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| Tosco BM |
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| Little Maria high peak. |
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| Eagle Nest Peak and the dark peak. |
- For BIG MARIA high point, take the Lovekin exit at Blythe. Go north about 14 miles on the paved road toward Midland to a 4wd power line road.Go north on this about 7 air miles and park near pole # 448 at N33 52627, W114 41664. Head up the wash to an easy ridge on the left at 52813,40991. Go up the ridge then veer left to a saddle at 52667,40622 el 2000+. Go across a shallow canyon then angle up the other side and continue up the ridge to the top at 52078,40143 el nearly 3400. 3 hours, 2300 gain. The road has some nasty spots near pole #448 but you could still make the hike even if you get stopped. The road gets some maintenance.
- WEST MARIA BM el 2870 is a triple summit in the western Big Maria Mtns. The SW ridge is craggy but the canyon to the right of it goes. Turn off the Midland Rd at N33 50916, W114 46531. Keep going on 4wd to a point at 51971, 46543. The road goes around the point then is soon washed out on the bank of a wash at a fork. Walk the left fork and stay left at all forks until you reach a sharp wash. Cross over and go to a sheep trail at a minor saddle reading 52591, 46317. Keep going on the trail another 400 feet then go right up the main canyon to your right. Be sure to get on the left bank at 52786, 46063. Go up canyon then go left to a gully at 53040, 45911. The mouth of the gully has short vertical walls and is half blocked by a boulder. Go up the gully almost to the ridge top then turn right and stay right of crags and shortly it opens up and it's easy up the ridge to the BM and reg. 4 hours, 1900 gain.
- EAGLE NEST PEAK is what I call an oddball peak in the western part of the Big Maria Mtns. It's geologically different than its neighbors. Take the Midland Rd to a 4wd road at N33 50373, W114 46190. Take that or one of the parallel tracks straight for 2 miles to a major canyon. It's smoother to get on a parallel track on the right .9 mile in from the pavement. Go a quarter mile on that to a rock pile on the right. Turn to the rock pile and cross the gully behind it and now you're on the final track. The reading there is 51347, 45868. Hike up canyon using the lowest road segments on the left bank, stay off the right bank until 52490, 45311 where a game trail helps a little. At a fork reading 52673, 44888, go right to the next fork. Go right again and follow the gully to the ridge top. Now go right up the final summit block to the high point of the light colored rock reading 52495, 44752. It's easy to keep going to a higher dark peak. I wanted to return directly back down the obvious main canyon. From the dark peak I circled the head of the canyon to 52307, 44880 where I started down to the left. Not straight down, I switched back on a shelf for an easier grade and got to the rocky creekbed. I saw a baby rattler down near the mouth. At the bottom I turned right on a road along the base for a half mile back to the start. 4 hours, 1200 gain. Interesting hike. That rattler is all grown up now and just waiting for somebody to walk by. Posted 2015.
- For LITTLE MARIA MOUNTAINS high point, go north on the Midland Road from Blythe for about 17 miles to the Arlington Mine Road. A sign there says Standard Mine. It starts out graded then becomes unmaintained as it forks to the left just before the huge Standard Mine. Go west for many miles to a sandy 4wd road at N33 49905, W114 56291. Turn north here and go 3 miles to a pillbox in a valley south of the peak. The road forks here. The left fork crosses a wash and runs on the left edge of the valley but is washed out. Use the right fork that runs along the right side of the wash. It was in decent shape for the first mile in 2016. I decided to take a crack at an improbable frontal assault. And got lucky. I walked the road as it follows the wash curving left and enters a canyon. It shrinks to a trail running along the right bank. When the bank ends the trail climbs a little then levels off and enters the creekbed. I stayed in this canyon as it took a right turn and climbed to a saddle at 53883, 55743 el 2200. This saddle overlooks the basin below the massive cliffs of the summit area. From the saddle, I went up the ridge keeping right of center and crossed over to the left at 53939, 55768. From there I angled up to the left to get on the main summit ridge. The peak is to the right at 54014,55572 el 3000+. A chute on the right side of the summit block makes it easy. The Buck Benchmark is on top but no reg in 2012. 4 hours, 2000 gain. Take a stick. A very interesting peak. And unloved, except by sheep. No falls to climb, only an occasional easy class 3 move. PATTON'S CABIN ROAD is not far to the west. Stay on the Arlington road for a few more miles to posts at a fork. One post says Palen Pass to the right. The other says Pattons Cabin to the left. Go left and stay right at main forks for the next 4 miles. The first 3 miles are mild sand with a million little dips. Then it gets rocky, slowing down 4wds but nothing major. The forks in the rocky area are just where the road splits then comes back together. The right fork was always smoother as of 2015. One of those was blocked by a berm but cycles could get over. After about 4 and a half miles in on the Patton road, there is a mine road going hard right. Stay left here and go less than half a mile to another fork at a wash reading N33 48776, W115 00645. I parked here and made a loop using the 2 forks. I went up the right fork along an Indian trail then cut over to 49038, 01249 where I dropped down an old track to the cabin in a wash. Then I walked a road going down the wash which took me back to the start. An easy one hour hike. The cabin is a unique metal cube at a mine, but not Patton's. His cabin is a ruin with 3 walls somewhere in the vicinity. Commentary on the internet says Patton was never in the desert, he only commanded soldiers who trained there. Posted 2016.
