Monday, March 14, 2016

Riverside Mountains Wilderness

Riverside Mountain

Mountaineer Peak

Bridge near the Mountaineer Mine



  •   RIVERSIDE BENCHMARK NO. 2 el 2254 is the highest peak in the Riverside Mtns. One route uses the washed out Calzona Mine road. Take US 95 to mp RIV 33.7 and go west on a gravel road for nearly half a mile then take a left fork. Go half a mile on easy 4wd to a foundation and park. The road turns nasty here and is blocked by a slide in less than a fifth mile with no turnaround. The quarry on the other side caused that slide. Walk the road  to where it crosses to the right bank about a quarter air mile from the start. Get off it there and use a more pleasant left side trail. It goes along the left bank under a cave dated 1907. Then the trail drops to the bed and goes up that for less than a tenth mile then resumes on the left bank again. Just keep going to the main saddle ahead el 1300. Now just turn right and go up the ridge. It looks rough but is class 2. A fifth mile before the peak is one craggy bump in the way. Game trails skirt along the west side and make it easy. The BM and reg are at N34 02153, W114 31092. The best way back is to use the mine trails. Walk the summit ridge to a viewpoint at 02002, 31145 where you can see an easy route down to the main trail. Just walk down the ridge a little more to a saddle then switch back left and then go down a rocky but stable ridge. Once on the trail, it goes thru a saddle el 1600 and splits. Stay on the trail going down along the right side of the creekbed. Go left at a hidden fork reading  02154, 30716 el 1200 and it gets you back the way you came, or for a more interesting route, keep going downhill a few more feet to the old road and walk down that to the end at a mine camp. This camp is where the Mountaineer Mine is shown on the topo. The wash enters a gorge just past the camp, but an obvious trail goes up the left bank and bypasses the gorge, but it only takes 20 minutes to walk down the gorge and hit the trail at the bottom. Follow that trail down to a steel cage and walk a road from there for about 400 feet to where the road starts uphill. Leave the road and cross the wash to a trail that goes uphill back to the start. That loop took me 3 hours, 1600 gain, but I didn't stop to rest much. Mountaineer Peak could be done as a side trip taking maybe 2 hours. MINE TOUR VERSION - an easier loop can be done by touring the mines and skipping the peak. Start out hiking the same as above. Walk the road  to where it crosses to the right bank about a quarter air mile from the start. Get off it there and use a more pleasant left side trail. It goes along the left bank under a cave dated 1907. Then the trail drops to the bed and goes up that for less than a tenth mile then resumes on the left bank again. Right there is where the Calzona Mine is in view. Go up to a trail at N34 02392, W114 30316 el 950 and circle up to the mine. Along the way the trail goes over  an overhang where a mine camp was set up. A tunnel at the mine goes into darkness. From there, walk down the west edge of the tailings for 100 feet and hit a trail which goes to a mine on the ridgetop. It seems to end at el 1300, but it switches up to the right on bedrock and goes about 200 feet to the mine el 1400. Just above the mine is a good view of the mine camp area including the Mountaineer Mine. Return down the trail and the next trail can be seen across the canyon, and it's a thru trail. About half an air mile from the start is where that trail crosses to the right bank then the trail forks. Take the right fork and cross the old road. The reading there is N34 02371, W114 30483, just west of the Calzona Mine. The trail goes north up the slope and ends at a tunnel. Come back from the tunnel a short way and angle up to a major saddle el 1250 on the ridgetop. Now another trail can be seen coming over from the road. It's tricky to get on. You have to go uphill from the saddle to get on it.  I walked it north to the end in a tenth mile at a shallow tunnel. Next you want to walk that trail back to the road then follow the road down to the mine camp at the Mountaineer Mine then return to the start as described above.   Posted 2016.
