'll see bighorn sheep, UFOs, alien astronauts, planets, and other unexplained rock art. At the base of the canyon, depending on the season, is the "creek," which supposedly runs year-round, though that's hard to imagine. When we were there, a trickle of water emerged from the rocks, flowed a few feet, then disappeared into the wash. It was the only H2 and O we saw on the whole trip, so that might be your "waterfall." Still, it's a nice little hike.
Back on the road, you continue north in the dust at a top speed of around 25 miles per hour up into the Newberry Mountains; though you can't go too fast on the graded dirt, you don't need four-wheel drive, at least you didn't a few years ago. In 2.5 miles, you'll see a turnoff to the right; park here for the five-mile-roundtrip Spirit Mountain trek. There's no trail and it's a rigorous scramble through the brush and yucca with a 2,400-foot elevation gain, only for hikers in good condition. Watch for rattlesnakes.
On the road, in a ways you bear left (west again) at the intersection to Pipe Spring; a little beyond that you're greeted by an unmistakable "open-mouth" rock, whose gaping toothless maw looks like an advertisement for dying of thirst. After you pass it, look back to see the whole dessicated grateful-dead skull.
The desert and sandstone scenery, with lots of other weird rock formations, up here is quite spectacular, but you probably won't run into anyone; you're definitely on your own.
You climb and climb, noticing the presence of some scraggily pinyon pine trees, until somewhere along the way (it's not signposted), you cross Christmas Tree Pass at 3,500 feet. There aren't any "Christmas trees" to speak of; a better name might be Christmas Scrub Pass. One dead tree hosts a few Christmas decorations, such as streamers and balls, but that's about it.
We'd heard that a tree up here is full of bras and panties, but we didn't find it, and we later came to find out that it's a myth.
The road is pretty narrow and twisty and rough around the pass. Lots of side roads lead down the slopes to primitive and very private camping sites.
But the going gets much more smooth and wide and fast as you mkae your run due west down to the pavement at US 95, just south of CalNevAri. If you're coming from Vegas, you'll take a left off US 95 at the sign for the pass, then follow this route backwards.
