On Henderson’s south side, a tangle of unofficial desert footpaths is about to get a formal upgrade. The city is working to turn those user-made tracks into the Black Mountain Nature Preserve, a roughly 1,300-acre spread of volcanic rock and desert scrub that will feature official trails, scenic overlooks and a new trailhead at the end of Buckhorn Street. City planners say the goal is to protect habitat while giving residents safer, designated access into the McCullough Range, instead of everyone just picking their own route up the hill.
City budget and planning status
On paper, the project shows up in the city’s multi-year capital plan as PR405 and is labeled as a Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act funded park, according to the City of Henderson. Those budget documents place the preserve in the 2025–2030 Capital Improvement Program and forecast money for both planning and construction, signaling that this is not just a concept sketch tucked in a drawer.
From social trails to official paths
Instead of carving brand-new lines across the mountainside, the city wants to work with what hikers have already created. Amie Wojtech, Henderson’s park planning manager, told FOX5 that the plan is to use existing “social trails” and “bring them up to city standards” rather than blaze fresh routes. She said the preserve is meant to let nearby residents step into nature close to home. The strategy is designed to cut down on erosion and concentrate foot traffic on durable, intentionally designed corridors instead of letting paths spiderweb across the slopes.
Grant funding and project scale
To pay for the work, the project landed a Round 18 SNPLMA award of $5,608,540. Federal project summaries describe the preserve footprint as roughly 1,340 acres with about seven miles of trails, according to the Bureau of Land Management. The cooperative agreement lists December 29, 2027, as the funding end date, which effectively puts a clock on the planning and construction milestones tied to the grant.
Trailhead plans and timeline
Plans filed with the city and described in local reporting call for a main trailhead at the end of Buckhorn Street that would include two overlooks, lighting, a solar-powered restroom, a parking lot, picnic tables and decorative, water-efficient landscaping, as reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal. That coverage also notes that city officials expect construction could start in early 2027, with the preserve potentially opening by the end of 2027 if the schedule holds. Officials are stressing a low-impact design that aims to protect sensitive plants and wildlife while still making the area significantly more user friendly than the current improv trail network.
How the preserve fits the trail network
Black Mountain will not be a standalone island of open space. Planners see the preserve tying into Hidden Falls Park via the Amargosa Trail and extending south to connect with the McCullough Hills Trail and other Bureau of Land Management routes toward Sloan Canyon, stitching together longer hiking options and safer access to a big swath of public land, according to FOX5. The preserve also appears on the city’s list of upcoming parks and trails projects, a sign that it is a priority piece of Henderson’s broader parks strategy, according to the City of Henderson. For residents who already rely on a mix of social trails and BLM paths for their weekend hikes, that kind of regional connectivity is a major selling point.
Next steps and design process
The city has moved into the master-planning phase, with a design team now handling site studies and public outreach, according to Lage Design, the project’s master planner. The firm describes a public outreach centered process that will shape where trails actually go, what the signage looks like and which low-impact amenities make the cut before any shovels hit the ground. In other words, the dusty paths people use today are being carefully rethought before Black Mountain’s off-the-books playground officially becomes Henderson’s next nature preserve.