  • RIVERSIDE BENCHMARK NO. 2 el 2254  via NE ridge - a trail goes up from a quarry to el 1550 on the NE ridge, just NE of peak 1814. Take US 95 to mp RIV 33.7 and go west on a gravel road for nearly a mile then park at the quarry gate ( hikers going up and down the same way could drive closer). Walk up the main wash then get on the trail on the right bank at N34 02763, W114 30044 el 700. It goes until the bank runs out then up the bed a short way then back on the right bank. It splits, the correct trail starts up at 02706, 30472 el 950. It goes past a tunnel then across a drainage. At el 1500 it dips a little then crosses the drainage and ends on the ridge at 02602, 30705 el 1550. Now it's easy to go up the ridge on game trails to the summit. A fifth mile before the peak is one craggy bump in the way. Game trails skirt along the west side and make it easy. The BM and reg are at 02153, 31092. The best way to loop back is to use the mine trails. Walk the summit ridge to a viewpoint at 02002, 31145 where you can see an easy route down to the main trail. Just walk down the ridge a little more to a saddle then switch back left and then go down a rocky but stable ridge. Once on the trail, it goes thru a saddle el 1600 and splits. Stay on the trail going down along the right side of the creekbed. Go left at a hidden fork reading  02154, 30716 el 1200 and it gets you to a washed out road that goes thru a saddle then down a canyon with the Calzona Mine. Look for cairns marking a trail on the right bank that parallels the road to the flats. Then it's  an easy walk back to the start. 3 and a half hours with 1300 of noticeable gain. This is the best route.  Posted 2017, 2020.
  • RATTLER MINE LOOP - a good loop can be done starting near the Calzona Mine then on to the Rattler then over to near the Gold Rice then back by way of the Mountaineer. Take US 95 to mp RIV 33.7 and go west on a gravel road for nearly half a mile then take a left fork. Go half a mile on easy 4wd to a foundation and park. The road turns nasty here and is blocked by a slide in less than a fifth mile with no turnaround. The quarry on the other side caused that slide. Walk the road  to where it crosses to the right bank about a quarter air mile from the start. Get off it there and use a more pleasant left side trail. It goes along the left bank under a cave dated 1907. Then the trail drops to the bed and goes up that for less than a tenth mile then resumes on the left bank again. Just keep going to the main saddle ahead el 1300 where a trail can be seen in the distance going  SW up into another saddle el 1600. To get on that trail, keep going down the road for 350 air feet and turn right on a trail that cuts over to the trail that goes to the saddle el 1600. Go thru the saddle on the trail for .45 mile where the trail forks. Go left down across a gully then over to the Rattler Mine. Get on a trail there reading N34 01610, W114 31470 el 1350 and walk it to a boring dig at the end el 1600. Then walk south for 200 feet into a saddle el 1650 where a trail can be seen 300 feet below. For the easiest route down, walk the ridge to 01457, 31283 el 1650 and look down at the route. Go left a few feet then go down to the right. About half way down, it's best to cut left over white rock then on down to the trail el 1350. Walk the trail NE to a saddle el 1700 on the divide. The trail goes thru then down to the Mountaineer Mine, but a more intact trail is on the west side of the canyon. For that, walk north on the divide for a tenth mile to another saddle where the trail is obvious. Follow it down to the creekbed then go thru a short narrows then the trail goes up the right bank. Walk the right bank and soon an obvious trail goes up the left bank and bypasses a gorge, but it only takes 20 minutes to walk down the gorge and meet the trail at the bottom. Follow that trail down to a steel cage and walk a road from there for about 400 feet to where the road starts uphill. Leave the road and cross the wash to a trail that goes uphill back to the start.That loop took me 4 hours. Posted 2017.
