South Maria and Central Big Maria Mountains Loop in Big Maria Mountains Wilderness Area BLM, CA

Hike South Maria and Central Big Maria Mountains Loop Big Maria Mountains Wilderness Area BLM, CA

Class 3 12.3 miles 6000 gain 8-11 hrs Loop Nov 30, 2024
Effort
Beauty
Personality
Solitude

South Maria and Central Big Maria Mountains Loop GPX Track

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The Big Maria Mountains are a lovely granitic range near the Colorado River and just north of Blythe CA. The Big Maria Mountains High Point is a more popular outing for desert peakbaggers, but there are many other cool peaks in the range that are worthy of a visit. I'd hiked to South Maria a few years ago via a looser route, and I figured it was a one-and-done peak with over 1,000 feet of prominence. However, from its summit, I observed too many other possibly fun-looking unnamed peaks and wanted to return someday. For today, Tyler and I formulated a loop route that would reach South Maria and its neighbors via what we figured was the most efficient way to do so. Our loop is bisected by a significant wash that separates South Maria from its northern neighboring ridge, requiring us to lose all the elevation we'd gained, only to regain it later (along with two more peaks) on our way back to the car.

We turned off Midland Road here (33.76232, -114.69358) and followed a dirt road to the trailhead, which is passable by mid-clearance vehicles. An old road leads part of the way through a major unnamed wash, then we headed into a smaller drainage that took us up to the saddle separating South Maria from our first peak, Peak 2905. We encountered some light Class 3 in this drainage, mostly due to large boulders or small dryfalls. It was a much easier gully than the one I'd used last time I reached South Maria, and I'd highly recommend taking this route instead, even if your goal is just to reach South Maria.

The ridgeline leading to Peak 2905 had some short Class 3 surprises, including anarrow section of ridgeline, and the aggressively tilted layers near the summit made the peak quite beautiful. It was a pretty quick jaunt to get over to South Maria next, with some fun Class 2/3 obstacles up its southeast ridgeline. We passed many mining claims marked by stacked cairns, and as we chomped on nice snacks while wearing fancy running shoes and looking at shaded topo maps on our phones, they reminded us of how burly the miners back in the day must have been. We were both surprised that my name was the last in the South Maria register from almost 5 years ago.

Peak 2631 was a slight hassle to reach because we were unsure how rugged the ridgeline would be directly to its south saddle. We chose to descend as a side-hilling traverse on a reasonable, but loose, slope. Looking back up, we agreed it was the right choice. The straightforward ridge from the saddle brought us quickly to Peak 2631, where we faced a significant ridge traverse to get to Peak 2685. The first half of the traverse was mostly uneventful, though not devoid of obstacles. The latter half introduced more difficulties, including multiple Class 4 moves, which Tyler took full advantage of, while I preferred to locate the Class 2 or 3 options that always seemed to exist. There was one particularly narrow and unavoidable Class 3 section along the crest that felt dangerous, and a final notch before the summit had a Class 3+ chimney we needed to drop down.

Peak 2685 ended up being the most difficult of the day by far, not only because our ascent ridge traverse introduced many obstacles, but also because getting down from it required navigating loose and steep gullies/slopes. Originally we'd decided to backtrack quite a bit, but we thought we could see a route down directly from the summit, so we gave it a go. After dropping down a hundred feet or so, we traversed a ledge and found a weakness to make further downward progress, which led us into a gully. Unfortunately, the gully later included at least three tricky downclimbs or loose wrap-arounds (Class 3/3+), so you might want to search for another descent gully instead, as many others are likely better.

We followed the major southeast-draining wash until our chosen drainage popped in on the right, where we had basically descended to the exact elevation contour of our trailhead. Now, we needed to reascend nearly all of it to reach our next peak, though you could drop another car at an access road at the mouth of the wash if you prefer to set up a shuttle. The gully ascent was a fun Class 2 boulder-hopping endeavor, but we had wildly miscalculated how much water we needed and had to take our time to avoid overheating. The drainage narrowed, and we were confronted with a split around a large outcropping. There were some Class 3 moves up dryfalls that we enjoyed quite a bit. Then we emerged onto a slope and continued to the summit of Peak 2575. The view east toward a nearly vertical face of clear rock layers was very cool, and we could see our trailhead for Tosco Benchmark below (our hike tomorrow).

A steep slope with some Class 2 dropped us west, then we traversed some hills to reach the base of our final summit, Peak 2575 (both peaks have nearly the same elevation). This was probably the most fun peak of the day, being a direct ascent south with lots of slabs and short scramble moves, and with minimally loose terrain. The sun was setting, casting shadows on the complex cliffs surrounding all the peaks we'd done earlier in the day. We dropped back off Peak 2575 and descended the drainage until stumbling on an old mining road, which we took back to the trailhead.

PEAKS ON HIKE
Elevation (ft) / Prominence (ft)
Peaks on hike
Elevation
Prominence
1
Peak 2905
2905 ft
345 rise
2
South Maria
2990 ft
1190 rise
3
Peak 2631
2631 ft
351 rise
4
Peak 2685
2685 ft
525 rise
5
Peak 2575
2575 ft
335 rise
6
Peak 2575
2575 ft
695 rise