- A road goes NE from the Midland Rd at the Standard Mine turnoff. It crosses a rough wash then gets easy for another 3 miles to a main fork. Each fork gets nasty and dead ends. Mtn bikes would work here. Posted 2015.
- TOSCO BM el 2300 is the high peak in the south Big Maria Mtns. The NW canyon goes. Turn off the Midland Rd at N33 43002, W114 38563. Maria Mtns. The NW canyon goes. Go 3 miles on easy 4wd and park next to a mega wash. Walk across the wash to a small flat on the other side reading 45472, 37654. Follow the high ground as it circles to a low ridge at 45569, 37179. Go up that and now you're on the rim of the NW canyon. Walk the rim until it gets rough then drop down to the right into the creekbed. Walk up canyon to a major fork at 45950,36311. Get on the bench between the forks and walk to 45980,35943 where you cross over to the right bank. Stay on the right bank for a quarter mile to a major fork then cross to the left bank. Go on up the left fork. It steepens and curves right. At 45722, 35547 near the top you come to 2 gullies. Take the left one to the ridge top then go left to the reg at 45630, 35505. 4 and a half hours, 1700 gain. There is some class 3 near the top but not scary. Posted 2016.
- INDIAN CAVE TRAIL - this trail is in the SE part of the Big Maria Mtns. Drive US 95 to a gravel road at mp RIV 14.4. If that road is locked, use a mtn bike or drive south a half mile to Villas Shores Rd and go west on 4wd to the power line road and come back on that to the gravel road. Take the gravel road for a mile and a half to the legal end at a barrier. Hike the road to where it bends thru a quarry. Shortcut the bend on an Indian trail at N33 46425, W114 32922. It goes along the left side of a gully, ignore the trail on the right side. The trail goes thru a saddle then across a rocky wash and you'll be back on the road again. Soon the road forks. Go right to get on an Indian trail at 46124, 33557. Follow the trail along the right bank for .26 air mile then drop to the creekbed down a gully. Go on up the bed for a quarter air mile to a washed out road on the left. Go up that to get on the left bank and walk the trail to a major fork in the wash reading 46348, 34399 el 850. It's a short walk on the trail up the left fork to the cave. The trail stays high then drops a little to get at it. A series of tanks are below the cave, all dry that day. To make a loop, go on up the canyon nearly half a mile to the first main side canyon on the left. Go up that to a saddle reading 45949, 34707 el 1400. Go down the other side using faint game trails left of the creekbed. It's easy to stay up on the left bank for half a mile until there is no more bank. Drop to the easy bed and stay in it down thru a mini gorge to a road at 45454, 33626 el 800. That road is soon gone but a trail on the left bank goes up to a saddle. A million trails are here but stay level on one to fork at 45777, 33824 and go left all the way down the ridge to the main wash you started in. A road is out in the middle that I used to walk back on. At one place the road is cut off, so I went to 46087, 33472 to safely get down to the bed and walked back to the quarry. 4 and a half hours for the loop and 500 feet of gain that you will notice. Just going to the cave and back would be 3 hours. There is an alternate way to return with one rappel. Stash gear near the quarry on the way in then on the way out get on a trail at 46313, 32744. Go thru a saddle then be on the correct trail at 46257, 32604. It goes along the base of peak 1038 then drops into the wash draining NE around the peak. There is one fall maybe 50 feet high with a good anchor. I got around it on the right on an exposed class 3 route. A road at the mouth goes back to Villas Shores Rd. OHVs can't get far in on these roads because floods have cut trenches. Posted 2016.
