Turtle Mtns Flower Show

The Coffin Spring TH is where the pics above were taken. I'll add more as I move toward Death Valley.

Near Needles

Boundary Cone. The pics below are from the Bigelow CG Wilderness area.

Castle Dome in the Clipper Mtns

North Turtle Mountains Indian Trails

The Coffin Sprng Indian trail

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• Any hikers interested in a guided tour of these trails can find me on Facebook as Nevada Bob.
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  MOHAWK TO MOPAH TRAIL- the Indians had an easy 17 mile route connecting Mohawk Spring to Mopah Spring. Some segments survive. Turn off US 95 at mp 21.9 and follow BLM road #634 to the closure in a bit over 4 miles. 2wd trucks might make all but the last half mile. Leave a vehicle there then take US 95 to Turtle Mtn Road at mp 35.7. Go west on that easy 4wd road for  about 11 miles in a straight line then BLM road #477 forks to the left. Take #477 and keep going SW nearly 3 miles to Lost Arch Mine camp area, aka Lisa Dawn Camp. There is one shaded table and grill, no outhouse. The trail to the spring is 250 feet west of the table. It goes up on the right side of a drainage  thru a saddle a quarter mile SW of the camp area. Another trail is on the left of the drainage but is longer. Both trails soon merge into one and go on past Mohawk Spring which never has water and into a valley and starts up into a minor saddle at N34 25549, W114 51471. It goes down the other side to the valley floor and fades out. The terrain is easy so I just  got on the high ground at 25044, 51331 and then on to 23881, 50633 where the trail runs faint on the south bank of a wash. I walked it across a sharp gully at 23709, 50862. Then on to 23559, 51041 and then on to a saddle where the trail is visible at 23016, 51523. It goes into a main wash where a vertical slab at has some minor petroglyphs. I had a snack there and a hummingbird stared at me the whole time. He might be an "attack hummingbird" possessed by the Indian spirits to guard against vandalism. I stayed in the main wash then took a left fork at 22187, 51185 and followed that to 21904, 50852 where I went up a ridge between forks. I stayed right around a bump and resumed on the ridge behind the bump and on to a saddle at 21682, 50516. I followed the low ground to the next trail segment at 21401, 50176. That soon faded then the next segment is at 20842, 49414 ( a peculiar pipe is along that stretch at 21204, 49827 then another trail segment at 21100, 496730). Someone has been helping out with cairns until that point, but didn't stop for lack of rocks. The trail goes into a canyon then fades but the route goes to a saddle at 20429, 49232. A boulder with petroglyphs is  before the saddle. From the saddle, a good trail goes left and uphill a little to get to an easy ridge down to the wash in Vidal Valley, but the Indians were trying to trick me. It's much easier to walk level out of the saddle on a game trail running on the right bank that merges with the rim then down to the main wash. I stayed in the wash to 19133, 48106 where habitation sites are at a cliff on the right bank. The trail can be seen again at 18993, 47883 where it goes 300 feet back into the wash. The next trail is on the left bank at 18683, 47500. It goes on to 18677, 47196 then goes thru the saddle west of Mopah Spring. It follows along the left bank to the spring then stays on the left bank and drops to the wash a quarter mile past the spring. It goes up on the right bank at 19404, 45319 and stays far right for a third mile then crosses to the left bank then back to the right. The last trail is on the left bank at 19773, 44236 and goes to an airstrip then fades, but it's only half a mile to the south TH. That took me 8 hours, 5 minutes with no strenuous gain. The app had it at 19 miles.  I saw no water until Mopah Spring in spite of a big rain two days earlier. I found running water on the Bolson Peak hike that I detailed on the 2015 page. That would work for backpackers but not guaranteed. That's a worthy side trip anyway. In 6 or 7 hours, I could haul a backpack and set up camp west of Mopah Spring then go over the hump for water and resume down the southern trail to highway 62. The scenery hasn't changed much since the Indians were here but OHVs are moving in. Posted 2019, 2021.
• COFFIN SPRING LOOP - the same trail as above can be used for a long but easy loop around the mega crags. Follow that route to the high ground at N34 25044, W114 51331. Watch your step because some rocks along here have been arranged. Be careful not to disturb anything. Keep going to a trail over the main saddle at 23849, 49948. A minor cave there had sheep tracks. The trail goes up into the saddle then splits, take the lower one down to the floor. Coffin Spring is at  23711, 48755 el 2500 but I skipped it this trip. Walk on down the easy main wash and exit left on a closed road at 24785, 48773 that goes to the Coffin Spring TH. Or, as I prefer, use an Indian trail just before that where it goes thru a saddle at 24542, 49018 (another trail goes thru the next saddle but leads into rocks) and goes down the other side on the left side of a drainage to a main wash. It goes along the far bank of that wash and goes down to smooth ground at 25527, 49224 then a fifth mile to the legal road then walk to the next fork and go left back to the start.  That took 4 and a half hours and not any strenuous gain. A trail can be seen along the road on the drive out at 27055, 49878. That seems to connect Mohawk Spring to the river. Posted March, 2019.
• COFFIN SPRING TRAIL SOUTH - the Indians had a rough route from that spring to Mopah Spring. Take US 95 to Turtle Mtn Road at mp 35.7. Go west on that easy 4wd road for  about 11 miles in a straight line then BLM road #477 forks to the left. Take that for about a mile to Browns Camp road #480 forking left. That's a rough road, so stay right on #477 and then left at main forks to the Coffin  Spring TH at a closed fork reading N34 25474, W114 48931 el 1900. But you can keep going on the legal road another 800 feet and park. Hike up the closed fork. It will soon enter a major wash and vanish. I went up the wash until cliffs on my right ended then up to the trail at 23432, 49238 el 2850. I walked up it along a cliff base to the main saddle el 3100. The trail exits the saddle to the left then crosses a minor drainage at 23226, 49081 el 3100 then starts dropping off the rim at 23143, 49092 el 3150. I followed it to 23019, 49090 el 3100 and it soon faded. But the Indians must have gone down a ridge at 22734, 49139 el 2900. I walked it down then near the bottom stayed on the rim of the drainage to my left. At the main creekbed el 2600,I used a  trail on the left bank a short way then dropped into a minor narrows. It was easy on down to a minor fall with bathtub size potholes in bedrock. Just below that I used the left bank but the wash might be just as easy. At the flats, I turned west up Gary Wash to high ground at 21764, 50588 el 2500 and followed it over a divide el 2550. Then I just followed the wash down the other side to a trail again at 22778, 51566. I walked that over a saddle at 23004, 51526 then on to  23220, 51300 then 23392, 51144 then to a canyon at 23748, 50820. I went a quarter mile up the canyon and got on the left rim and followed it to a trail over the main saddle at 23849, 49948.  The trail goes up into the saddle then splits to the right,  the lower one being the route down to the floor then I retraced back out. That took 7 hours with about 1000 feet of noticeable gain. Posted 2020.