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From the trailhead, heading toward the peaks. Seen ahead are South Maria (left) and Peak 2905 (center).
From the trailhead, heading toward the peaks. Seen ahead are South Maria (left) and Peak 2905 (center).
View back toward the trailhead.
View back toward the trailhead.
Ascending our gully of choice to reach the saddle above.
Ascending our gully of choice to reach the saddle above.
Lots of Class 2 and low Class 3 boulder-hopping obstacles.
Lots of Class 2 and low Class 3 boulder-hopping obstacles.
View back down the gully.
View back down the gully.
A narrow section higher up.
A narrow section higher up.
View back down the gully.
View back down the gully.
Peak 2905 seen over there.
Peak 2905 seen over there.
Along the ridgeline to Peak 2905.
Along the ridgeline to Peak 2905.
Final scramble to the summit.
Final scramble to the summit.
Peak 2905 summit, view southeast. You can see both Peak 2575s, our last two for the day (left and far right).
Peak 2905 summit, view southeast. You can see both Peak 2575s, our last two for the day (left and far right).
On the way down from Peak 2905. Peak 2685 seen top right, the hardest peak of the day.
On the way down from Peak 2905. Peak 2685 seen top right, the hardest peak of the day.
Heading over to South Maria, seen right of center.
Heading over to South Maria, seen right of center.
On the way up South Maria.
On the way up South Maria.
South Maria summit, view back toward Peak 2905.
South Maria summit, view back toward Peak 2905.
Close-up toward Peak 2685.
Close-up toward Peak 2685.
View back up toward South Maria.
View back up toward South Maria.
Descending traverse to the saddle, Peak 2631 seen center.
Descending traverse to the saddle, Peak 2631 seen center.
Headed up to Peak 2631 from the saddle.
Headed up to Peak 2631 from the saddle.
Some light scrmabling.
Some light scrmabling.
Onward from Peak 2631.
Onward from Peak 2631.
Peak 2685 left of center.
Peak 2685 left of center.
Some obstacles along the ridgeline.
Some obstacles along the ridgeline.
A Class 3 sketchier section along the ridgeline.
A Class 3 sketchier section along the ridgeline.
View back at the sketchy section.
View back at the sketchy section.
Some scrambling in and out of dips along the ridgeline.
Some scrambling in and out of dips along the ridgeline.
View back at our progress along the ridgeline so far.
View back at our progress along the ridgeline so far.
Bypassing a sketchy section along the crest.
Bypassing a sketchy section along the crest.
A Class 3 bit.
A Class 3 bit.
An example of a Class 4 spot that can be avoided by dropping around various outcroppings.
An example of a Class 4 spot that can be avoided by dropping around various outcroppings.
Image 30 from gallery
Peak 2685 seen ahead.
Peak 2685 seen ahead.
Avoidable Class 3 stuff if you prefer to skip it.
Avoidable Class 3 stuff if you prefer to skip it.
View back at a scrambly section.
View back at a scrambly section.
View back. Big Maria seen top right.
View back. Big Maria seen top right.
Making our way to the base of Peak 2685.
Making our way to the base of Peak 2685.
Keeping left of the crest initially.
Keeping left of the crest initially.
Then some Class 3 on the ridgeline.
Then some Class 3 on the ridgeline.
Summit ahead, separated by a notch.
Summit ahead, separated by a notch.
Class 3+ chimney into the notch.
Class 3+ chimney into the notch.
Tyler coming down the Class 3+ chimney.
Tyler coming down the Class 3+ chimney.
View back from within the notch.
View back from within the notch.
Summit of Peak 2685, view toward Peak 2575, our next peak (right of center).
Summit of Peak 2685, view toward Peak 2575, our next peak (right of center).
Starting down from Peak 2685. There's likely better descent gully options than the one we chose.
Starting down from Peak 2685. There's likely better descent gully options than the one we chose.
Our chosen descent used a series of gullies.
Our chosen descent used a series of gullies.
Class 3+ on the way down.
Class 3+ on the way down.
A Class 3+ dryfall.
A Class 3+ dryfall.
Getting lower, still more dryfall obstacles.
Getting lower, still more dryfall obstacles.
View back up toward Peak 2685 when we reached the wash below.
View back up toward Peak 2685 when we reached the wash below.
Continuing down the wash.
Continuing down the wash.
View back toward Peak 2685 (top right).
View back toward Peak 2685 (top right).
Our chosen ascent gully to get up to Peak 2575.
Our chosen ascent gully to get up to Peak 2575.
Lots of boulder-hopping.
Lots of boulder-hopping.
A narrow section with fun obstacles.
A narrow section with fun obstacles.
Class 3 dryfalls.
Class 3 dryfalls.
Solid rock and good holds within the drainage.
Solid rock and good holds within the drainage.
We emerged from the drainage and continued up the slope. Peak 2685 seen top center.
We emerged from the drainage and continued up the slope. Peak 2685 seen top center.
Summit of Peak 2575, view toward Peak 2905 and South Maria (left of center), and Peak 2685 (far right).
Summit of Peak 2575, view toward Peak 2905 and South Maria (left of center), and Peak 2685 (far right).
Wide shot from the summit of Peak 2575.
Wide shot from the summit of Peak 2575.
View east toward Tosco Benchmark.
View east toward Tosco Benchmark.
View of the southern cliff face.
View of the southern cliff face.
The second Peak 2575 seen center, our final peak of the day.
The second Peak 2575 seen center, our final peak of the day.
View back toward Peak 2575 as we approach Peak 2575 (same name since same elevation).
View back toward Peak 2575 as we approach Peak 2575 (same name since same elevation).
Class 2/3 up to Peak 2575.
Class 2/3 up to Peak 2575.
Fun slabs and scrambly sections.
Fun slabs and scrambly sections.
Tyler on the summit of Peak 2575. Tosco Benchmark right of center.
Tyler on the summit of Peak 2575. Tosco Benchmark right of center.
Peak 2575 summit, view toward South Maria.
Peak 2575 summit, view toward South Maria.
We descended to an old mining road left of the wash, which we took back to the cars.
We descended to an old mining road left of the wash, which we took back to the cars.

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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!