Hike Mae West Peak via West Ridge Little Dragoon Mountains BLM, AZ

Mar 01, 2022 — Mae West Peak is the high point of the Little Dragoon Mountains in southeastern AZ. I planned to take the standard route, which requires a 15 mile drive on a dirt road and then a reportedly not great route through brushy terrain. I've put this peak off for that reason, as well as because it kind of just looks like a boring big lump on the horizon when driving past it on I-10. The route I ultimately took ended up being unexpectedly nice.

There may be a way to get to the peak from the east, but I don't think it's legal to cross the desert from that direction, so the long drive it would have to be for me. To reach the trailhead, head north on Z Ranch Road here (31.99983, -110.16228). Sign into the rancher's visitor register here (32.02995, -110.15414), pass a gate, and continue west for a bit until the road curves north here (32.02784, -110.16256), then east. There's another gate here (32.05061, -110.17496). Turn right here (32.05722, -110.19501) and head east to the end of the road. I drove the dirt road (passable by Crossover vehicles) and got to the start of the route, which began at a small rancher's settlement of sorts. I don't believe access is discouraged because there was no signage stating otherwise, only a note to close the gate after me.

I started along the dirt road through the private property and was immediately overwhelmed by how many cows were surrounding me. Despite actively trying to avoid them, the stupid animals kept walking in the same direction I was going. I had a brief encounter with one bull that started approaching me, prompting me to detour from the road to avoid him. After the second incident like this with another bull, I decided I wanted to take a cow-free route and risk spooking a snake versus being gored by a bull. Initially this felt kind of unfortunate because my assumption was that I'd have to bushwhack the whole way rather than use the road, but I'd soon find wasn't the case after all. Not knowing this yet, I cut my losses and headed back to the start to reasses. My attached map does not include my bull encounter mishaps.

I decided my next best course of action would be to attempt Mae West Peak from its west ridge. From my car I headed north and crossed under two sets of barbed wire fence and through a drainage in order to reach the base of the west ridge. Aside from a bunch of ocotillo and some loose rock along the slope, the brush was very minimal. Once on the ridge, I was stunned to see a mostly clear route leading pretty much all the way to the summit. I couldn't believe my luck. The ridgeline hosts an expanse of grasses which adds a nice pastoral vibe to the hike, but put me a little on-edge out of fear of snakes. I don't know if the standard route is easier than what I took, but from above it looked like the slope was pretty steep to gain the ridge, and I actually think my accidental route is probably nicer than the standard route after reading others' reports. A huge bonus of the west ridge is that it never hurts to have views along a ridgeline for the entire hike rather than just at the summit.

With very little effort due to basically no obstacles, I made my way along the crest of the west ridge of Mae West Peak. After about two miles, a short section of Class 2 greeted me. Past here was more pastoral walking, sticking to the crest the whole time. Mae West Peak's limestone summit block came into view and I winced at the potential for getting cliffed out. I knew I could wrap around the base of the peak and locate a route up on its southeast side, but this ended up not being necessary. I made my way to the northwest face of the peak, wrapped under a minor limestone cliff through light brush and trees, took a hairpin turn to get above the cliff band I just crossed under, and located a Class 3 set of moves on the very edge of the major cliff protecting the summit on its northwest side. While not exposed and the limestone being sticky and solid, the moves are a little tricky. If this isn't your jam, you could side-hill around the southern face and find the standard route's Class 2 option. Past the Class 3 obstacle, some brushy Class 2 led to the summit, which had some great views of the surrounding mostly flat desert.