I will always provide a free route map, but you can also download a hike/drive GPX to assist you and to help support my site. Before sharing my GPX tracks with others, please remember my site is a free resource and I'm charging nominal fees to offset my substantial costs.
GPX track added to your cart.
Mar 27, 2021 — Old Woman Mountain sits in the middle of pretty much nowhere, located of historic Route 66. The issue with accessing the peak (as of March 2021) is that the section of Route 66 that passes closest is closed. The road is closed due to timber bridges too old to support vehicles, but bypasses simply go around the road blocks. In fact, the trailhead can likely be reached by any vehicle, though there are a couple of short sandy spots. It's far enough from anywhere that I almost can't imagine getting in trouble if you decide to head to Old Woman Mountain via this direction. However, on our way back through Essex, we passed a highway patrol. I'm not sure they would have cared, but felt I should dispel any thoughts that the area isn't patrolled. Assuming you're okay with breaking some laws, turn onto Danby Road here (34.64879, -115.3704). Navigate to here (34.60764, -115.26676) and continue southeast.
From the wilderness boundary, my new hiking buddy TJ and I hiked along an old mining road to its end, passing by some mining ruins before ascending the prominent gully to the south. Class 2 led us up this gully, where we picked our way around a few big granite boulders, but overall it was pretty easy to navigate. I recommend sticking just left of the drainage for most of the time, which would avoid dryfalls and unnecessary brush. There was even a social trail for parts. We found ourselves on the ridge to the south of the gully, where we ascended the coarse sand slope until Old Woman Mountain came into view. We had the option to continue along the ridge to an unnamed point to the west, but it made sense to side-hill on the mostly pleasant terrain rather than ascend unnecessarily to this point. There are at least two social trails along the slope as we side-hilled, but it's hard to go too wrong. You can see the saddle you're working toward pretty much the whole time. After side-hilling, we found ourselves at the saddle to the north of Old Woman Mountain, and we continued south along the Class 2 ridgeline to the summit.
Please consider helping me out if you find my site useful. I'm not sponsored, so all site fees are out-of-pocket and my time preparing these trip reports is unpaid. You can also hire me as a web developer. I really appreciate it!
If you find my site helpful, please help me replace my many broken cameras, fund my website fees (hosting, APIs, security), or just support my countless hours of work. I pay for all expenses myself, and all trip reports I post are unpaid and unsponsored, so any support is really appreciated!
If using PayPal, please select their option for "Sending to a friend" so they don't take out fees, thank you.
My site is free to use, but consider sending me a few bucks to help keep it running. Thanks in advance!