Newfoundland Mountains, Hogup Mountains

Desert Peak as seen from S. Newfoundland BM

Squirrel Spr is guarded by vicious "attack squirrels" like this one. You have to get their permission before you can drink. They're easily bribed with popcorn.

A mine in Dells Canyon with a chute made of barrels welded together.

Big Pass

Sheep trail on the descent from Military Peak to the guzzlers.

The Newfoundland Mtns are obscure to hikers but ranchers and miners have used the range for decades. The mines have played out and a wildlife organization bought the grazing rights so now only bighorn sheep graze there. Dirt roads come in from the north and south. Use a site like caltopo.com to view 7.5 topo maps and get all the coordinates you'll need. The main dirt road comes south from highway 30 to Kelton then goes west for nearly 3 miles to Table Mtn. It goes south there for 24 miles to a fork at The Fingerpoint where the topo shows BM 4377. The right fork there goes to Hogup at the RR tracks. Then it's 12 miles along the north side of the tracks to the first crossing, which is west of the old one shown on the topo. 2wd ends there. Go south from the tracks on a rutted road for a mile and a half to a main 4-way. Left goes around a low point then along the east side of the range. Right goes along the west side. To get to Hogup from I-80, use exit 62 and drive a paved road to Hill AF Base entrance then veer right on a graded road that is an easement thru the base. The road circles the east side of Lakeside Butte then goes west to cross the tracks, as the topo shows. Then it's 14 miles along the tracks to Hogup. Two local men told me that the Kelton route is entirely public, even the part along the tracks. The southern route is not public, but they have never seen it gated in the decades they've used it. The RR has plenty of signs saying stay out, but no gates. I came thru on a weekday, but next time I would go on a Sunday. The north route has 70 miles of dirt road and the south has 40. One option on the north route is to use a road that splits off and goes thru Big Pass in the Hogup Mtns, but that road is not as good. I was told that the road going west out of Kelton to highway 30 is good. Posted 2016.

