Turtlehead Mountain

Turtlehead Mountain, also known as Turtlehead Peak, is located west of downtown Las Vegas in the Spring Mountains which are a subrange of the Great Basin Ranges. It is set on land administered by the Bureau of Land Management as the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. Turtlehead Mountain is composed of limestone which formed about 250 million years ago during the Paleozoic. Precipitation runoff from the mountain's slopes drains into Red Rock Wash which is part of the Colorado River watershed. Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises over above Brownstone Basin in one mile (1.6 km). Access to the summit is via the Turtlehead Peak Trail which covers five miles and gains 2,000 feet of elevation. This mountain's descriptive toponym has been officially adopted by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. ==Climate==

Turtlehead Mountain is set within the Mojave Desert which has hot summers and cold winters. The desert is an example of a cold desert climate as the desert's elevation makes temperatures cooler than lower elevation deserts. Due to the high elevation and aridity, temperatures drop sharply after sunset. Summer nights are comfortably cool. Winter highs are generally above freezing, and winter nights are bitterly cold, with temperatures often dropping below freezing. ==See also==

File:Turtlehead Peak (45636316264).jpg File:Red Rock Canyon National Conservationa Area.jpg File:Turtlehead Peak evening 1.jpg ==References==