Cargo Muchacho Mountains

Boiler dated 1891 at Pasadena Peak.

Helicopter Hill with Picacho Peak behind.

Dead hiker on Pasadena Peak. C'mon man. The peak's not that hard.

Junk that was flown onto Helicopter Hill

Graffiti fields

The paved Ogilby Rd runs along the west side of the range, shown on maps as S34. At exit 164 on I-8 there is a gas station but it was nearly two dollars higher than Yuma. Posted 2017

• CARGO MUCHACHO PEAK el 2217 is what hikers call the high peak. An easy route goes up the NE canyon and a mine trail helps. Take Ogilby Rd to mp 8.9 at N32 53924, W114 50376 and turn on a crude road. It goes a mile to a wash. I rode a cycle a half mile up the wash, 4wds might make half that and some jeeps make it a mile up. Walk up the wash. If it gets rocky, the left side of the canyon floor usually works. Stay off the higher banks. Get on the trail at 53896, 48255 el 1000. It goes high up the right bank and on to the NE canyon at 53759, 47743 el 1400. It's obvious from there. Go up canyon to the main saddle el 1800. Then up the ridge to el 1950 where a wide shelf angles up to the north side of the summit where it's easy to go up to the reg at 53558, 47900. It needs a jar. That took me 3 hours, 11 minutes with 1200 feet of gain that matters. Posted 2017.
• PEAK 2217 LOOP - a loop can be made around the peak using Indian trails in the canyons and return thru the Tumco Mine area. This is my favorite hike in the range. Take Ogilby Rd to the Tumco sign at mp 7.8. Go half a mile to the TH and leave a bike. Then drive to mp 8.9 and turn on a crude road. Go half a mile then walk to an Indian trail at 54176, 49806 el 750. Walk it to a road that leads into the main canyon.  If the canyon gets rocky, the left side of the canyon floor usually works. Stay off the higher banks. Get on a trail at 53896, 48255 el 1000 on the right bank. It stays mostly on the right bank all the way to the main saddle el 1600. I lost it and found it again at 53737, 47674 el 1500. It goes thru the saddle then down the canyon on the other side. When the canyon levels off, it goes over to the left bank then that fizzles and it comes back to the right bank and gets faint. Stay on the right bank then step up a little to 53044, 47016 el 1000 to get past a gully then go on another 400 feet and thru a notch. Then drop to the wash and go down a tenth mile then turn right up a minor fork and follow a jeep trail over the main saddle el 1100 and into the main south fork. Go up that roadless fork on a spotty trail. I saw a waterhole in there at 52681, 47240 el 1050. It had hundreds of gallons a month after rain. The easiest way into the next canyon south is to use an Indian trail before the waterhole at 52626, 46993 el 1050 that goes up along the left side of a side canyon into a saddle el 1200. It goes down the other side on the left but fades then reappears at 52442, 47053 el 950 on the right bank then hits the floor of the north fork of American Girl Wash. Then just stay on the right bank for a quarter mile then cross to the left and keep going to 52490, 47769 el 1000 where the trail goes up on the left bank again and on to the main saddle el 1150. Go thru the saddle then the trail goes left and down to the easy banks of a wash. Cross soon over to the right bank and follow a spotty trail to tailings. A trail goes up the left side of the tailings then on top is a main road that goes on thru the Tumco Mine area and on to theTH. That took 4 and a half hours with 1000 noticeable gain then I had an easy mile and a half bike ride back to the start. Without a shuttle there is a spotty Indian trail at 53169, 49891 el 600 that can be walked on the flats back to the start. These are good looking canyons and not too hard to walk in but rocky. TUMCO MINE - one point of interest is a concrete reservoir. It's outlined in blue on the topo just SE of the four tanks. Walk in from the main gate to 52738, 49315 and look right to see the dam and a narrow road leading up to it. A trail goes on past it up to the saddle then down along the cliff base and into the next saddle to the west then down past the tanks. Then a road at 52896, 49397 can be walked back out past the peculiar cemetery.  Posted 2020, 2021.
