Frenchman Mountain
Frenchman Mountain rises to 1,236 m in Nevada. Quartzite Mountain stands 2,152 m to the north-northwest, 23 miles off. The nearest named place is Great Unconformity, a cliff 1.3 miles away. City of Las Vegas, Las Vegas Boulevard State Scenic Byway passes 7.6 miles off. 54 named summits stand within 25 miles.
The story
Frenchman Mountain is a mountain located east of Las Vegas, Nevada. Made up of rocks similar to those found on the bottom of the Grand Canyon, Frenchman Mountain formed when faulting elevated and tilted the rocks followed by erosion, giving it its sharp triangular profile. The mountain provides an example of the Great Unconformity with the tilted Paleozoic Tapeats Sandstone underlain by Paleoproterozoic Vishnu Schist, which is some of the oldest rock on the North American continent, having been created about two billion years ago. The peak lies on a north to north-northeast trending ridge about 2000 feet above the nearby valleys. Sunrise Mountain lies 3.6 miles (5.8 km) to the northeast adjacent to Nellis Air Force Base. The north end of the McCullough Range about 12 miles (19 km) to the south has a parallel trend. The River Mountains lie to the southeast. State Route 147 crosses its northern slope. A geologically rich area called Rainbow Gardens is located to its southeast, as is an igneous laccolith, Lava Butte. The Frenchman Mountain Fault poses a significant earthquake danger to the Clark County region. It is likely named after the Frenchman Mine, which itself was alleged to be the site of a stock scam by a Belgian immigrant (mistakenly assumed to be French). It is commonly referred to as Sunrise Mountain, the name of a smaller peak to the north of Frenchman Mountain, because the sun rises over it in some areas of Las Vegas. The area from Cheyenne Avenue and Boulder Highway and Lamb Boulevard is commonly known as Sunrise Manor Township CDP. Local conservationists have proposed the area, along with Gypsum Cave and Sunrise Mountain, be protected as a national monument.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Wikidata Q5502721, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.
What the record says
- Elevation
- 1236 m
How to reach it
- 7.6 mi off the City of Las Vegas, Las Vegas Boulevard State Scenic Byway, National
- 9.2 mi off the Las Vegas Strip, National
- 19.4 mi off the Red Rock Canyon Back Country Byway
- 20.2 mi off the Kyle Canyon Road (State Route 157)
Overlooks nearby
- Rock Overlook · 24 mi
- Calico I · 24 mi
- Red Rock Mountain 360 View Deck · 24 mi
- Top of the Hill Viewpoint · 24 mi
Named places within 25 miles
- Shadow Rock Park: 2.2 mi
- Hollywood Regional Park: 2.4 mi
- Lewis Family Park: 2.8 mi
- Robert "Bob" Price Park: 3.0 mi
- Sunrise Pool: 3.2 mi
- Frontier Sign: 7.7 mi
- Sahara Sign: 7.7 mi
- Cesars Palace Sign: 7.7 mi
- La Concha Motel Sign: 7.7 mi
- Ugly Duckling Sign: 7.7 mi
- Rock Art: 7.7 mi
- Rock Art: 7.7 mi
- Rock Art: 8.0 mi
- Rock Art: 8.0 mi
- Axehole Vegas: 8.0 mi
- Sunrise Mountain: 2.8 mi
- Lava Butte: 4.0 mi
- Black Cone: 4.0 mi
- Peek-a-boo Lava Butte: 4.1 mi
- Red Needle: 4.6 mi
- Shelby Museum: 7.1 mi
- Las Vegas Natural History Museum: 7.6 mi
- Neon Museum: 7.7 mi
- Neon Museum: 7.7 mi
- The Mob Museum: 8.0 mi
- Home of ADVENTURES with Christian, RIP: 7.0 mi
- grass sand maze: 7.9 mi
- GYPSY DEN VINTAGE: 8.7 mi
- Swm n Pool: 8.9 mi
- Classic Vdubs: 8.9 mi
- Las Vegas Community Healing Garden: 8.7 mi
- College of Fine Arts Garden: 9.2 mi
- Lee Pascal Memorial Rose Garden: 9.3 mi
- Learning Garden: 9.3 mi
- Campus Community Garden: 9.4 mi
- Great Unconformity: 1.3 mi
- Whitney Mesa: 7.8 mi
- Whitney Mesa: 8.3 mi
- The Pillars: 9.2 mi
- The Cliffs: 9.8 mi
- Gypsum Spring: 2.0 mi
- Gypsum Spring: 5.2 mi
- Cottonwood Spring: 19.8 mi
- Nevada Hot Spring: 20.9 mi
- White Spot Spring: 21.0 mi
- Two Mile Hot Spring: 19.4 mi
- Hot Springs: 19.4 mi
- Lost Man Hot Spring: 19.6 mi
- Hot Spring: 20.5 mi
- Ringbolt Hot Spring: 21.4 mi
- Clark County Wetlands Park: 5.8 mi
- Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve: 7.0 mi
- Floyd Lamb Park at Tule Springs: 17.8 mi
- Desert Tortoise Conservation Center: 19.9 mi
- North McCullough Wilderness: 21.6 mi
- Boulder Beach South: 14.6 mi
- Boulder Beach: 15.1 mi
- South Beach: 15.3 mi
- Foxtail Picnic Area (Pavilion F): 10.4 mi
- Nevada Welcome Center: 16.1 mi
Other summits around it
The highest named summits within 25 miles of Frenchman Mountain. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quartzite Mountain | NNW 347° | 2,152 m | 22.9 mi |
| Gass Peak | NNW 326° | 2,111 m | 18.4 mi |
| Fossil Ridge | NNW 327° | 1,664 m | 21.7 mi |
| Mount Wilson | ESE 120° | 1,663 m | 25.0 mi |
| Muddy Peak | ENE 64° | 1,590 m | 18.8 mi |
| Black Mountain | S 189° | 1,552.05 m | 17.3 mi |
| Peak 5058 | S 188° | 1,541.7 m | 19.1 mi |
| Calico Hills | W 268° | 1,505 m | 24.8 mi |
When to go
Light through the year
| Date | Sunrise | Golden hour | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 06:44 | 18:18 | 18:52 |
| June solstice | 05:24 | 19:23 | 20:01 |
| September equinox | 06:29 | 18:05 | 18:38 |
| December solstice | 06:48 | 15:50 | 16:30 |
Local time (America/Los_Angeles).
Climate normals
Months averaging 50–80 °F: Feb–May, Oct–Nov.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg °F | 50 | 53 | 61 | 68 | 77 | 87 | 93 | 91 | 83 | 71 | 57 | 48 |
| Precip in | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.5 |
1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — N LAS Vegas, 8 mi away.
Where this comes from
Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.
OpenStreetMapWikipediaWikidataOpenStreetMap element node/297530806
Day trips start here
- Las Vegas · 8 mi
- Las Vegas/The Strip · 11 mi
Take the scenic way to Frenchman Mountain.
Byway plans around your taste, verified places, real weather and opening hours — then opens every leg in Google Maps with one tap.