Independence Mountains Area

Hawk chicks hanging around near Saval Ranch.

Jacks Peak (left) and Chicken Creek

SR 225  runs along the east side of the range. The only gas after leaving Elko is at Owyhee. There is a lot of private land in this area that might get closed off at any time. Posted 2015.

• SWALES MOUNTAIN el 8068 has a jeep road to the top. Turn off SR 225 at mp 39.1 and go west to a fork at a cattleguard reading N40 56531, W115 58228. The easy road ends here. The  right fork goes to the top but it's eroded. There was no one big thing to stop a jeep, but it will take all day. I rode a cycle to el 7250 where the road goes parabolic for the last half mile. The main tower on top has a hand crank so it can be raised. An array of household TV antennas is perched on the west side. Maybe they were picking up the Reno transmitters. Now the only thing working seems to be a radio repeater using 2 solar panels. Posted 2015.
• EAST TWIN BM el 7475 is in the southern part of the Adobe Range. It has a 4wd road to the top. Take SR 225 to the Adobe Ranchos Rd at mp 39.8. Follow the road up to the saddle between towers. The towers on the left have the BM. Posted 2015.
• NANNIES PEAK el 8780 has an OHV track to el 8300 on the SE side. Take SR 226 to mp 3.7. Turn south on a good road and go past the Reed ranch to a fork at N41 09450, W115 56861. The right fork goes to a big spring in 2/3 mile where I filled bottles. But take the left fork, now 4wd, and follow it around the base of the peak to the OHV track at 06873, 57326 el 7150. 4wds can go a short way up the track. I rode a cycle to el 8300. The summit is defended by brush on the east and north. Walk the crest from the south to stay left of the brush. The Lone BM is at 07587, 58574. There are roads going high north of the peak, but it looked like a lot of brush to deal with. That big spring is shown as hot but it's not. Posted 2015.
• ADOBE RANGE HIGH POINT el 8135 is not far west of SR 225. I turned off on the Coal Mine Rd at mp 59.6. I hit 3 gates in less than 2 miles so I got mad and found another way to cut over to the road but it was bad, so deal with the gates.  Coal Mine Rd goes over Coal Mine Pass and down to I-80. At the pass, take the obvious 4wd road going toward the peak. Right before a spring, go left on a faint track and park at the end el 7200. It's easy to angle up the west slope and get on the bald crest and walk to the reg at N41 06817, W115 42502. The whole hike takes an hour and a half with 1000 gain. The part of the Coal Mine Rd that I was on was in good shape. Posted 2015.
• WHEELER MOUNTAIN el 9054 has an easy 4wd road to el 8500 from the north. Turn off SR 225 at mp 63.5 and go west for 6 miles on a graded road. Take a right fork, FR 56868 , just before the Saval ranch.  Stay on that road all the way to the crest overlooking a huge pit mine. Creekside camps are 4 miles along the way then it turns to easy 4wd. Go south on the crest to the peak. I walked thru a notch at N41 17773, W116 01321 then up the ridge for less than half a mile  to the BM at 17604, 01728. There was some brush but it wasn't very hard to get thru. After that I rode a side road up to the 8600 level on peak 8826 a couple miles north of Wheeler. That's a decent road but grassy. On the ride out I stayed north on the crest to where the road splits 3 ways just south of a cell tower. I went far left for a tenth mile to another fork where I went right then on to CALIFORNIA MOUNTAIN at 23161, 57487 el 8524.  I didn't see a good road out from there so I backtracked to FR 56868 and was lucky to get traction on a steep hill. All the roads here were packed dirt. The ride/drive is the main attraction. A mtn bike would work as far as the crest. Posted 2015.
• DOUBLE MOUNTAIN el 8147 has a jeep road up the north ridge. Take SR 225 to mp 69.6 and turn at the sign for Double Mtn. Go about 4 miles on a graded road then turn north on a 4wd road that goes up Water Canyon. The reading there is N41 21420, W115 43945. Go north to a T at 25495, 43525 then go right onto the north ridge. I wouldn't take a 4wd any higher than a flat spot at 25666, 42736 el 7800. An OHV made it to the top. The BM is on the east summit. Posted 2015.
• DIVIDE BM el  7580 is not far east of SR 225. Three different 4wd roads go up. The north ridge is a good ride or drive. Turn off at mp 81.7 and go east on a graded road for about 1.6 miles then go right for nearly a mile to a fence. Go left along the fence on easy 4wd and then it starts climbing and passes thru the fence and goes up the north ridge to a rock outcrop  el 7350. Hike right over the outcrop then go left around the second one then climb back up to the ridge center and then it's obvious to the BM at N41 29998, W115 46411. It's about a 3/4 mile hike each way and an easy grade. Posted 2015.
