Hike Black Mesa Loop Black Mountains BLM, AZ

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From Oatman Highway, we followed a bad road on foot south until we reached some old ruins. The road is passable by high clearance and very good tires, but neither Whiley nor I were excited to drive the road. Once past the ruins, we continued south through the desert and entered a wash, following it until a moderate slope led us up the northern slope that would ultimately lead to Peak 4020. The first 3/4 of the ascent was mostly just typical desert terrain, but we soon reached a Class 3 move to get over a small cliff band. You can likely keep this Class 2 with some poking around. Above this cliff band, we neared the base of Peak 4020's sheer summit. There was a steep gully that brought us to its summit (Class 2+), lots of loose rock making it a bit thoughtful so we didn't knock each other out.

We worked our way down Peak 4020's southwest side on steep Class 2 terrain, encountering a Class 2+ move to get down. It was loose, but not nearly as bad as the ascent. We headed along the wide ridgeline on our way to Black Mesa's gradual ascent. Class 2 brought us just left of the rocky ridge crest and to the mesatop. A long and pretty stroll led us to the high point on the northwestern side of the mesa. We continued north off Black Mesa's summit and followed the remains of a mining trail, now used extensively by burros. Honestly the road isn't as helpful as we'd hoped it would be, since it was pretty eroded and easily lost. Regardless, we stuck the trail for as long as we could before hiking cross-country to an old road to the north and following this back to the car. The burros were particularly rambunctious, snorting at us from hundreds of feet away as a warning to keep clear.

PEAKS ON HIKE
Elevation (ft) / Prominence (ft)

Peaks on hike

Elevation

Prominence

Peak 4020

4020 ft

440 rise

Black Mesa

4360 ft

600 rise

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Ruins marking the start of the hike, where we left the road and headed toward Peak 4020 (visible top left). Black Mesa is seen top right.

Peak 4020 ahead.

Approaching a Class 3 minor cliff band.

View back at our progress. Mount Nutt visible top left.

Class 3 (likely avoidable) move on a minor cliff band.

Peak 4020 ahead. We headed toward the gully on the peak's left.

Within the Class 2+ gully.

View back down the gully.

Peak 4020 summit. Black Mesa visible behind it.

View toward Mount Nutt from the summit of Peak 4020.

Class 2/2+ descent off Peak 4020 via its southwest side.

View back up Peak 4020. Choosing the wrong way down could result in some Class 3 on loose stuff.

Continuing along the wide ridge on our way to Black Mesa.

Ascending Black Mesa, view back toward Peak 4020.

Class 2 as we headed up Black Mesa.

Another shot back. The ridgeline was rocky, so we stayed next to it on easier terrain.

On the mesa's top, as we start heading west to the high point of Black Mesa.

View south along the ascent.

Black Mesa high point ahead.

Black Mesa high point, view toward Mount Nutt.

Descent ridge. Our cars are somewhere on the right.

We stumbled on an old mining trail that we tried following as best as we could.

Along the mining trail as we head down. We lost it eventually and headed cross-country to the road system below.

Hire me or show me some love!

Hire/refer me as a web developer or send me a few bucks if you find my site useful. I’m not sponsored, so all fees are out-of-pocket and my time preparing trip reports is unpaid. I really appreciate it!