- BLACK BUTTE is the high peak but hard to get at. Use the Bradshaw Trail south of the range to get to a 4wd road at N33 32299, W115 21163. From the end of the road el 3000, go up the main wash to the main saddle. Be sure to get on the left bench at 33419, 21344. From the saddle, climb right. At 33809, 21161 start contouring to the right around a bump then another little bump right after. The rest is obvious to the top at 33686, 20692 el 4400+. 3 hours, 1500 gain. I rode in from the north on the nasty Dupont Road. Much deep sand and rock. Not as good a hike as Pilot Peak.
For CORN SPRINGS area,take the Corn Springs exit off I-10 and go nearly a mile east to graded Corn Springs Rd. It's nearly 8 miles to the pay campground.
- For CORN SPRINGS PEAK el 2900, go a mile past the camground and park at an easy canyon on the right. Hike up this to a main fork. Go right to a basin at N33 38320, W115 20208. From here, climb the high class 2 ridge on the right. At the top, go along the left side then thru a saddle then on to the peak 38236, 19023. Stay off the ridge center. Go over to the twin peak, then down the ridge to the campground. 3 hours, 1400 gain. Take a stick. This is the high peak seen on the right when entering the range.
- CORN BENCHMARK el 3150 is fairly easy. Drive 3 miles past the campground to the end of county road then go right up the 4wd road for a fifth mile and park. Hike across a big wash to a trail at N33 38327, W115 22555. Walk that into another fork of the wash and go up to the correct channel at 38603, 22779. Go up that to a fork at 39081, 22172. Get on the bench between the forks and go another quarter mile to the divide el 2300. Start up the slope on the right and angle left near the top to get into a minor saddle then go on up to the BM at 38893, 21448. 3 hours, 1200 gain. Posted 2016.
- There is a trail from Corn Spring to the SKIPPER MINE and on to PILOT PEAK. Drive to the cabin about a half mile past the campground. Turn left on a 4wd road. Go about a mile keeping left at forks and park at a wash bottom. Hike about a fifth mile to a saddle at N33 37002, W115 20693 to pick up the trail. If walking the rd,pick up the trail sooner at 37264, 20708. The trail goes thru the saddle into the cyn beyond. It goes along the bottom a short way then climbs up on the left. Soon a rock dated 1904 appears on the trail. Keep right at a fork at EGG HEAD ROCK 36434, 21339. About a quarter air mile past the rock is where the trail crosses to the right side of the main wash. Just below are seasonal pools. Go up the right side of the wash to get on a hidden trail at 36303, 21661. Follow it to the mine at 36067, 21792. The SKIPPER MINE RD comes in here but only safe for bikes. To climb PILOT PEAK, from the SKIPPER MINE, go behind the mine to the old trail 36067, 21792 and take it up the center then right side of the cyn. It gets easier to follow and then crosses to the left side at 35699, 21902 and switches back. Stay on it to 35443, 21783 el 3800. Leave the trail here and climb the right slope. Near the top start angling right toward the peak to hit a minor saddle at 35359, 21910. It's a short walk to the peak 35315, 22013 el 4200. I went down the easy north ridge at 35411, 21986 then took a right down a spur ridge at 35659, 22047 to get back to the mine. 5 hrs, 2300 gain from the lower TH. The mine that the trail ends at is a boring shallow hole.
- Another interesting trail is the BLUE DICK CAMP TRAIL. Go 3 miles past the campground to the end of county road then go right up the 4wd road for 4 miles and park at the wilderness boundary. Hike the old road as it swings right then go right at a spur at N33 38390, W115 26349 that soons becomes a trail. It takes you thru a saddle el 2900 then down the canyon to a mine at 39306, 25848 el 2400. Lots of recent stuff here. Keep going to BLUE DICK CAMP at 39888, 25204 el 2150. More stuff here. 4 hrs, 1300 gain. The trail keeps going to the Granite Mine area. To hike up from the bottom near the Granite Mine, get off I-10 at the Eagle Mtn Rd exit. Go south 3/4 mile to the power lines. Go left along the lines then keep straight when the lines veer left. Go another mile to a deep wash. The next mile to the end of the road is nasty. At the end of the road are tailings. Look for the trail on the right at N33 40542, W115 25914 el 1600.
- LONG TANK and SPRING TANKS are south of Desert Center. Use sandy roads from the exit or the Eagle Mtn Rd to get on the power line road closest to the mountains. Turn south at N33 41735, W115 23650 and go to Long Tank near the end of the road. A spur road goes east to the next canyon. Hike up it for half an hour then get on a faint trail at 40152, 22720 and go another 250 feet to the mega tanks. Likely there's water here year round.
- BLUE DICK / SPRING TANK LOOP - a loop can be made by going up the Spring Tank canyon to the road from Corn Spring then walking west to the Blue Dick TH. Exit I-10 at Desert Center. Use sandy road #415 from the exit and go about a mile to the power line road closest to the mountains. Go left on the power line road for about 300 feet then turn south at N33 41735, W115 23650 and go a bit over a mile to road #423 that goes a quarter mile east to the next canyon. Hike a trail into the canyon then go up it for half an hour then get on a faint trail on the left at 40152, 22720 and go another 250 feet to the mega Spring Tanks. Go on up canyon with easy walking nearly a mile to a fork on the right with a guzzler. Stay in the left fork to a bouldery fork at 39245, 23628 el 1900. The boulders are easy to climb. Go left there and stay in the main canyon to the divide at 38881, 23928 el 2450. Go down the other side to a fork at 38598, 24339 el 2250. Go right to a road on a bench at 38457, 24630. Walk that a short way until it turns the wrong way then cut across to the correct road at 38296, 24903. Walk west on that to the wilderness boundary. Stay on the old road as it swings right then go right at a spur at 38390, 26349 that soo becomes a trail. It takes you thru a saddle el 2900 then down to a creekbed. It goes down the bed a short way then resumes on the left bank and follows the canyon to a mine at 39306, 25848 el 2400. Keep going to Blue Dick Camp at 39888, 25204 el 2150. The trail goes left around the camp then down to the lower TH at el 1600. Just before the TH, stay on the ridge to another trail at 40604, 25909 el 1750. Walk that to a road cutting across the ridge. Go right on that to the end then drop down a washed out trail to a mine at the base where I should have stashed a mtn bike. The reading here is 40885, 25750 el 1300. I walked the flats back to the start but had to deal with a lot of gullies. The loop took me 7 and a half hours but with a shuttle it would be an hour less. The gain is about 2000. Study a map before trying this and make sure you can go into reverse if you get lost. Posted 2016.
- ZION WASH is what I call a canyon near Desert Center. A hippie commune known as Kingdom of Zion was here in the 1960s. Exit I-10 there and go east on the paved frontage road to a building then follow the gas line road to a fork at N33 42028, W115 20437. Go right then left to the TH in half a mile. Walk the trail for 5 minutes to the Mustard Seed Dam and foundations. The trail goes on another quarter mile to minor falls shown on the map. Then the trail gets fainter and finally drops into the wash. I went up as far as another fall shown on the map at 40827, 21283, but it's a laughable 5 foot high drop. The whole hike took 2 hours, easy. A prehistoric habitation site, recorded as RIV-1383, is at the mouth of this canyon, right in the energy corridor. Those Indians should have stuck around. Now they have gas and electric right to their village. Posted 2016.
