 |
| White Rock Spring above and below |
 |
- WHITE RIVER NARROWS - there are 3 main petroglyph sites in the section that the highway bypasses. Take SR 318 to mp LN 23.9. Turn east on an easy 4wd road and stay left at main forks. It runs north parallel to the highway for 2.2 miles then deadends at the highway. The fence panel is a mile in on the right. A half mile past that on the left is the Martian panel. More panels are at the end of the road, almost to the highway fence. Go back to the first main fork in from the highway. Go right for a third mile and 3 sites are in that area. That road goes on into a sandy canyon but I saw nothing in there. More panels are in the section of the narrows that the highway runs thru, but vandals got to them. The MEGA SITE is the northernmost site. Drive to mp 27 and go north on a crude road for nearly a mile along the cliff base. That road goes on north for another mile to join the highway near mp 29. Mtn bikes would be handy on these dirt roads.
- SEAMAN RANGE HIGH POINT el 8606 is also the high point of the Weepah Spring Wilderness. Take SR 318 to the Weepah Rd at mp LN 24.6. Go NW on the good road a bit over 7 miles to a main fork. Both go to the TH in 3 or 4 miles, I went right that day. The road goes to a T on a ridge. Right goes to Weepah Spring (4wd), but you want to go left and the road will shrink to a crude track at el 6400. Some 2wds would make it here. Go a quarter mile on the crude road to the wilderness boundary. Look up at all the talus in the southern drainage of the peak. If you're going up or down that route, keep to the east side of the drainage along the creekbed. Luckily there's a wuss route that goes up the east canyon into the NE saddle. Walk the old road into the east canyon and stroll up that to the 7000 level. A ponderosa pine and corral are there. Go up the ridge there at N37 58961, W115 05063. The ridge levels off at 7550 then move left to the drainage at 59032, 05636. Now go straight up under the big pines into the NE saddle el 8150. Then walk under more pines to the reg at 58844, 06085. I went down the south drainage on the east side of the creekbed. It saved a mile but I doubt it saved any time because of all the rocks. 5 hours, 2300 gain. Weepah Spring was just a slow drip into a mudhole trashed by cattle. Posted 2015.
- OCEANA SPRING is in the southern part of the range. Major dirt roads allow for a good loop for cycles and 4wds. Start on the Weepah Rd at mp LN 24.6 on SR 318. Go about 4 and a half miles on the dirt road to a major fork. Go left for several miles to a T. Go right for 2/3 mile to another another major fork. The right fork goes to the spring in less than a mile reading N37 55050, W115 09098. Water was coming out of a pipe, but I didn't trust it. Back on the main road, keep going east to a T which is the Weepah Rd where you go right to get back. Sand on these roads is the main reason to need 4wd. Another spring a half mile north of Oceana had nothing. Posted 2015.
- WHITE ROCK SPRING is near the highway. Drive SR 318 to mp LN 30 and go west on a 4wd road. It's washed out in half a mile. Walk on up the canyon for 10 minutes and you'll see the spring thicket on the left. Use the rocky slope to the right of it to circle to the source where it's gushing out of the cliff. I thought it would be dry since there was no sign of grazing, but it's the best spring I've seen in the whole state. It took me 20 minutes to walk to it. Posted 2015. SEAMAN SPRING is at the south end of the range. 4wds can still get there, but there isn't much to see. It has a cottonwood tree, a puddle, and water dripping out of a pipe. No grazing there in 2015.
- TIMBER MOUNTAIN el 8450 is in the central part of the range. It is not named on USGS maps, but is named on other maps and google earth. One way in is the long NE canyon. The hike starts out in a pj forest then ends in a majestic pine forest on top. Take SR 318 to mp LN 45.3. If the gate is locked, you have to go nearly 2 miles south and cross a cattleguard. Then stay far right on a road that comes back north to join the locked one. The bumpy 4wd road goes to mines at the edge of the range. Just before the mines is a 4 way. Go left along the foot of the range to the end of the road at N38 02666, W115 03198 el 6100. Hike a trail up canyon over a mile then veer right into a main right fork at 01550, 03665 el 6600. There is a faint trail to use in this fork too. Go up to a main fork at 00918, 04640 el 7100. There are several ways to go from there. I went up the left fork but dense trees slowed me down. Later I could see that the ridge between the forks might be the best way to get to the north saddle at 00510, 05037 el 7750. Then it gets steep to the north end of the elongated summit at 00263, 05039. My GPS showed the south end as being slightly higher. It's easy to walk to the south end but there's one little block in the way. Go over it, not around it. I returned on the NE ridge to a saddle at the 7000 level then dropped left back to the trail. A horse skull was on the ridge at 00356, 04766. 5 hours, 2400 gain. If I were going to take a 4wd in there, I would camp out under the pinyons and hike the second day to Black Cliff BM. This is strictly for those who like to camp and hike in the middle of nowhere. Posted 2015.
- BLACK CLIFF BM el 8589 is at the northern tip of the Seaman Range. The NW ridge goes. Take SR 318 to mp LN 49.1. Go west on a graded road for nearly 10 miles over a pass to a corral. Keep going another mile to a 4wd road. Go left for nearly a mile to a fork. Go right a third mile to a T and park el 6200. Walk to the NW ridge at N38 04178, W115 07559 el 6500. Go right up the center of the ridge until crags get in the way at 03837, 06659 el 7900. Then go along the right side of the crags until you walk into an obvious gully that goes up to the summit ridge el 8300. It's a stroll from there thru a nice forest to the BM at 03838, 06100. 4 hours, 2400 gain. Mtn bikes would work on the 4wd road. An unused road goes in from east of the pass. Walking that would add 3/4 mile each way. Posted 2015.