  • MOUNTAINEER PEAK el 1963 is what I call the peak north of Riverside Mtn. A class 2 route goes up the west side. Take US 95 to mp RIV 33.7 and go west on a gravel road for nearly half a mile then take a left fork. Go half a mile on easy 4wd to a foundation and park. Walk up the road a short way past a boulder barrier and get on a trail going left reading N34 02480, W114 29917 el 700. Follow it down to the main canyon floor and walk a road upstream to a mine sealed by a steel cage. Shortly past the cage is where the canyon bends left. The correct trail goes down to the bed at the bend and goes upstream a few feet and resumes on the right bank at a minor fall. Stay on the right bank and soon the trail climbs to a pass and drops a little to a mining camp. Get on a trail at 02135, 30359 el 1000 but only follow it a few feet then walk the easy left bank up the wash. When the bank fizzles, drop to the bed and stay in to 01917, 30652 el 1100 where you exit left up a trail. Now go straight up into a side canyon to 01852, 30584  el 1300 where you cross the bed and go up a shallow gully on the other side. The gully soon tops out and then walk nearly level on a sheep trail to a shelf at 01978, 30462 el 1500. Or, about 450 before the shelf, angle up to a saddle at 01942, 30436 el 1650. Either way, you'll be going up along side a big drainage all the way to the top of the summit ridge. Then walk left of center on a sheep trail around to the left side of the summit block then go up easy bedrock to it at 01949, 30278. On the return, I stayed in the wash thru the mining camp and went down the canyon back to the cage. The canyon has some easy class 3 spots and a countless small potholes in bedrock. The hike took me 3 and a half hours, about 1500 gain. Posted 2016.
  • RIVERSIDE MOUNTAIN el 2100 is a twin peak with an easy route up the west side but a 10 mile jeep road around the north end of the range is the only legal way in. Take US 95 a half mile north of the county line then go west on easy 4wd. Stay right at one tricky main fork and go on to a block with petroglyphs and a maze of forks. Get on the correct one at N34 04458, W114 32968. Go south on a worsening road and stay right at forks until a fork about 1.26 air miles from the peak. I parked there el 950 but jeeps could go as far as 01092, 31699 el 1100. A washout is a tenth mile beyond that then it's not far to the Gold Rice Mine at the end of the road. From there, drop over to the east into a major wash. Use the flat right bank and when it ends just keep going over a low rise and the bank gets easy and flat again. Soon an obvious easy route to the high peak comes into view. Go up to the BLM BM at 00808, 30893. The other summit is shown to have the USGS BM, but I couldn't find one. It took me 3 hours with 1300 gain. Posted 2016. EASTERN APPROACH - I prefer to come in from the east and circle to the west side. Take US 95 to mp RV 27.8 and turn on a crude road. 2wd trucks might make the road, mtn bikes certainly would. Drive nearly 2 miles to a parking spot at the legal end of the road where it enters a wash. I call that wash Gold Rice Wash. There are 3 options. Either keep driving like everbody else, walk the road in the wash, or shortcut it like I did. Walk north from the parking spot for a tenth mile to the next wash and walk up that a few feet to a deer trail on the right bank. The reading there is N33 59149, W114 32351 el 600. Follow that and soon it crosses to the left side of the wash and thru a low saddle el 666 then down into Gold Rice Wash. Go up to a side wash and get on the right bank at N33 59804, W114 32630 el 750. Go up that for .13 mile and then cross over to the left bank. OHVs try to come up this fork but it's too rocky and they give up. Stay on the high ground to a flat of dark rocks at N34 00289, W114 32466 el 850. Walk north on that and soon the road is in view as it climbs out on the far side of Gold Rice Wash. Drop into the wash, which is now roadless, and go up it to a main fork. Go right a couple hundred feet to a mine trail at N34 00875, W114 31801 el 1050. The trail goes up on the high ground between the forks then comes back down to some ruins in the right fork where it drops into the creekbed. Go up the creekbed a short way then go up a little point to get on the right bank. Soon a sharp gully is in the way but it's easy to go up around it.  Stay on the right bank and then over a low rise and the bank gets easy and flat again. Soon an obvious easy route to the high peak comes into view. Go up to the BLM BM at 00808, 30893. For the return, I used the west canyon. Walk down the north rim of it to a saddle el 1600 then switch back left to get in the canyon. Go down and get on the left bank at N34 00812, W114 31269 el 1400. At a minor fall el 1050 , leave the canyon and cut left over easy flats to a faint trail at N34 00776, W114 31983 el 1000 that drops back to Gold Rice Wash then retrace back to the start. That loop took me 4 and a half hours with about a 1000 feet of noticeable gain. It's a top notch hike. Posted 2017. 