- TOSCO CANYON is what I call an easy canyon in the SW part of the Big Maria Mountains Wilderness. A loop can be done. Take the Midland Rd to a paved strip with a chain link fence reading N33 42550, W114 38015. Go left around the edge of the strip on a crude road then keep going 2 or 3 miles and park half a mile from the mouth of the canyon which reads 44421, 36575 el 750. Walk easy desert pavement to the mouth then go up canyon 3/4 air mile to a main fork reading 44982, 36223. Walk the bench between the forks until it fizzles then go on up the left fork to the head of the canyon then veer left a short way to a saddle at 45540, 36489 el 1100. Go down the other side on game trails to the main wash at the bottom. Go down the wash and exit on the right at 45464, 37061 el 850 and walk the rim to an Indian trail at 45341, 37342. Walk the trail and it soon fades in the wash but keep going to the road at 45094, 37252 and then it's less than a mile on that back to the start. The loop took me 2 hours and the gain was hardly noticeble. OHVs try to get in these canyons but are blocked by rocks. Posted 2016.
- MARIE BENCHMARK el 2575 is a jagged twin summit overlooking the main Indian corridor thru the Big Maria Mtns. Turn off the Midland Rd at N33 43002, W114 38563. Go 5 miles on easy 4wd and park at a dip in the road el 1050. A mine trail leaves the road right there reading 47186, 37535. Follow it across 2 washes into a third wash which is the canyon running west of the peak. The trail climbs high along the left bank and then you'll merge with old roads which end at el 1400. Those roads have no legal access. It's easy to keep going up along the left bank then right bank. At 47953, 37593 el 1900 start up along the left side of a drainage. After a distance of 500 feet veer right on easy ground to the west summit at 47900, 37337. A reg dates back to 1932. The BM is lower and .4 mile east, but crags and a saddle are in the way. Walk to a viewpoint at 48012, 37220 where you can see a route across the saddle and up the other side in a chute left of center. At the top of the chute it's easy walking on a level shelf right of center. Where that shelf starts downhill, cross back over left of center. A cairn was there so some maniac was there ahead of me. Walk low along the left side and it's obvious how to get to the survey junk at 47992, 36910. I couldn't find a BM. Now go down the north slope to a minor saddle at 48122, 37012 el 1900 where crags are in the way. Walk down the ridge right of center on an easy shelf to get past the crags then stay on the ridge to the bottom. Looking back up, you won't believe you traversed that mess. Circle right on roads around the base of the peak. Use the Indian trail at 47717, 36317 to shortcut the road. It drops into a wash and goes down the bed a tenth mile then exits left at some big dead trees. Soon it merges with the road. Stay on the road in the wash to a side wash at 47057, 37263 and it's a third mile back to the start. 5 hours, about 2000 gain, easy class 3. Just doing the west summit and back would be 3 hours and 1600 gain. Posted 2016.
- QUIEN BENCHMARK el 2258 is in an isolated NE corner of the Big Maria Mountains Wilderness. The SE ridge is easy. Take US 95 to mp RIV 23.3. Turn up a wash on 4wd road 929. It goes up the wash a short way then up onto the left bank. Follow it to road 927 reading N33 53448, W114 34328. Turn right on 927 for half a mile to the next fork and go left. In half a mile an Indian trail can be seen dropping off to the left and on toward a pass, but then to what? Stay on the road to the legal end on the SE ridge at el 1100. Hike the ridge to the BM at 54965, 36849. The last fifth mile looks rocky but easy paths go thru. A shiny chrome memorial is on the summit for Gary Scott Hogan. 2 hours, 1200 gain. Posted 2016
- BLACK POINT has a 4wd road up to towers. Leave US 95 just south of mp RIV 12. In a half mile is a flat where the BLM fenced off geoglyphs, but bulldozers got there first. These designs are best seen on the satellite image. A BM is on top south of the towers. Posted 2016.
- MULE MOUNTAIN el 1801 is the high peak in the Mule Mountains ACEC west of town. Go south from I-10 on highway 78 for about 4 and a half miles to 22nd Ave. Go west for 3 miles to the end of pavement at Rannells Blvd. Keep going west on graded road for 2.1 miles to a sandy power road. Turn right and follow the big towers for 1.1 miles then go left for half a mile to a burned out RV. Go left for a third mile to a well and a big hole. Turn right toward the peak for half a mile to a dike. Go around the dike for a fifth mile to a north/south road reading N33 32479, W114 46460. Turn south on the road for a short way and look right to a road going up a tricky hill. No road connects to it, so follow any tracks you can find to get to it. Follow the road into a canyon. The last 4wd turnaround is at 32067, 47658 el 650. Hike up the road to a major saddle SE of the peak then go right on a trail to a mine at 31799, 48191 el 1100. Start up into a major gully above. Use the right bank at first then drop in after a little crag. Go on up to the ridge top then go right a short way to the reg and BM at 32003, 48321. 2 hours, 1100 gain. Hiking from the tricky hill would add a mile each way. Posted 2015.
