Old Woman Mountain

Old Woman Mountains Wilderness BLM, CA Central Mojave Desert

Trip stats

Distance
6.3 mi
Net Gain
2,800 ft
Time
3-5 hrs
YDS Rating
Class 2
Route
Out/Back
Peaks
1

Ratings out of 10

Effort
4.8/10
Personality
5/10
Beauty
6/10
Solitude
6.7/10
What do these mean? →

Peaks on this hike

Summits listed in route order

  1. Old Woman Mountain
    5,325′ elevation · 2,733′ prominence

Route map + Trailhead

Trailhead Coordinates

34.602920, -115.255560

The directions link below drops a pin on the trailhead coordinates and lets Google Maps pick the route. If the drive has rough roads or access issues that GPS nav might get wrong, I cover that in my trip report.

Get directions (opens Google Maps in a new tab)

Trip report

Mar 27, 2021 — Old Woman Mountain sits in the middle of pretty much nowhere, located of historic Route 66. The issue with accessing the peak (as of March 2021) is that the section of Route 66 that passes closest is closed. The road is closed due to timber bridges too old to support vehicles, but bypasses simply go around the road blocks. In fact, the trailhead can likely be reached by any vehicle, though there are a couple of short sandy spots. It's far enough from anywhere that I almost can't imagine getting in trouble if you decide to head to Old Woman Mountain via this direction. However, on our way back through Essex, we passed a highway patrol. I'm not sure they would have cared, but felt I should dispel any thoughts that the area isn't patrolled. Assuming you're okay with breaking some laws, turn onto Danby Road here (34.64879, -115.3704). Navigate to here (34.60764, -115.26676) and continue southeast.

From the wilderness boundary, my new hiking buddy TJ and I hiked along an old mining road to its end, passing by some mining ruins before ascending the prominent gully to the south. Class 2 led us up this gully, where we picked our way around a few big granite boulders, but overall it was pretty easy to navigate. I recommend sticking just left of the drainage for most of the time, which would avoid dryfalls and unnecessary brush. There was even a social trail for parts. We found ourselves on the ridge to the south of the gully, where we ascended the coarse sand slope until Old Woman Mountain came into view. We had the option to continue along the ridge to an unnamed point to the west, but it made sense to side-hill on the mostly pleasant terrain rather than ascend unnecessarily to this point. There are at least two social trails along the slope as we side-hilled, but it's hard to go too wrong. You can see the saddle you're working toward pretty much the whole time. After side-hilling, we found ourselves at the saddle to the north of Old Woman Mountain, and we continued south along the Class 2 ridgeline to the summit.

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Photos

20 photos

  1. Past the wilderness boundary along a mining road.
  2. Some old Florence Mine mining stuff. There's a little rock house visible center far left in this photo.
  3. Continuing along the mining road.
  4. At the Florence Mine, view back toward the mining road we ascended.
  5. Just above Florence Mine, heading up the gully to the south. We mostly stuck to the left side of the drainage, where we found social trails and less brush.
  6. View back down the gully as we ascend on Class 2 boulders.
  7. Reaching the top of the gully and slope, which brought us to a ridge above.
  8. View back into the gully (left).
  9. Top of the gully/slope. We continued along the ridge for a short time. Old Woman Mountain is visible center.
  10. Class 2 up the ridge, the gully we ascended from visible on the left in this photo.
  11. Old Woman Mountain ahead. We headed for the saddle above TJ's head in this photo. The side-hilling to reach the saddle was totally reasonable.
  12. View back as we side-hilled to the saddle.
  13. At the saddle, view south toward Old Woman Mountain.
  14. View back toward the saddle (left), and the side-hill section from the ridge on the right.
  15. Old Woman Mountain ahead.
  16. Class 2 to the summit.
  17. Easy terrain most of the way along the ridge.
  18. Old Woman Mountain.
  19. Old Woman Mountain, view north.
  20. Old Woman Mountain, view east.

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Hire or refer me as a web developer, or send me a few bucks if you find my site useful. I'm not sponsored, so it's funded by yours truly. It also takes a ton of work to edit photos and write these reports. I really appreciate it!

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GPX track

Old Woman Mountain GPX route and driving track

The complete GPX track is available to download, so you can load the route straight into your navigation app or device. The trip report, route info, photos and planning details stay free.

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