Hike Mount Wilson Lake Mead National Recreation Area, AZ

Mar 01, 2019 — Mount Wilson is the second-highest summit in the Black Mountains on the Arizona side of the Colorado River. It's generally accessed from Interstate-11 off of Black Joe Mine Road. I had to park pretty close to the highway because Black Joe Mine Road was a bit rough for my taste. The road leads over two miles to the trailhead, marked by a fork with a short dead-end section to the left. You could knock off these miles if you have high clearance. On a subsequent hike to Mount Wilson, I was able to get my Crossover SUV all the way to the upper trailhead, so either the road was improved or my headgame for driving has gotten better.

I crossed the wash to the left and ascended the ridge on the opposite side, where a faint climbers' trail awaited. As I gained elevation, the trail became more defined, although there were moments where it disappeared, necessitating some route-finding skills. Despite the occasional challenges, it's pretty apparent if you're off-route because generally the ridge crest offers the easiest terrain.

The hike itself was a mix of Class 2 terrain interspersed with short sections where the ridgeline is more open and easier to walk on. About a third of the way up the ridge is a false summit with a steep rock outcropping that needs to be wrapped around. There's some Class 2/2+ scrambling to gain the summit, and while it was short, it was a nice ending to an otherwise typical desert ridge hike. I could see Las Vegas, Lake Mead, and Mount Charleston in the distance, and the nearby desert peaks of the Black Canyon looked very small from way up here on Mount Wilson.