Star Peak is also one of the sought after prominence peaks in Nevada as it ranks #6 on the list. While it is not one of the highest peaks in Nevada, it stands out rather dramatically from valleys around it, giving it 5400 feet of prominence. This prominence puts it in an elite group of peaks in the USA that have a prominence of over 5000 feet and those can be seen on this neat MAP HERE. If you don't understand what prominence is all about, here is a good explanation. Adam Helman recently authored a book completely dedicated to prominence.
The parallel (to I-80) service rd going back south from Exit 138 has been extended (there is much mining in the area). Further there are several roads going east off of the service road - it's easy to get a little lost in you haven't been there before. You want to go precisely 4.5 miles south from the freeway exit and take the road that goes east from there. It veers off to the left as the service road itself is making a left hand jog.
The crazy "jeep" road leading up from the hard switchback at the old mining camp is quite drivable in 4WD low gear up to a point. Pick your point. We drove to 6,800' in a Toyota 4Runner and felt like we could have gone further but chose to park where it was easy to turn around. At about 7,700' there is a long more-or-less level stretch with several nice places to pull off.
Upon reaching an elevation of approximately 9,000' there is a one-foot-high cairn on the right. At this point the "main" road continues north, but if you look back toward the SE you can see another jeep-type trail/road heading up a slope which steepens quickly. It isn't nearly as well-defined as the road you have been walking but it IS the correct way to go. After taking this road (it's a hard right switchback at the cairn) you will soon see an antenna ahead, but that is not the summit antenna. The summit antenna comes into view occasionally and it is south and slightly west of the lower antenna. For us, descriptions of leaving the road and heading straight up were a bit confusing, and to our knowledge, nobody had said anything about the cairn and the hard right switchback. We chose to proceed straight along the "main" road past the cairn and soon afterward the road went around a bend and petered out completely. So we had to head south over a bump and from there we could see both the lower and the summit antennae clearly. The boondoggle cost us about 30 minutes of time, but the experience taught us a little bit more about the things to look for heading up.
Dean - Jan 28, 2006 11:29 am - Voted 10/10
Untitled CommentStar Peak is also one of the sought after prominence peaks in Nevada as it ranks #6 on the list. While it is not one of the highest peaks in Nevada, it stands out rather dramatically from valleys around it, giving it 5400 feet of prominence. This prominence puts it in an elite group of peaks in the USA that have a prominence of over 5000 feet and those can be seen on this neat MAP HERE. If you don't understand what prominence is all about, here is a good explanation. Adam Helman recently authored a book completely dedicated to prominence.
MoInfo - Nov 14, 2011 11:59 am - Hasn't voted
Getting there updatedThe parallel (to I-80) service rd going back south from Exit 138 has been extended (there is much mining in the area). Further there are several roads going east off of the service road - it's easy to get a little lost in you haven't been there before. You want to go precisely 4.5 miles south from the freeway exit and take the road that goes east from there. It veers off to the left as the service road itself is making a left hand jog.
Moogie737 - Oct 10, 2017 1:39 pm - Hasn't voted
Key point along the roadThe crazy "jeep" road leading up from the hard switchback at the old mining camp is quite drivable in 4WD low gear up to a point. Pick your point. We drove to 6,800' in a Toyota 4Runner and felt like we could have gone further but chose to park where it was easy to turn around. At about 7,700' there is a long more-or-less level stretch with several nice places to pull off.
Upon reaching an elevation of approximately 9,000' there is a one-foot-high cairn on the right. At this point the "main" road continues north, but if you look back toward the SE you can see another jeep-type trail/road heading up a slope which steepens quickly. It isn't nearly as well-defined as the road you have been walking but it IS the correct way to go. After taking this road (it's a hard right switchback at the cairn) you will soon see an antenna ahead, but that is not the summit antenna. The summit antenna comes into view occasionally and it is south and slightly west of the lower antenna. For us, descriptions of leaving the road and heading straight up were a bit confusing, and to our knowledge, nobody had said anything about the cairn and the hard right switchback. We chose to proceed straight along the "main" road past the cairn and soon afterward the road went around a bend and petered out completely. So we had to head south over a bump and from there we could see both the lower and the summit antennae clearly. The boondoggle cost us about 30 minutes of time, but the experience taught us a little bit more about the things to look for heading up.