  • STEECE MINE is on the east side of Mountaineer Peak. A good  loop can be done using mine trails connecting to the next canyon south. Take US 95 to an easy 4wd road about 50 feet north of mp RIV 32.41. Drive half a mile up the road then park and walk the road west on up the canyon for about half a mile and stay right in a right fork then the road switches up to the left to a flat area. Get on a road there going west reading N34 01534, W114 30090 el 700. A trail can be seen straight ahead. Walk the road to the trail and go up to a fork at 01462, 30214 el 800. The right fork goes to mines, but take the left fork into a creekbed. Go up the creekbed to an easy 6 foot fall which is the trickiest thing on this hike. Go left at a fork there for a few feet to a trail on the right reading 01399, 30290 el 850. Walk the trail up to the divide el 1100 then follow it down the other side into the creekbed. Walk down to a big fall at the mouth and go left around it to a gully that gets you down the fall. Now go down the creekbed  and walk thru a slot then make an easy exit on the left on a faint trail.Wallking directly back across the flats won't work because of deep trenches. Instead, walk up the rim along the slot to a gully at 01285, 29847 el 600 where a trail is in view on the other side. Walk it for nearly a tenth mile then it forks. Stay on the low trail and it will soon bend left to cross a side drainage then go back to the start. That is as colorful a canyon as I have ever been in. 2 hours with 300 feet of strenuous gain.  LOOP 2 - more trails are north of the Steece Mine. Start on a trail in the flats at N34 01589, W114 29554 el 500. It  goes up along a ridge to a dangerous vertical shaft in a wash el 950. I was going to come back in the wash, but I could see a drop below. So I went down at 01831, 29968 to get around the drop and on down the canyon then it was a short walk back. That loop took an hour and a half. A faster way back from the shaft is to retrace back on the trail for 2 or 300 feet to a fork and go right to another fork at  01636, 29976. Go right and it leads down to the road in the main canyon. Posted 2017, 2020.
  •  MINE TRAIL TOUR - mine and Indian trails can be used to run north / south thru the best part of the range. Leave a car or bike on US 95 at mp RIV 28.8 then drive to mp RIV 33.7 and go west on a gravel road for nearly half a mile then take a left fork. Go half a mile on easy 4wd to a foundation and park. Walk up the road a short way past a boulder barrier and get on a trail going left reading N34 02480, W114 29917 el 700. Follow it down to the main canyon floor and walk a road upstream to a mine sealed by a steel cage. Shortly past the cage is where the canyon bends left. The correct trail goes down to the bed at the bend and goes upstream a few feet and resumes on the right bank at a minor fall. Stay on the right bank and soon the trail climbs to a pass and drops a little to a mining camp at the Mountaineer Mine. Get on a trail at N34 02135, W114 30359 el 1000 but only follow it a few feet then walk the easy flat left bank up the wash. When the bank fizzles, drop to the bed and stay in to a trail on the right at  N34 02003, W114 30616 el 1100 then go up shortly to a fork. Left goes to a foundation, but stay right to the divide el 1700 at the head of the canyon. Then walk south on the divide for a tenth mile to a saddle el 1700 to another trail. It goes thru the saddle on the divide then down into a mini gorge. Exit at the Gold Rice Mine on the left at N34 01228, W114 31477 el 1200. Use the road there to continue down along the wash to the Indian trail at N34 00722, W114 32166 el 950. The trail goes directly across the deep wash then into another wash. It fades but stay on the easy ground and pick it up again where it's cutting left at N34 00244, W114 31980 el 900. It goes shortly to another wash reading N34 00197, W114 31863. Go down that wash about a quarter mile and look for a tall cairn on the right bank. Right along there is where the trail goes on  the right bank for 300 feet then drops back in to pass a fall. Then  stay in the main wash going downstream to N33 59577, W114 31608 el 700. Exit on the left bank and the trail goes along the left edge of a flat thru a saddle at N33 59519, W114 31466 el 700. In a quarter mile the trail splits. Stay left across a wash then across a flat then thru a minor saddle and on to a fork. Get on the correct trail there at N33 59336, W114 30784 el 600 and stay on the main trail to US 95. It took me just under 4 hours with about 1000 gain and then a half hour to ride a bike back. It would be a 2 hour side trip to climb Mounaineer Peak of Riverside Mtn. Posted 2016.
