West Humboldt Range

Dry lake at the south end of the range

Humbolt BM and one of the lakes

A good, hard packed dirt road runs along the west side of the range. Take Airport Rd which passes over the interstate at the north end of Lovelock. Go east from the interstate for 2.1 miles then turn south and the road goes a dozen miles to a T. Right goes back to town, left goes to Lovelock Cave. I could have drove a car on that road. Lovelock has a Safeway and Family Dollar. It's a good looking town. Posted 2019.

• WEST HUMBOLDT RANGE HIGH POINT e 6381 - an easy 4wd road goes up Muttlebury Canyon. Use Airport Road which crosses over I-80 at the north end of Lovelock. Go east from I-80 for 2.1 miles to a main fork. Go right for 3 miles to Muttlebury Canyon road at N40 08804, W118 23987. Don't get tricked by another road just before it. Go east into the canyon about 3.2 miles where a steep road el 5000 forks to the right out of the canyon and connects to the upper road. I didn't think it was worth using that steep road so I walked the wash on the south side of it reading 09274, 20839. In a third air mile a faint road forks to the right and soon joins the upper road. Then I walked nearly to the end of that road just before a repeater then cut under a rocky hill to get on the crest then up to the reg at 06960, 20136. That took 3 and a half hours with about 1500 gain and hardly any steep. The reg was placed in 1997 by M&L and had 9 entries since. That's low for an easy range high point with easy access. WILDHORSE BENCHMARK el 6194 - keep going south on the main road to a 4-way at 06819, 24458. Then go toward the peak on easy 4wd for a bit over 4 miles to the end in a canyon. Hike up the north rim reading 03996, 22360 el 5100 and then at el 5850 or so veer right to a saddle el 5950 on the crest. It's a stroll on up to the reg at 03345, 21950. Then walk west 700 feet and there's a view down a good descent ridge. 90 minutes, 1200 gain, not steep. There are no cattle or horses here. Posted 2019.
• GYPSUM BENCHMARK el 6309 - the Muttlebury Canyon road mentioned above goes on to the BM, but gets ultra steep. An easy 4wd road goes to el 5700 from Coal Canyon. Take I-80 to exit 112 and go 3.2 miles on pavement into the canyon. Turn south and go 3 and a half miles to a where the road tops out at a maze of forks. That's the last turnaround, so walk the high fork reading 11349, 20327  to the end in a fifth mile then keep going to the main ridge and follow the steep road to the reg at 11257, 21251. It's a 90 minute hike. The road ends a fifth mile past the peak at a clever looking rig that might be a tiny cell tower. A good pipe spring is nearly 3 miles in from the Coal Canyon road with no cow shit in sight. Posted 2019.
• HUMBOLT BENCHMARK el 5261 is along the road to Lovelock Cave. Take the road on the east side of McDonalds in Lovelock and follow signs to the cave. At a T, the road turns to graded dirt then crosses the river and then comes to 3 forks. Stay far right to a faint track at N40 00331, W118 30277 then go nearly half a mile to the end of that. Walk to the main north canyon at N40 00027, W118 29834 el 4050 and go up the left rim to N39 59901, W118 29413 4450 then drop in to get above falls. Now there is one 4 foot fall to go up then it's smooth sailing to the west saddle el 4850. The summit is at N39 59358, W118 29088. I followed the west rim back down to the falls. 2 and a half hours, 1300 gain. This is the best peak I climbed in the range. The cave is another 5 miles down the road. Posted 2019.
•  DRY LAKES - lakes that are in view from Humbolt BM make an easy hike. At the 3 forks mentioned above, take the middle one over Wildhorse Pass and on to a faint mine road at N39 56542, W118 30886. Go 2/3 mile on that and park at the base el 4200 of peak 4798. Then walk east on a road along the base for 2/3 air mile then go up to the next level and cut thru a saddle at 57599, 29951 el 4400 to get to the first lake. Then go to 57787, 29926 el 4350 and drop into a drainage and go up that to 57863, 30566 el 4400 where the second lake soon comes into view. Then walk on to the west base of peak 4798 where a faint road leads back to the start. I spent 3 hours here but part of that was a side trip to the top of the peak. Posted 2019.
• BLUFF BENCHMARK el 6311 is a twin summit at the north end of the range. Take I-80 to exit 119 then go SE on a paved road for about 2.8 miles then turn right on a good road and keep going SE along power lines for 1.1 miles to a fork. Go right on a decent road for 3 and a half miles to the end el 5900. The north summit is just up the slope at N40 15965, W118 15612 el 6344. The BM is a 15 minute walk to the south. 70 minutes, 600 gain. The north summit had a reg. Posted 2019.