Lisa Dawn Camp

Flower hotspot near the TH

The first valley heading toward Bolson Peak

Looking back at the crags around Coffin Spring

The trail cutting across the head of Gary Wash

Habitation sites are along the way. This is an unfurnished duplex.

Turtle Mountains Indian Trail Backpack

Any hikers interested in a guided tour of these trails can find me on Facebook as Nevada Bob. The Indians walked from the river to Mopah Spring then on to Horn Spring then to a spring near Black Ridge that I call Last Spring. The route can be followed now but the trail is gone in places. A one way hike ending at highway 62 is 20+ miles, making for a long dayhike. But it's easy to set up a cache near the midway point for a 2 day backpack. Or stash a backpack at the cache and carry a day pack for the first day. Plot this at caltopo before attempting it. It's not a bad idea to set up a cache even for a dayhike, in case you screw up somehow. And don't build any eyesore fire rings. Remember, the Indian spirits are watching. Don't piss'em off. Take good care of their trail. It's the best one I know of.

The trail enters Mopah Spring canyon.

Mopah Peak. Lynne Foster's book says an Indian first climbed it in the 19th century.

Just before Mopah Spring

Palms at the spring

I've never seen it dry. I was there just before and after a big rain. There was no change.

The trail enters Vidal Valley.

It runs by Castle Rock.

Then past Horn Spring and over rocky hills.

The final leg goes thru a gap west of Black Ridge.

