Hike Harcuvar Peak Loop Harcuvar Mountains BLM, AZ

Jan 31, 2022 — Harcuvar Peak is a high-prominence peak in southern Arizona, and is the high point of the Harcuvar Mountains. The drive is a bit lengthy and the peak isn't particularly interesting, but it does have some nice scrambling and it's always a good time to get out into a new part of the desert. Rather than only doing the high point, I also tacked on a lesser-visited peak to Harcuvar's east, unnamed Peak 4430. This made the route a bit more interesting.

To get to the start of the hike, navigate here (33.81226, -113.62775) on excellent roads and continue north through Arizona State Trust Land. Starting at this point the road begins to degrade. The first half of the drive is rutted and the second rocky, which made me happy to have both high clearance and good tires. Continue north until this point (33.84309, -113.62852), where you hit a powerline road and take a right, heading northeast. The road bends left here (33.85522, -113.61707) away from the powerlines and heads northwest. Veer right here (33.86166, -113.62431) and continue to this intersection (33.88345, -113.62536) where you should continue straight (northeast). The road drops into a wash shortly after this point and I was unable to cross due to very big boulders on the opposite side, which added a mile and a half of road walking in each direction. More capable vehicles can remove this amount from the stats, parking here (33.90408, -113.62971) where the road becomes extra narrow and bad. A little extra walking to warm my legs up wasn't something I'd be complaining about though.

The route up Harcuvar Peak begins almost at the end of the dirt road up a slope/ridge that has virtually no describable characteristics except that it's on the southeast side of the peak. While this is a pretty steep option, it's the most convenient because of where the road leads. A couple of the ridges to the west looked a little more gradual and would have been easier to describe, but these would require some bushwhacking and arroyo crossings to get there, so this steeper and somewhat indistinguishable baby ridge would do. Despite the steepness, there was minimal scrambling and it wasn't an unpleasant ascent by any means. I recommend sticking to the high point of the minor ridge when possible to avoid what seems like the slightly more cactus-filled slopes on either side. About 2/3 the way up the route became a lot more mellow and the terrain was free of most obstacles. Harcuvar Peak has two summits because it doesn't appear that there is a consensus on which point is higher. I tagged them both, the western summit requiring some light Class 2 to reach.

From the eastern summit of Harcuvar Peak, I decided to continue over to Peak 4430 because after driving way out here, I certainly wanted more hiking time. The initial descent from Harcuvar Peak's east peak almost immediately introduced a significant rock outcropping along the ridge crest. I avoided the obstacle by keeping to its right, which brought on some light bushwhacking and Class 2 along the top of a steep slope, but there was a ledge of sorts which minimized side-hilling and created a more chill experience than it appeared it would be from above. Past the rock outcrop, the terrain was a little rocky, but nothing new nor unexpected. The final hundred feet or so to the saddle of Harcuvar Peak and Peak 4430 had more Class 2/2+ boulder obstacles. The terrain was steep, but not dangerously so.

I started ascending the west ridge of Peak 4430, which had more of the same as the descent from Harcuvar. A couple of rock outcroppings along the crest kept me just to their right, and there was a bit of minor cactus to contend with. Once above the steep first half of the ascent, the rest looked like a cakewalk to the summit. A couple of barely noticeable humps and I was there. Harcuvar's humped form looked surprisingly cool from this angle.

On the way down from Peak 4430 I took the obvious southern ridge then kept right to continue down a spur ridge. This led me back to the road more quickly than the main southern ridge would have. It's a very straightforward descent, initially with less rock and cacti than the rest of the hike. However, the bottom couple of hundred feet does have a bit of a steep rock outcropping that I avoided on its left via pretty loose Class 2 in order to reach flat desert below and ultimately the road.