Hike Providence Benchmark Mojave National Preserve, CA

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Providence Benchmark is a big mountain at the southern end of Mojave National Preserve. It seems to be overlooked due to its proximity to its taller siblings to the north, Edgar and Mitchell. I thought it was a really pleasant hike, likely my favorite in the Preserve. Most seem to access the peak by taking a long and bad road from the east, but TJ and I opted to head in from the southwest. We drove in on Kelbaker Road and turned off here (34.83451, -115.6246), where low-clearance wouldn't have any problems until about a mile in due to a bad drainage crossing. This would add an extra mile round trip. The road gets rockier here (34.84599, -115.60646), and also appears to be a widlerness boundary, but it's not. There's just a faded sign that says not to drive in the wash, and to stay to the road. This rockier section of road only lasts a half mile before reaching the true wilderness boundary.

We set out to the north on a very eroded road until it disappears, hiking over a bunch of little bumps and drainages until we dropped down onto a different eroded road that headed directly east. From here we could see the rock outcrops that marked the ridgeline of Providence Benchmark. We followed the road until it faded away and started ascending a steep sloping ridge. It progressively introduced more boulders and sand and steep terrain, but never exceeded Class 2. There were a couple of spots where rock outcrops got a bit more serious, but keeping to the right avoided anything scary. A couple of spots were steep and loose enough due to the coarse sand that we took turns as not to kick rocks on each other. We crested the southern ridge of Providence Benchmark and headed northeast toward the summit. There's an option to stick to the ridgeline, but we decided to side-hill on an easy slope in order to skip the additional vertical gain on the rockier terrain. Past this side-hill slope was a wide and sweeping meadow-like section, my favorite spot of the hike. It felt like a unique landscape for the Mojave, trees spattered around and taller grasses mixed with cacti leading us for another half mile to the summit. Along the way we passed an old mining shaft. The summit views were great.

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

Peaks on hike

Elevation

Prominence

Providence Benchmark

6611 ft

2149 rise

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Starting past the wilderness boundary.

Looking back toward the trailhead, Granite Peak in the distance.

We followed an eroded road heading north until it faded out, then continuing on hilly terrain. You can see the rocky outcrops of Providence Benchmark's ridge poking out up top in this photo.

After heading north through the desert, we stumbled onto this second eroded dirt road, which we took east. Providence Benchmark visible ahead. Our route would head up the slope with light vegetation on it seen to the right of TJ.

That road faded too, and we ascended the wash toward the slope in the center.

View back into the wash as we head up the slope. Our route came from the left, around the ridge seen on the far left in this photo.

Ascending the slope, Providence Benchmark's ridgeline visible ahead.

More difficult-looking terrain coming up. Keep right to avoid any cliff-outs. The rock outcrops seem to only stick to the ridgeline.

View back down at our progress. Our cars are behind the ridge on the left somewhere.

Close-up of a steeper section. You can see TJ avoiding the rock outcrops on the ridge crest.

Steeper rocky/sandy section.

We emerged on the ridge. We came up from the right in this photo.

Ascending along the ridge. We could have stayed along the crest and dealt with additional vertical and rocky terrain, but instead kept to the right and side-hilled.

View back toward our progress up Providence Mountain's south ridge.

Side-hilling around the rocky ridgeline.

Approaching the meadow-like section beneath the summit.

View back as we finish side-hilling and continue ascending to Providence Benchmark.

Pretty meadow-like landscape.

Passed a mine shaft on our way.

View back toward the meadow-like area. Our route came from just above TJ's head, where we had side-hilled around the taller ridge in the center of this photo.

Easy terrain to just below the summit.

Class 2 to gain the summit block.

Providence Benchmark summit, view toward Fountain, Mitchell, Edgar.

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!