• McAFEE PEAK el 10438 is the high point of the Independence Mtns. Turn off SR 225 at mp 82.3 and take the graded road that goes up the north fork of the Humboldt River. The graded road ends at a ghost mine then a lesser road continues on to the pass  el 7850 which is the 2wd TH. A steep but not eroded 4wd road goes up from there. Cycles can go over the pass to the creek and use an eroded road that goes up along the creek and merges with the road up from the pass. At el 8650 is a tricky fork. Stay left but I wouldn't take a 4wd past N41 32653, W115 58537 el 8900. Hike to the end of the road at el 9100 then angle up the slope aiming for a major saddle on the high ridge at 32013, 58402 el 9850. I stayed below talus as much as possible but couln't avoid all of it.  Go up the ridge and stay near center because there aren't any bumps to deal with. The reg is at 31300, 58407. I stayed on the ridge for the return but talus is on that route too. Snow was here into August. 3 and a half hours,  1600 gain. The best camps I saw were about a mile inside the forest boundary on a spur road. Some hikers are using the road up to the tower, but I couldn't find a public road across the private land. The likely road is at mp 76 but a sign says private. Posted 2015.
• JACKS PEAK el 10200 is a short hike but the prettiest in the range. A 4wd road goes up Chicken Creek to the 9100 level. Use the 2wd road (not graded) that cuts across the range north of the peak. I got on it from SR 225 at mp 82.3. Drive to N41 32273, W116 02027 el 7000 and turn south. Keep right at the one fork and park at the end of the road. A mtn bike would work but the road gains 2000 feet in 3 and a half miles. I went up into the saddle left of the peak then up to the summit at 29192, 00381. I came down the saddle right of the peak.  The hike took an hour and a half with 1100 gain. Many springs are near the end of the road. Cattle rarely wander up there. It looked like it would be easy to run the crest south to peak 9734. Posted 2015.
• TABLE MOUNTAIN el 7500 is 3 miles east of SR 225. Turn off at mp 88.8 onto an easy 4wd road. Keep right at a fork in half a mile then left thereafter to a hidden fork at N41 37032, W115 46219 el 6400. It shrinks to an OHV track and goes on 2 more miles almost to the survey junk on top at 37311, 44132. A mtn bike would work here. Posted 2015.
• MERRITT MOUNTAIN el 8792 has a jeep road up the east side. Leave SR 225 at mp 106.7 and go 3.3 miles on a good road to a fork. Go left there on road # 236 for a mile and a half to a another fork. The reading there is N41 49365, W115 53665. Go right there on road # 934, now easy 4wd, for several miles to a road on  the left at 51310, 49150 el 7700. Take that road to the top. It is rougher but a jeep wouldn't have a problem. The reg is at 52113, 50450 and the BM is a quarter mile south. A loop for cycles and OHVs can be done from SR 225 near Wild Horse Res. Start at mp 92 where there is RV parking. Go north on a graded road for a mile then turn left on road # 226. Soon comes a tricky fork but stay left and keep going several miles to a fork at N41 47970, W115 52254. Go right there on road # 935 for a bit over 2 miles to the fork with road # 934 mentioned above at N41 49365, W115 53665 then follow that route to the summit. Come back down to the fork at el 7700 and go left and then there is only one main road to follow all  the way to a T at road # 931 reading 53367, 46401. Go south there for miles to a T then go right a short way to another T at road # 226. Go left back to the start. This will all make sense once you're out there and can see the layout. The roads are rarely  rocky except the side road going to the summit. Posted 2015.
• PENNSLYVANIA HILL el 9100 has a jeep road to the top. Turn off SR 225 at mp 105.8 and go south on a graded county road for 7 miles to road # 590. The reading there is N41 42514, W116 00664 el 6000. The road goes to the 9000 level in 4 miles. Jeeps would still fit on it as of August 2015. The first quarter mile has some ruts across it. After that it's just a matter of traction. The road goes on past the BM for over a mile then drops down which is where I turned around. The forest map shows it goes down to the county road but there is a short stretch of posted private land right before the county road.
• PORTER PEAK el 9200 is one that has no public road up from the east side. The only hope for that one is the west side.
• WILSON PEAK el 8500 has a 4wd road from IL Summit to the east. Turn off the county road at the summit and follow the 4wd road to a fork at N41 36915, W116 10376 el 6750.  A private land sign is on the left about a mile in but the BLM map shows no private land at that spot. Go left at the fork for less than a fifth mile then start hiking up the ridge to the left.  There is some light brush to deal with but it soon thins out. The reg is at 36718, 11523. The hike took me 130 minutes with 1700 gain.  I could see an unmapped road coming up the SW side to the 7000 level. That might be a better route if it's not blocked. Posted 2015.