  • INDIAN TRAIL LOOP - this is an easy hike in the southern part of the range.  Take US 95 to mp RV 27.8 and turn on a crude road. 2wd trucks might make the road, mtn bikes certainly would. Drive nearly 2 miles to a parking spot at the legal end of the road where it enters a wash. I call that wash Gold Rice Wash. Walk north from the parking spot for a tenth mile to the next wash and walk up that a few feet to a deer trail on the right bank. The reading there is N33 59149, W114 32351 el 600. Follow that and soon it crosses to the left side of the wash and thru a low saddle el 666 then down into Gold Rice Wash. Go up to a side wash and get on the right bank at N33 59804, W114 32630 el 750. Go up that for .13 mile and then cross over to the left bank. OHVs try to come up this fork but it's too rocky and they give up. Stay on the high ground to a flat of dark rocks at N34 00289, W114 32466 el 850. Walk north on that and soon the road is in view as it climbs out on the far side of Gold Rice Wash. Drop into the wash, which is now roadless, and go up it to where an Indian Trail crosses at N34 00706, W114 32131. Climb up the right bank and follow the trail into another wash. It fades but stay on the easy ground and pick it up again where it's cutting left at N34 00244, W114 31980 el 900. It goes shortly to another wash reading N34 00197, W114 31863. Go down that wash about a quarter mile and look for a tall cairn on the right bank. Right along there is where the trail goes on  the right bank for 300 feet then drops back in to pass a fall. Then  stay in the main wash going downstream to another trail at N33 59580, W114 31647. Go west on that thru a saddle el 750 and on to N33 59715, W114 32046 and then shortly into another saddle with some diggings. The trail splits there, take the left one on thru another saddle then Gold Rice Wash is in view. The trail goes on to join the wash next to the low saddle el 666 near the start. That  walk took 2 and a half hours, add some time for rest stops. The area was covered with desert mule deer tracks. Posted 2016.
  • ALICE MINE is in the north part of the range. One big structure survives. Take US 95 for half a mile north of the county line and go west on easy 4wd. Stay left at main forks in the actual road to the mine. Don't get tricked by tire tracks going up a side wash about 2 and a half miles in. ALICE MINE LOOP TRAIL -  a loop can be done using a trail that goes in from US 95. Cars can get at it. Take US 95 to mp 33.7 and turn on a good quarry road. Go about a third mile and turn on a road branching north then go another tenth mile and park at a gravel pit. It's suitable for RVs. Walk north from the pit on the road and aim for the trail at N34 03763, W114 29431 el 500. I stayed on the road until a half  mile from the trail.  The trail soon drops into the creekbed then goes up the bed thru some boulders and resumes on the left bank. Next, the trail tops out at a saddle el 950 and splits. Stay left then the trail drops into a mini gorge and goes up the bed for 100 feet then goes up the right bank. It then goes over into another wash then up the bed of that for about 300 feet and exits on the right bank el 900 and goes up thru a saddle.  It's easy to follow from there to a saddle at the mine area where the trail splits again. The high trail is easiest but the lower one passes the thru the mine area then comes back up to meet the high trail at 03262, 30636 el 1100. Shortly there is a tunnel then just keep going up the trail. It loses 60 feet crossing a  drainage then tops out at a saddle el 1350. It drops down the other side and gets steep. I broke out the walking stick there. The trail goes on down to the main wash and goes along the left bank. It climbs to a higher left bank at 02767, 30313 el 850 then eventually drops back to the main wash. Shortly after that is an overgrown road on the left bank that leads back to the quarry.  That took me 3 hours and not very steep. A lot of work was put into that trail. It will be up to hikers to keep it from fading away. I tried to get directly to the trail from US 95, but private land blocked me.  Posted 2017.