Last Spring

• DAY 1 -   To set up a cache, take highway 62 to mp 117.7 and go north a short way to the north side of the canal. From there, take the leftmost fork (not the canal road) and go nearly 7 miles on easy 4wd to a rocky hill on the left side of the road at the wilderness boundary. Walk along the south side of the hill and eventually into a wash and go at least a mile to get close to a pothole at N34 11328, W114 46404. It had half a bathtub of water from rain a week earlier, but can't be counted on. I left a backpack with water in it and had the pothole as extra if I needed it.  To fill the day, a loop hike can be done over May Benchmark. Get on the high ground on the east side of the pothole and walk north a half mile to the mouth of Horn Spring canyon and meet the closed road. Stay on the road to Horn Spring and then on to the Virginia May Mine, or use a mine trail on the right bank at the spring reading 12505, 47376 el 2050 and walk that for a third of an air mile to where it crosses to the left bank el 2150 then up to 12526, 47842 el 2300 where it goes up a flat bank and meets the road at el 2400. It's best to walk the road from there to nearly the end then get on a trail at 12226, 48045 el 2700. Walk that for .15 air mile to a saddle el 2750 next to a large cairn where the peak is in view. Walk level out of the saddle toward the peak on a faint trail and it merges on to the main ridge then it's obvious how to walk the ridge until an ugly peak gets in the way a third mile before the BM. I could see a high saddle on the left of that peak, so I went left of center to get in the first gully then up that to cliffs then along the base of the cliffs to the saddle at 11825, 47366 el 2750. I was forced to trend uphill staying left of center to get back on the ridgetop, but was nearly on top of the ugly peak. Then the rest was obvious to the reg at 11667, 47202. Placed by Carey and Adrian in 1997, no one else had signed in. I wanted to descend the south ridge, but couldn't see down it so I used the canyon on the west side of it. I looked back up and could see that the ridge would work after all. Upon hitting the wash at the bottom, I went down that a fifth mile then got out and walked the base of the peak into the smooth wash that has the pothole.  That whole loop took 5 and a half hours with around 1500 gain and hardly any steep. Just stashing the pack would take 1 hour. One easier loop would be to go as far as the Virginia May Mine then return down the south canyon. I saw a trail going down into it.
• DAY 2/3 - Leave a vehicle along highway 62 at a gap in the canal reading N34 05108, W114 46472. I left my motorhome .7 mile to the east at mp 112.4. Or use the sat image to find a way onto the canal road. Then drive 27 miles and turn off US 95 at mp 21.9 and follow BLM road #634 to the closure in a bit over 4 miles. 2wd trucks might make all but the last half mile, cars could go a mile or more and mtn bikes could do it all.  Head across the flats to the trail at  19953, 43928. Soon it meets an airstrip then resumes at the far end. It goes along the bench then drops into the wash. A fifth mile up the wash is where it gets easy to walk the left bank.  It resumes on the right at 19470, 44740 and goes a fifth mile then crosses to the left side. It goes along the base of the slope for over a third mile then back into the wash. Go on up the wash to 18981, 46314 where the trail goes up the right bank.  It goes to the spring in a quarter mile. The trail goes on from the spring on the right bank to the main saddle then goes down on the right side of a drainage. At 18500, 47165 it bends away to the left and hits a mega wash. Walk down the wash past a pothole at 17443, 46482 that had about half a bathtub of water. The trail appears again at 16446, 46177. I stayed in the mega wash until a half mile from it. It's spotty and goes on to 15808, 46062 then at 15457, 46020 it goes into a broad saddle. It goes down the other side on the right bank of a wash, but it's dippy and it's easier to walk the wash then hit the trail at 14913, 45962. It goes on to 14475, 45897 where it will cross a big wash and resume on the other side at 14260, 45856. Next is 13986, 45913 then crosses a road then 13647, 45924 then 13335, 45943  then 13101, 45990.  At 12441, 46261 it drops into a wash. It goes upstream a few feet then resumes on the left bank and is easy to see again but it goes to Horn Spring, so get off the trail and walk the base to the mouth of Horn Spring canyon. A faint branch trail runs along here. The main trail resumes at the south side of the mouth and goes down to the cache at the pothole (11328, 46404) then goes to 11102, 46432 where it goes up over a saddle and down the other side into a wash. Stay in the wash and get on the right bank at 10555, 46755 and when that fizzles get back in the wash and go down to a main fork. Climb out there to high ground at 10200, 47020 where there are two choices but no trail. It would save a mile to head straight across gullies to a mega wash crossing at 09712, 47218. But I decided stay on the high ground and go west 3/4 mile to skirt the gullies then I followed an old road down to the crossing, but I should have tried crossing at 09855, 47503. From either crossing just  walk to the trail again at 08896, 47441 where it dips into a wash. Go up the wash a tenth mile to a fork and the trail goes up between the forks then on to 08625, 47665 then to the rim at Last Spring reading 08515, 48053. All potholes were bone dry. A sketchy road runs south from the spring on the west bank. I followed it to a broad hill then went left around that to another road at 06988, 47070 and on to the canal. There are mega washes to the west that might also work for the last bit. Posted 2019.
• TIME - it took 90 minutes to get to Mopah Spring and another 4 and a half hours to the mouth of Horn Spring canyon. Then 3 hours to Last Spring and nearly 2 more to the canal. I could do it in one day but might not enjoy it so much. There is hardly any strenuous gain. I'll shorten the time on the next trip in 2020.
• WATER  - Mopah Spring had a pool 3 feet across and nearly a foot deep, no running water. I've never seen it dry up. The next pothole at 17443, 46482 is sunny and the cache pothole is shaded. Both had half a bathtub of water from rain a week earlier. The well at Horn Spring reading  12493, 47315 el 2000 is a 2 mile side trip. It's 10 feet or so down to the water, but who knows what's in there? Dead rodents? I'd drink it in a pinch. I've never seen water at Last Spring, but holes there should have water for a couple of days after a rain, but who can time that? There are also potholes in the vicinity of 10189, 47775 that were dry that day. Posted 2019.