• NORTH INDIAN TRAILS LOOP - hikers can use a trail cutting thru the range in the canyons north of peak 2217 then return on trails on the flats to the north. Take Ogilby Rd to N32 53924, W114 50376 and turn on a crude road. It goes a mile to 54246, 49731 el 700 where a trail crosses. Park there then walk the road into a canyon then go up it. If it gets rocky, the left side of the canyon floor usually works. Stay off the higher banks. Get on a trail at 53896, 48255 el 1000 on the right bank. It stays mostly on the right bank all the way to the main saddle el 1600. I lost it and found it again at 53737, 47674 el 1500. It goes thru the saddle then down the canyon on the other side. When the canyon levels off, it goes over to the left bank then that fizzles and it comes back to the right bank and gets faint. It's obvious how the Indians had to go. Aim for a game trail at 53102, 46903 el 1000 and follow that along a side draw for 350 feet until a hidden gap comes into view then walk thru that to a major canyon running north. A bad jeep road goes up it used by suckers who don't know a dropoff awaits. The road tops out at a saddle then a trail runs on the right bank. Go on down that to another road then go left on that and cross a gully at 53991, 46586 and then on to a trail at 54304, 46565. Walk that to 54557, 46934 then 54744, 47197. Next comes waterholes then the trail is visible again at 55066, 47673. It follows along a road then merges with it. After a fifth mile on the road the trail forks right, but leave it and head for a gully at 55233, 48549. Cross over and follow tire tracks and soon another trail merges in. Follow it to 54851, 48830 then on thru a minor canyon back to the start. That took 4 and a half hours with 800 noticeable gain, not steep. The canyons are pristine but not the flats. Posted 2020.
• PEAK 1687 has Indian trails wrapped around it and some mine stuff.  Turn off the Ogilby Rd a fifth mile north of the RR tracks at the sign for the American Girl Mine Rd #710. Go 2 miles on that then keep left at a main fork for 2.3 more miles on #710 to a fork. Go left a fifth mile and park at American Girl Wash. Walk up it to N32 51706, W114 47017 el 700 where an Indian trail runs along the left bank of a side canyon. Walk it nearly half a mile then over a saddle el 850 and into the north fork of AGW. Stay on the left bank for nearly a fifth mile then the trail crosses to the right bank and goes past a rocky hill then starts up a side canyon. Leave it there and walk the right bank of the main canyon for a quarter mile then cross to the left and keep going to 52490, 47769 el 1000 where the trail goes up on the left bank again and on to the main saddle el 1150. From there I could see likely routes up to the peak, but a cold wind caused me to save it for another day. The trail goes down the other side of the saddle and fades when it hits bottom. Get on the right bank and walk it until a crag forces you to the left bank where an unused road leads to a huge mine area. A train size tunnel is on the right facing south. Keep going south on a jeep road to the flats and avoid an Indian trail shortcutting left past rock ruins. It goes into tedious plowed up ground. Stay on the road and follow the base to the trail again at 51671, 48199 650 and it goes past a foundation then into AGW and then go upstream back to the start. 3 hours and there isn't any strenous gain. Posted 2020.
• PASADENA PEAK el 1574 is infested with mines and trails. Loop hikes can be done. Turn off the Ogilby Rd a fifth mile north of the RR tracks at the sign for the American Girl Mine Rd #710. Go 2 miles on that then keep left at a main fork for 3 more miles to the huge AGM pit. Cars can make it to within a mile then mtn bike the rest. Start hiking south along the rim of the pit on some faint tire tracks at N32 51411, W114 47000 el 650. When the rim peters out, drop down a game trail to the wash below that feeds into the pit. Go up the wash on a road to a 4-way. Go straight thru to the end of the road at some mine ruins. Get on the trail there at 50809, 46685 el 1000. The trail forks at el 1150. Both go. The left fork goes to a mine at el 1350 then a ridge can be ascended to the summit. The right fork goes up a drainage then veers right to a hidden fork. Both go, but left is shorter up to a saddle el 1450 SE of the summit which is at 50954, 46571. The descent trail drops off the NE ridge at 51030, 46508 el 1400. It drops down to the north for a distance of 200 feet then veers left to the NW saddle el 1200 where another trail is cutting thru. Take that trail down to the north to more mine ruins at the base around the Pasadena Mine then walk the high road back to the start. That loop took me 3 hours with about 600 feet of noticeable gain. And I took a side trip. LOOP 2 - another loop covers the east side. Keep driving past the AGM pit for a mile to a fork at N32 51646, W114 46259. Go left up a wash then the road will climb onto the bank then park at the next fork in the road. Walk the right fork to the end at the start of a trail reading 51136, 46035 el 850, just past the Guadalupe Mine. Vic Hanson and I went up this trail to the summit. We came back to a fork at 50931, 46404 el 1400 and stayed right and walked down to a canyon bottom on the south side at 50831, 46097 el 850. We went up the other side of the canyon on a trail and over the rim el 1100 to a road at 50744, 45758 el 850 then up that to a divide el 1100. A short trail goes up from there to a mine with a long pipe that was likely for jackhammers. Continuing over the divide we walked a trail down along the left side of the road to get back to the start. That took us nearly 4 hours with 1300 gain but it was closer to 3 hours next time I did it. Posted 2017, 2021.
