Unit 251 covers the Mormon Mountains, the East Mormon Mountains, the Tule Springs Hills, and the surrounding desert basins in southeastern Nevada between Mesquite and Caliente. Elevations run from about 2,500 feet on the Virgin River Valley floor up to 7,414 feet on Mormon Peak. The Mormons are a steep, cliff-banded limestone range rising abruptly out of pure Mojave Desert—creosote, blackbrush, Joshua tree, and barrel cactus on the bajadas, transitioning through desert tea and yucca on the mid-elevations, into pinyon-juniper and a pocket of mountain mahogany on the highest north faces. The Mormon Mountains Wilderness covers about 157,000 acres and protects the core. The country is harsh, beautiful, and water-poor: Tule Springs and a few scattered guzzlers (artificial water catchments) are the only reliable sources. BLM dominates with the wilderness designation taking the high country off the table for motors. I-15 frames the south running through Mesquite; US 93 frames the west between Caliente and Las Vegas; the BLM access roads off both are graded gravel that goes nasty quickly. Mesquite (a casino-and-golf town) and Caliente have the basics; Las Vegas is your real supply run. Cell service follows I-15 and US 93 and quits otherwise. Desert mule deer at low densities and the marquee species—desert bighorn sheep—live the cliff bands; tags are exceptionally limited. The Mormon Range produces some of the better desert bighorn rams in Nevada because the country is rugged, water-managed, and access-limited. Bring real water (multiple gallons), real boots for limestone, and accept that even October is hot.