Overview

There are several routes up this peak. The strenuous route described here runs from the trailhead to Wiregrass Spring (5.7 miles out), climbs onto the ridge west of the spring, and follows the ridge for 2.5 miles to the summit (9,912 ft). This 17-mile round trip makes for a very long day trip or a nice overnight backpacking with a night spent at the Hidden Forest cabin. Water is available at the spring, but it should be treated.

Link to map or elevation profile.

For general information on camping, regulations, other issues, and the natural history of the Wildlife Refuge, see the Desert National Wildlife Range -- Area Overview page.

Watch Out

Other than the standard warnings about hiking in the desert, ...this is a relatively safe, off-trail route. There are no cliffs or other obstacles to climb, although there are some to get around. Always use extra care when hiking off-trail because the logistics of rescue are more difficult. Be sure to treat the spring water. Stay off ridges and mountain tops if thunderstorms threaten. Hiking in gravel or sandy washes is tiring, more tiring than might be expected; so don't underestimate the time it will take to hike up the canyon to the cabin. When dry, the trailhead should be accessible with a 2WD high-clearance vehicle, but inquire locally if you have questions.

While hiking, please respect the land and the other people out there, and try to Leave No Trace of your passage. Also, this is a long hike, so be sure to bring the 10 Essentials.

This is a wildlife refuge, so pay extra attention to respecting the land. Please, don't bother the bighorn sheep. They have a hard enough time making a living in these desert lands; they don't need extra stress from people hanging around the spring.

Getting to the Trailhead

This hike is located on the Desert National Wildlife Range, about 2 hours north of town.

From town, drive out to the Desert National Wildlife Range. From Corn Creek Field Station (Table 1, Site 106), continue east to a T-intersection a few yards beyond the parking area (Site 731). Turn left onto Alamo Road and drive north for 14.5 miles to Hidden Forest Road (Site 882). Turn right onto Hidden Forest Road and drive east for 3.8 miles to a parking area at the end of the road (Site 445). There are no turns, and the road ends against the first set of hills. Under normal conditions, these are good, well-graded roads. Park here; this is the trailhead.

When passing Corn Creek Field Station, be sure to stop and sign the visitor register. Use a false name if you worry about the government tracking your movements, but they need all the visitor-use statistics they can get to argue for more funding.

The Hike

From the trailhead (Table 2, Waypoint 1), the old road continues past a gate and drops steeply into the wash. A sign at the trailhead says that Wiregrass Spring is 4 miles out, but the cabin is 5.7 miles out, and the spring is about 0.15 miles past the cabin.

Hike up the old road through Deadman Canyon for 5.7 miles to the old cabin (Wpt. 5). For details on this part of the hike, see the description of the Hidden Forest Trail. The cabin is an interesting place to sit on the picnic tables, rest in the shade of tall ponderosa pines, listen to the birds and the wind, and contemplate the history and life during simpler times.

The lay of the land around the cabin is a bit confusing, perhaps because the tall trees block your view of the hillsides. The cabin is located in the mouth of a side canyon that comes into Deadman Canyon from the north. The cabin is on the east (right) side of the side canyon, right at the confluence with Deadman Canyon, which continues to the east (farther right) and eventually hits the crest of the Sheep Range. If you stand on the porch of the cabin and look out, Deadman Canyon is to the left (south), and the side canyon is to the right (north). This distinction is important for hiking farther up the canyon and finding your way back to the cabin. Wiregrass Spring is located in this side canyon, high above the streambed on the west side. If you stand on the porch of the cabin and look out, the spring is off to the right.

From the cabin, there are several routes up Hayford Peak. The route described here runs up to the spring, climbs the ridge above (west of) the spring, and follows ridges to the summit.

After resting at the cabin, wander up to Wiregrass Spring (Wpt. 6) and fill your water bottles. The start of the use-trail to the spring can be seen from the front porch of the cabin, and the spring is about 5-8 minutes up the hillside, northwest of the cabin.

From the spring, continue climbing to the top of the ridge (Wpt. 7). There are several possibilities for getting there, but hiking through the barren area just north of the spring is a reasonable route. The ridge is fairly open, and following it uphill and northward is fairly easy, at least in the less-steep parts. There are scattered cairns along the ridge, but not really enough to call it a marked route. Some parts have more cairns, suggesting people might have started marking the route, got tired, and quit setting up cairns.

Initially, the ridge is forested with ponderosa pine and a few white firs, but these give way to bristlecone pines higher up. Ponderosa pines generally grow straight and tall, they have long (5 inch) needles that grow in bundles of three, and cones that hang down from the branches. White fir also grow tall and straight, but they have short, flat, unbundled needles that tend to grow laterally from the sides of the twigs, giving the entire branch a flat appearance. Firs also have cones that grow up from the top of the branches. At about 8,700 feet, you encounter the first bristlecone pines, which have short, thick needles that grow in bundles of three, the needles tend to grow thickly on the ends of the branches, and they grow all the way around the branch, giving it a foxtail appearance. On high-elevation ridges and steep side slopes, these trees grow twisted and gnarled, and some live for 2-3 thousand years.

Before long, the peak and much of the remaining route comes into view. The route can be seen to stair-step up the ridge towards a high point southwest of the summit, then drops into a saddle, and finally climbs the steep southwest ridge to the summit. The stair steps are fairly steep, but the vegetation is space and the route is clear, and the flat areas provide nice places to rest in the shade.

As you are hiking up the ridge and approach the high point, you can see the peak and the saddle ahead and to the east, and you can pick a route across the slopes to avoid climbing onto the highest point. The high point is actually on a ridge that runs more to the west, and you can climb onto this ridge at a point lower than, and east of, the high point. If you plan to return by this route, remember this point because there are no obvious landmarks for where to turn down this side ridge.

After you gain the ridge, head east and drop into the saddle (Wpt. 8). This saddle marks the base of the steep southwest side of Hayford peak.

From the saddle, several possible routes run up the ridge, all of which are steep. I tried two routes (one going up and one going down), and from this experience, I would suggest staying on the north side of the ridge, as far from the rocky outcrops as is convenient (which is not where I went). I found no real use-trail or cairn routes. The south side of the ridge is covered with dense thickets of mountain mahogany, which can be worked through, but I would simply avoid that side. The ridge is blocked by two cliffy outcrops, and staying too close to the cliffs results in too much scrambling. From the saddle, I would angle up and northward across the slope to some convenient distance from the cliffs, and then cut straight up the steep hillside.

The summit (Wpt. 9) is bald on the south side and forested with bristlecone pines on the north side (probably the result of a centuries-old fire). On the bald, the vegetation is alpine, growing low and prostate to the ground. The plants are mostly sagebrush, with a few grasses and annual flowers. The wildlife refuge has a communications tower and support facilities on the summit, so it isn't exactly a wilderness, but you can sit on the south side, look south, and feel like you've gone to the end of the earth. Without trees, the southern views are spectacular. You can see west to Indian Springs and points farther west, south along the spine of the Sheep Range to Las Vegas and mountains in the distance, and east to the Arrow Range, Virgin Range, and points beyond. Looking through trees that block the view, hikers can get tantalizing glimpses of interesting peaks and mountain ranges to the north.

When you are ready to depart, follow your route back to the cabin or take one of several other routes back. Perhaps the simplest route back to the cabin is to hike back down to the saddle at the base of the steep west face, and then drop off the south side of the saddle into a canyon, and follow that canyon back to Deadman Canyon, which you hit a few minutes east (upstream) of the cabin.