• AMERICAN GIRL PEAK el 1200+ is what I call the peak on the SW side of the AGM pit. A loop can be done around the pit. Turn off the Ogilby Rd a fifth mile north of the RR tracks at the sign for the American Girl Mine Rd #710. Go 2 miles on that then keep left at a main fork and go another 2 miles then park near the ascent canyon which is at N32 51336, W114 47612 el 650. A major saddle is in view at the head of the canyon. Go up to it then turn left to the reg on the summit at 51117, 47407. There are obvious ways to descend the east canyon. I went down then cut over to 51076, 47358 el 1150 then 51033, 47302 el 1050 and then down to a wash and walked a trail on the left bank. That led me to a road in a wash that drains into the pit, but it would have to be rappelled. Instead, I used a game trail at 51120, 47110 el 750 that goes onto the rim of the pit then cirlced back. It's a 2 or 3 hour hike with 700 gain, not too steep. For another hike nearby, a twin peak el 900+ is 2/3 mile to the west of the pit with a road spiraling up it. The road starts on the north side at a metal tank. Either park on the east side and walk to it or drive back out to road #812 at 51074, 48458 and drive around. ATVs can make it part way up the peak. When the road ends, it's either go straight up on rubble to the reg on the east summit, or take a less steep route by staying on the trajectory of the road and angle up on bedrock to the west summit which is what I did. I descended the rubbly route and it wasn't bad. Posted 2020.
• PEAK 2084 has a decent route up the NE canyon to the east saddle. Take Ogilby Rd to Hayduke Rd at mp 11.2 reading N32 55837, W114 50871. Turn and go 1.8 miles to a long, bumpy crossing. On the far side, turn right on road #662 then go 2.2 miles to road #828 then go right on that for a third mile to waterholes near a huge cairn. Indian trails cut thru  the area. Now turn south toward the peak for half a mile to the mouth of the canyon at 54663, 47492 el 900. Get on the left bank and stay on it using a spotty mine trail to 54247, 47675 el 1300 where the rest is in view. Just go on up the main canyon to the east saddle el 1950 where 2 shelves go up left of center. Both go to the final ridge then it's easy bedrock to the summit at 54040, 47767. I was expecting a reg but there wasn't even a cairn. 2 and a half hours, 1200 gain but only half could be called steep. These roads are on the topo but might need 4wd and are mtn bikeable. Posted 2020.
• PASADENA MOUNTAIN el 1500+ has a trail up the south side. The graded Sidewinder Rd connects I-40 at exit 164 to the Ogilby Rd where the RR tracks cross. About midway along that 8 mile stretch is where power lines with huge steel towers cross the road. Turn there and go .4 mile then go left for nearly a mile to the trail reading N32 48564, W114 45747 el 450. Cars can no longer make it due to sand but an ebike can. There's nothing to lock a bike to but there's no crime in California anyway. The trail tops out at el 1350 then a faint trail marked by cairns goes on to the peak at 49323, 45688. 2 hours, 1200 gain. OGILBY HILLS HIGH POINT el 788 is on the south side of Sidewinder Rd. We parked at N32 48647, W114 48221 el 400 and went up an easy creekbed to the reg at 48655, 48524. Posted 2017.
• PASADENA MOUNTAIN CANYONS LOOP - a loop can be done up the east canyon then down the north with an optional side trip to the summit. Take the Sidewinder Rd exit 164 off I-8 and go north for 2 miles then stay right at a main fork. Stay on the main road #622 along the east side of the range to fork under power lines at N32 48906, W114 43743. Take the left fork into Araz Wash then go up a half mile or so. I parked on the right bank then walked up a fork at 49475, 44948 el 600. I went up that and stayed left at a main fork then on to 49146, 45575 el 1050 where I took an easy angle up the left slope for 350 feet then went straight up to the rim. I walked on to 49166, 45690 el 1300 where I could look NW for a tenth mile and see the low saddle el 1350 which is SW of the summit. I dropped down about 30 feet to easy ground and on to the saddle where the standard route to the peak passes across. I skipped the peak but that's where I would detour to it. I down the other side of the saddle and stayed on the left bank all the way to the main canyon then walked down it to a road at the mouth. I turned right and soon came to a fork. I stayed right and had an Indian trail to my left. I followed the road thru two low saddles then the trail forks to the right and took me back to the start. That took 2 and a half hours with less than 500 noticeable gain. This is a little patch of wilderness. Posted 2020.
