Grand Gulch Hikers: North Turtle Mountains Indian Trails

The Coffin Sprng Indian trail

Any hikers interested in a guided tour of these trails can find me on Facebook as Nevada Bob.
MOHAWK TO MOPAH TRAIL- the Indians had an easy 17 mile route connecting Mohawk Spring to Mopah Spring. Some segments survive. Turn off US 95 at mp 21.9 and follow BLM road #634 to the closure in a bit over 4 miles. 2wd trucks might make all but the last half mile. Leave a vehicle there then take US 95 to Turtle Mtn Road at mp 35.7. Go west on that easy 4wd road for about 11 miles in a straight line then BLM road #477 forks to the left. Take #477 and keep going SW nearly 3 miles to Lost Arch Mine camp area, aka Lisa Dawn Camp. There is one shaded table and grill, no outhouse. The trail to the spring is 250 feet west of the table. It goes up on the right side of a drainage thru a saddle a quarter mile SW of the camp area. Another trail is on the left of the drainage but is longer. Both trails soon merge into one and go on past Mohawk Spring which never has water and into a valley and starts up into a minor saddle at N34 25549, W114 51471. It goes down the other side to the valley floor and fades out. The terrain is easy so I just got on the high ground at 25044, 51331 and then on to 23881, 50633 where the trail runs faint on the south bank of a wash. I walked it across a sharp gully at 23709, 50862. Then on to 23559, 51041 and then on to a saddle where the trail is visible at 23016, 51523. It goes into a main wash where a vertical slab at has some minor petroglyphs. I had a snack there and a hummingbird stared at me the whole time. He might be an "attack hummingbird" possessed by the Indian spirits to guard against vandalism. I stayed in the main wash then took a left fork at 22187, 51185 and followed that to 21904, 50852 where I went up a ridge between forks. I stayed right around a bump and resumed on the ridge behind the bump and on to a saddle at 21682, 50516. I followed the low ground to the next trail segment at 21401, 50176. That soon faded then the next segment is at 20842, 49414 ( a peculiar pipe is along that stretch at 21204, 49827 then another trail segment at 21100, 496730). Someone has been helping out with cairns until that point, but didn't stop for lack of rocks. The trail goes into a canyon then fades but the route goes to a saddle at 20429, 49232. A boulder with petroglyphs is before the saddle. From the saddle, a good trail goes left and uphill a little to get to an easy ridge down to the wash in Vidal Valley, but the Indians were trying to trick me. It's much easier to walk level out of the saddle on a game trail running on the right bank that merges with the rim then down to the main wash. I stayed in the wash to 19133, 48106 where habitation sites are at a cliff on the right bank. The trail can be seen again at 18993, 47883 where it goes 300 feet back into the wash. The next trail is on the left bank at 18683, 47500. It goes on to 18677, 47196 then goes thru the saddle west of Mopah Spring. It follows along the left bank to the spring then stays on the left bank and drops to the wash a quarter mile past the spring. It goes up on the right bank at 19404, 45319 and stays far right for a third mile then crosses to the left bank then back to the right. The last trail is on the left bank at 19773, 44236 and goes to an airstrip then fades, but it's only half a mile to the south TH. That took me 8 hours, 5 minutes with no strenuous gain. The app had it at 19 miles. I saw no water until Mopah Spring in spite of a big rain two days earlier. I found running water on the Bolson Peak hike that I detailed on the 2015 page. That would work for backpackers but not guaranteed. That's a worthy side trip anyway. In 6 or 7 hours, I could haul a backpack and set up camp west of Mopah Spring then go over the hump for water and resume down the southern trail to highway 62. The scenery hasn't changed much since the Indians were here but OHVs are moving in. Posted 2019, 2021.
COFFIN SPRING LOOP - the same trail as above can be used for a long but easy loop around the mega crags. Follow that route to the high ground at N34 25044, W114 51331. Watch your step because some rocks along here have been arranged. Be careful not to disturb anything. Keep going to a trail over the main saddle at 23849, 49948. A minor cave there had sheep tracks. The trail goes up into the saddle then splits, take the lower one down to the floor. Coffin Spring is at 23711, 48755 el 2500 but I skipped it this trip. Walk on down the easy main wash and exit left on a closed road at 24785, 48773 that goes to the Coffin Spring TH. Or, as I prefer, use an Indian trail just before that where it goes thru a saddle at 24542, 49018 (another trail goes thru the next saddle but leads into rocks) and goes down the other side on the left side of a drainage to a main wash. It goes along the far bank of that wash and goes down to smooth ground at 25527, 49224 then a fifth mile to the legal road then walk to the next fork and go left back to the start. That took 4 and a half hours and not any strenuous gain. A trail can be seen along the road on the drive out at 27055, 49878. That seems to connect Mohawk Spring to the river. Posted March, 2019.
COFFIN SPRING TRAIL SOUTH - the Indians had a rough route from that spring to Mopah Spring. Take US 95 to Turtle Mtn Road at mp 35.7. Go west on that easy 4wd road for about 11 miles in a straight line then BLM road #477 forks to the left. Take that for about a mile to Browns Camp road #480 forking left. That's a rough road, so stay right on #477 and then left at main forks to the Coffin Spring TH at a closed fork reading N34 25474, W114 48931 el 1900. But you can keep going on the legal road another 800 feet and park. Hike up the closed fork. It will soon enter a major wash and vanish. I went up the wash until cliffs on my right ended then up to the trail at 23432, 49238 el 2850. I walked up it along a cliff base to the main saddle el 3100. The trail exits the saddle to the left then crosses a minor drainage at 23226, 49081 el 3100 then starts dropping off the rim at 23143, 49092 el 3150. I followed it to 23019, 49090 el 3100 and it soon faded. But the Indians must have gone down a ridge at 22734, 49139 el 2900. I walked it down then near the bottom stayed on the rim of the drainage to my left. At the main creekbed el 2600,I used a trail on the left bank a short way then dropped into a minor narrows. It was easy on down to a minor fall with bathtub size potholes in bedrock. Just below that I used the left bank but the wash might be just as easy. At the flats, I turned west up Gary Wash to high ground at 21764, 50588 el 2500 and followed it over a divide el 2550. Then I just followed the wash down the other side to a trail again at 22778, 51566. I walked that over a saddle at 23004, 51526 then on to 23220, 51300 then 23392, 51144 then to a canyon at 23748, 50820. I went a quarter mile up the canyon and got on the left rim and followed it to a trail over the main saddle at 23849, 49948. The trail goes up into the saddle then splits to the right, the lower one being the route down to the floor then I retraced back out. That took 7 hours with about 1000 feet of noticeable gain. Posted 2020.