• SLEIGH CANYON has an easy 4wd road to the end at some white tailings. A trail goes up the north fork to a seasonal stream on bedrock at N41 12304, W113 20382 el 4700. That would be a lovely spot when the water is running. Posted 2016.
• DELLS CANYON has some good mine stuff. Turn off the east side road at N41 11340, W113 19268. The road starts out good but turns ugly for the last half mile. Some old trucks are there and then a spotty trail goes up canyon a short way to some structures. The tram system was still standing. I stopped at the 5500 level. Some seeps had water and likely there is stream after winter rains. Posted 2016.
• SQUIRREL SPRING is what I call the handiest water source we found. Turn off the east side road on the SE side of Desert Peak and go up a nasty road for 2/3 mile to the trough at N41 10445, W113 21266 el 4600. This is below the water tank shown on the topo. Water was dripping fast from a pipe. The huge north basin shows many springs on the topo but the only one with water was at 13359, 21531 el 5000. Those were small puddles with a microscopic flow. That basin would be infested with streams after a wet winter. WEST SPRING is what I call the spring NW of Desert Peak next to peak 4954. That had a seep with 2 gallons of water at 12798, 22791 el 4700. I could see that it's a sheep hotspot early in the season when there's more water. I didn't check the other spring on the west side. Posted September, 2016.
• NORTH NEWFOUNDLAND el 6110 is what I call the main peak at the north end. Turn off the west side road at N41 15710, W113 21785 and drive a 4wd road to a camp spot at el 4700. Hike up the main canyon and get on the left side at 14328, 22123 el 4900 then go on up to the summit at 14280, 22801. 2 hours, 1400 gain. That peak has a nice setting with juniper and granite slabs. Posted 2016.
• DESERT PEAK el 7005 is the high point of the range. The SW ridge is the easiest route. Take the west side road from the 4-way for about 7 miles (Stay right at tricky forks) to a nasty 4wd road at N41 12223, W113 24176. Take the 4wd road almost to the pass south of the peak. Hiking from the pass would likely backfire because crags are in the way. I started at a mine el 5300 right before the pass and went up the obvious ridge and topped out left of the crags. Two ammo boxes were on the summit at 11161, 22090. 2 and a half hours, 1700 gain. There's room to camp at the mine. Posted 2106.
• MILITARY PEAK el 5902 is what I call an easy one north of Big Pass. A sheep trail goes most of the way. Turn off the west side road at N41 06270, W113 24813 and go a mile and a quarter on easy 4wd to the last easy turnaround at 06524, 23570 el 4750. Mtn bikes can make it in about 3/4 mile. The road shrinks to an ATV trail and goes to several guzzlers at the pass. A dozen sheep were hanging around there praying for rain. Walk to a main saddle at 07046, 23403 el 5100 north of the guzzlers. Now go left up the ridge on the trail and it goes along the east side of crags then it goes back on top and on to the last saddle before the peak. The trail goes around the peak but it's easy to go up a gully to get to a flagpole on the summit at 08119, 23666. A military BM is 400 feet SW. 3 hours, 1300 gain. A good hike to view sheep. Posted 2016.
• SOUTH NEWFOUNDLAND BENCHMARK el 6058 is at the south end of the range, right at the AF base boundary. The NW ridge is the easiest route. Drive down the easy west side road for 20 miles and park at the base gate. Walk to the NW ridge at N41 01963, W113 22930 el 4750 and go up. I found the route to be obvious, but here's what I did just in case. At a minor saddle el 5100, I moved left of center to get past crags. Then at 02011, 22429 el 5700 I cut over to the main saddle north of the peak. Then I went up to the summit block and walked around the west side then easily up the south side to the BM at 01871, 22294. 3 hours, 1800 gain. Posted 2016.
• MTN BIKE OPTIONS - if I only had a 2wd and bike, I would ride in from the RR about 7 miles and camp on the west side. I would hike up to West Spring at N41 12798, W113 22791 and get water. It would be easy to pedal on down to the AF base fence. The west side road is so easy, I would let all the air out of my tires just to make it a challenge. Hardcore riders could make a 35 mile loop by walking the ATV trail over Big Pass. I could pedal in from the RR and hike Desert Peak then pedal back out to the RR, all in less than 7 hours. Early in the season is the best time for the springs to be running, as soon as roads dry out. Posted 2016.
• TANGENT PEAK el 7047 is the high point of the Hogup Mountains. A good cycle/mtn bike loop can be done. Park at Hogup Bar in a quarry along the Kelton road at N41 37249, W113 07994. Ride SW on a fork from there that goes west then south to Big Pass el 5700. A grassy ridge reading 28457, 08900 goes from there up to the Terrace BM on the summit at 28899, 10463. That's a 2 hour hike with 1400 gain. Then keep going south on the road for a couple of miles and go left on a road that circles around the mountains and follows a bench at el 5200 back to the north then drops down to the Kelton road. That's a 30 mile loop and is shown on the topo. Good views. CROCODILE MOUNTAIN is another ride that can be done from the quarry. Ride north on the Kelton road a bit over a mile and turn east on a rutted road that goes on top of the mountain. Loco BM is at the south end. The road runs to the north end then stops, but you can drop back down to the west on a steep road then ride back on the shoreline road. I had a good Vz cell signal on the shoreline road at N41 39526, W113 06519. Posted 2016.
• THE NAUTILUS el 5400 is what I call a peculiar little peak along the Kelton road. It looks like a submarine that surfaced on Lake Bonneville then froze there. Turn off the Kelton road at N41 23443, W113 08388 and go 3/4 mile on a crude road to the peak. It's easy to walk the deck of the sub. A trail on the SW side goes up to the recon tower. Posted 2016.
• HOGUP BENCHMARK el 4680 is south of Hogup but the road to it got cut off by the canal. So unless you can build a ramp and jump the canal, you can walk the salt flats from the bridge near the pumps. It takes 45 minutes to get to it at N41 13728, W113 04880. I found survey junk but no BM. That whole peninsula is isolated now. Posted 2016.
• GRASSY BENCHMARK el 6596 is the high point of the Grassy Mountains which sit along the paved road in from I-80. A jeep road goes most of the way.  Turn off the paved road at N40 53166,  W112 54825 and go 5 miles to a well and cattleguard. Turn left and go 6 miles to el 6300 then walk across a saddle at N40 56495, W113 03478 el 6100. Then go up to the summit at N40 56334, W113 02863. 70 minutes, 700 gain. The roads are eroded but still easy for jeeps. Posted 2016.

  

  The Nautilus, The lake almost took the top off.