Exploring the Silver Island Mountains
Hiking & Camping in the Silver Island Mountains | November 2025
At this point, we had driven 1300+ miles in 5 days. Hardly a land speed record (get it – we were boondocking right next to the Bonneville Salt Flats where land speed records are set), but we decided we needed a couple of zero driving days. Our spot in BLM land had plenty of sun to charge the battery, good reception from nearby Wendover, and was surrounded by mountains.
I would love to say that I hiked some very tall and prominent peaks during our resting days and there were definitely several to choose from. From where we were parked we had the best views of Pilot Peak – an Ultra prominent and historically significant peak (Captain Fremont used the peak as a guide to cross the Salt Lake Desert in 1845 and the Donner-Reed party found refuge and water at its base during their ill-fated crossing). But the roads to those peaks were suspect, much to far to walk to comfortably within a day, and we were somewhat committed to the whole ‘zero-driving’ mentality.
But the nearby peaks were still plenty challenging and enjoyable. Over the next two days we established a good routine. Once we woke up, we would both work for a while, closing out some of the fall projects and working on the website. But shortly after lunch we were ready for some activity. We would walk along the old dirt roads for a couple miles and then I would break off to climb to the top of a peak and Jess would walk back to the van. After I climbed my mountain I would return for some afternoon relaxation. And then we would walk the roads again at sunset.
The first day, I set my eyes on Volcano Peak, an intimidating and scraggly looking peak that looked like a volcano from certain angles. Despite how steep it looked from a distance, up close the route I took was very protected and I never felt exposed to any sort of fall. As I got close to the top, I began to notice crystalline formations embedded in the rocks and grabbed a couple samples to take back to the van. The view from the top was excellent with the wide open Salt Lake Desert stretching out to the South and East. So many mountains that I had never seen before within view. You can see a recording of this peak here.
The second day, we walked a bit further to the North. At this point, I had climbed a new peak with more than 100 meters of prominence four days in a row, and I waffled on whether I wanted to climb to a small hill or go for the taller and more prominent (and more intimidating) Rishel Peak. Naturally, I went against my better judgement and went for the big one. And while I was making poor decision, I also decided to not take the ‘standard’ route to the top (not that there are trails out here, just the GPS tracks of other peak enthusiasts) and instead blazed my own path in the name of less mileage.
My path essentially went straight up the North West face of the peak. It was never dangerous, but it was very steep and I soon hit the ‘What on earth am I doing?’ moment where I sit down and look how far up I’ve come, how far up I still have to go, and how steep it is going to be when I go back down. But, after a period of counting my steps and counting my breaths, I soon reached the ridge just below the summit. The views were mostly the same as from Volcano and I soon started back down, much the way I had come up. You can see a recording of this peak here.
As night approached, the sunsets stretched endlessly across the desert horizon. But we were also doubly fortunate that on one of the three nights we stayed here we had the opportunity to see the Northern Lights! It wasn’t optimal conditions where we were, and there were clouds in the critical Northern part of the sky so we don’t have many good pictures, but we definitely saw some red hues and flickering. That makes our third state where we’ve seen the Aurora Borealis.
Overall, we really enjoyed this area and would probably stay here again if we were crossing I-80. The BLM has a pretty decent dirt road that goes all the way around range, and based on what we’ve found online, it’s not that bad of a drive.
