Hike Garfield Hills Loop Garfield Hills BLM, NV

The Garfield Hills are a remote and not particularly interesting small cluster of lumps outside of Luning NV. The high point, Garfield Hills High Point, has enough prominence to attract prominence-driven peakbaggers, but I can't imagine it gets much traffic otherwise. It seems most come from Power Line Road from the south via Bataan Mine, but I wasn't sure I could make it close enough to the peak in my car based on the reports of the bad road. Instead, I tried a new route by coming in from the north, taking the northern end of what is labeled as Power Line Road, which I'd later learn does not actually meet the southern Power Line Road approach, despite labeled as a road on maps. Coming this way would also enable me to hike to another peak to the east of the high point, Luning Benchmark, in order to form a pleasant loop.

To reach where I started, head southwest off NV-95 here (38.51296, -118.19312) and pass a fenced-in power contraption, following what's labeled as Power Line Road as it leads generally west along here (38.51142, -118.19651). The road continues without other junctions and is in great shape except for the last quarter mile where it enters a wash, and then ultimately became too washed out for my comfort. This wasn't a problem though, since my plotted loop would end me roughly where I parked anyway. An abandoned bus, car, and rough-looking building with the words "black hole circa 2012" graffiti'd on its outside gave me pause as to whether I would want to leave my car here or not. It felt pretty ominous, and closer inspection led me to believe this dwelling may have been occupied, though not recently.

I started along "Power Line Road", which headed southwest toward a canyon on the north side of the range high point. The road led to a water containment unit for wildlife and then I continued to the mouth of the canyon. Despite maps reading "Jeep Trail", this was no trail. The road very clearly ended abruptly in the wash and significant Class 2 obstacles aren't passable by anything motorized. I continued on, sort of happy I wouldn't be walking on doubletrack, and ascended the canyon until it became slightly more brushy. Realizing I had no reason to stay in this canyon since there was no road making travel easier, I decided to head up the slope to the south. A short section of steepness at the base of the slope to get out of the drainage led to slightly less steep hiking on easy terrain. This slope led me to the west ridge of Garfield Hills High Point.

Now along the ridgeline, the views were quite nice and the ridgeline consisted of mostly deserty tundra walking. A dip in the ridgeline added some extra vertical elevation gain. Once I took in the views from the summit, I scoped a route down to the east. I could see Luning Benchmark a bit over a mile away. This peak is also labeled "Black Dyke Mountain", but the incorrect spelling of "dike" makes this a pretty not okay combination of words, so Luning Benchmark it is for me. I started down Garfield Hills High Point on a short bit of loose Class 2, followed by more pleasant terrain. Toward the bottom of this east slope I was greeted by a small granitic boulder garden. Fortunately the boulders are spread sparsely enough that no tedious boulder-hopping is required. Another short section of Class 2 got me down to the saddle separating the high point from Luning Benchmark.

A dirt road heads north from the saddle and eventually back to my car, but first I wanted to get the second peak. From the saddle I headed east on easy terrain to attain the summit, some light Class 2 talus along the last few hundred feet. This peak wasn't particularly memorable so I didn't linger, making my way down its northwestern ridge and to the dirt road below. Following this road was easy, but it's barely a road. It mostly follows a wash and ultimately leads back to where I started, completing the loop. I think this loop made this otherwise somewhat boring area more interesting, and the boulder field garden on the east side of the high point was probably the highlight of the hike.