• STUD MOUNTAIN el 2130 has a mine trail up Araz Wash to el 1200. Take the Sidewinder Rd exit 164 off I-8 and go north for 2 miles then stay right at a main fork. Stay on the main road #622 along the east side of the range for a bit over 5 miles then turn left on road #715 reading N32 50354, W114 42964  then go 3.3 miles to road #829. Turn north on that for a third mile to the end at the TH reading 50818, 45474 el 850. I could have rode an ebike that far in 2021.    Follow the trail along the creekbed to the end then keep going up and left into a major saddle el 1500. Then go up the ridge for 250 feet to a viewpoint at 51299, 45278 el 1650 where the rest is in view. Just stay left of center to a gully at 51308, 45209 and either go up it or any point thereafter to get on the main ridge.The reg is at 51456, 45160. 3 hours, 1300 gain. Road #715 goes on another half mile to the Surprise Lakes which had water on one of my visits. Road #622 goes on north for 4 miles to a flat top volcanic formation el 1112 that I call HELICOPTER HILL. Military choppers were making repeated landings on it. They must have hauled the vehicle up there. We hiked up the NE side with no problem. Beyond that is what I call the EAST HILLS. The high point of that is a short but steep hike. We followed the main road over to it then used game trails along a wash at N32 53991, W114 45167 el 850. That wash goes right under the south side of the peak then it's obvious how to go up into the west saddle then up to survey junk on top at 54337, 44993 el 1416. After that we went to Yuma by going back to the south side of Helicopter Hill then taking road #830 at 52720, 44861. Then we followed GPS to the GRAFFITI FIELDS at 53231, 41540. The main road runs SE thru the fields for a mile and a half then on another 7 miles to pavement at Yuma. Mtn bikes would work on these roads but OHVs kick up dust on weekends . Posted 2017.
• PEAK 1314 INDIAN TRAIL - this little peak is on the east side. An Indian trail cuts thru north of it and a loop can be made around the peak on sheep trails. BLM road #662 runs along the west side. Park along it and then walk to a jeep road at N32 53690, W114 45063. It goes into a canyon with a trail on the left bank. Walk the trail over the main saddle and down the other side then into a wash. Exit on the right bank at 54081, 44631 and walk the base on faint trails around to an easy canyon and get in the correct fork at 53775, 43969. Soon there is sheep trail on the right bank and it goes to the main saddle and splits. Left is the short way down to the floor then get on the right bank at 53207, 43884 where a trail goes to the right thru a low saddle to get back to the west side. 3 hours, hardly any strenuous gain. I came in off the Ogilby Rd on the American Girl Rd and parked on the bank west of peak 965. An Indian trail cuts thru along that wash. I walked it to the trail at peak 1314 and had a 4 hour hike. Posted 2021.
• LOOP AROUND THE RANGE - jeeps and cycles can do a 30 mile loop around the range using the Ogilbly Rd one the west and BLM road #662 on the east. Ebikes can do a shorter loop by cutting thru the range on the American Girl Mine Rd. The topo doesn't show the section along the west side of peak 1416. Take Ogilby Rd to Hayduke Rd #659 at mp 11.2. Turn and go 1.8 miles to a long, bumpy crossing. On the far side, turn right on road #662 then stay left at main forks and the road will go off the map but there's only one main road to follow and it will resume on the map. Ebikes will soon want to cut thru the range at a fork. It will go into a rocky wash for nearly half a mile then up the left bank. But it comes back down in a tenth mile then it's easy on out past the American Girl Mine . Back on 662, the road will follow steel towers then pull away and there's a choice. Staying left leads to the interstate. Staying right (that's what I did) with the towers leads to Sidewinder Rd and back to Ogilby Rd at the RR tracks. It took me nearly 2 hours on a Yamaha  XT350. I would rather do the ebike loop because that's the best scenery. It's hard to get a heavy cycle thru the range. Posted 2021

PILOT KNOB el 880 is on the south side of I-8. Exit at Sidewinder Rd then go south a fifth mile then veer left to a quarry. Some hikers use a road on the west end of the quarry. But a real trail is east of the quarry. They all go up to the airway beacon foundation which is the high point. We could see another trail coming up the NW canyon. 1 hour with 500 gain. Posted 2017.

Indian trail cutting across north of peak 2217