  • GOLD DOLLAR MINE - Take US 95 for half a mile north of the county line and go west on easy 4wd. Stay left at a main fork in about a mile then go 1.7 miles and stay right then follow along the main wash for another mile and park where it turns into a rocky mess el 1000. Hike up the main wash on the washed out road for half an hour to a mine camp el 1250. The canyon has a main fork here. A trail goes up the left fork to el 1500 and 2 trails go up the right fork all the way to the crest el 2100. I decided to make a loop. I went up the right fork on the right bank but the trail on the left bank looked better. At el 1550 I came to a tunnel and a rock inscribed " G. Liljestrom 1903" at about the point on the topo where the Gold Dollar Mine is shown. I kept going up canyon to another tunnel el 1850 then on to the crest el 2100 where the trail faded on the north side of the range high point. That would be a short side trip.  I went north on the crest using sheep trails left of center at 02295, 31036 el 2100 to get around a bump. I came back to center in less than a tenth mile then went down to an obvious saddle el 1750 and dropped into the left fork. I went down the creekbed to a mine el 1500 and used a trail there to get back to the road. That loop took me 2 and a half hours with 1100 gain. Posted 2016.
  • VABM 1284 is in the west part of the wilderness. Deer trails allow for various loops. Take US 95 to mp SBD 2.3 and follow a sandy road along power lines for 8 miles to a trail at N34 01824, W114 36956. It goes south to 01653, 36867 then to a guzzler in a wash at 00970, 36797. I walked down the wash then got on the right bank at 00889, 36730 and on to 00604, 36963 where I dropped into a wash and went SW up a fork to the main saddle el 1250. I then went left on a trail to get down to the main wash and went south down that to a trail at 00113, 37282. It heads south toward VABM 1284 which is a quarter mile away. I went to the summit then dropped down to a major canyon running NW and up to a fork at 00185, 37464. I went left to get thru to the west side flats and on to high ground at 00538, 37766. That leads into a canyon with an easy trail on the right bank. It goes thru a saddle el 1450 SE of peak 1709 then down to a main wash. I went down that to 01240, 37300 and took a left fork back to the power lines then it's 3/4 mile back to the start. That took 3 and a half hours with maybe 400 gain that isn't easy as pie. This is a good looking area. I rode SW along the power lines for 4 and a half miles to a metal signpost at BM 982. I turned north for 9 sandy miles and hit highway 62 at mp 113.6.This is all easy 4wd. Posted 2022.
  • WEST RIVERSIDE MOUNTAINS HIGH POINT el 2667- a quick route goes up the west side. Take highway 62 to mp SBD 116.1. Go south on a sandy road for 4 miles and look for faint tracks going left to a main wash which reads N34 03016, W114 40405. Drive up the wash then start hiking the right bank at 03188, 39836. Go up to a rocky drainage and hike up along the right side reading 03240, 39215 el 1500. It leads to a gully of bright colored rock at 03306, 39023 el 1850. Go up that then move left 170 feet to a wide gully at 03358, 38957 el 2100. Go up that for a distance of 350 feet then move left  to the next parallel gully and go on up to the ridgetop el 2500. Go north shortly to the reg at 03456, 38878 with only a dozen entries in the last 3 decades but I couldn't find it in 2022. 3 hours, 1400 gain. GROMMET BM el 2121 is another peak of interest and easy to get at. Drive back to a 4-way a half mile before the highway and go east less than a fifth mile to another 4-way. Turn right on road #855 and go 2 and a half miles to the end on smooth sand. It's half a mile to the reg and a lot of survey junk at N34 04632, W114 39381 with 700 gain. Posted 2016, 2022.

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