The Mountains of Arizona
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Red Bird Hills • Blacktail Hill My primary interest today was the highpoint of the Red Bird Hills, located in northern Cochise County near where highway US-191 meets Interstate-10 west of Willcox. These hills rise south of the interstate and surely get viewed by thousands of people daily, yet probably no one knows them by name. The hills are named for the Red Bird Mine, which was a gold and silver mine high up on the range crest of the hills, but it was not a big producer, functioning for just a few years in the 1930s. These days, the bulk of the hills lie on public (BLM) land, but surrounded by State Trust land on its east, north and west, and private land to the south. Access is not forbidden, but there is no easy way in. Very few people come here to hike within these hills. If I was finished while still early and still feeling energetic, I had a couple bonus peaks planned. One was a rocky hill astride the interstate near the Texas Canyon rest area, and another down in the Dragoon Mountains near Mount Glenn. I left Bisbee at 5:30 a.m., cool but not cold, surprising given it's mid-December. It was in the mid 40s at my home. But as I descended into the Sulphur Springs Valley (Elfrida, US-191, etc), the car's outside thermometer dropped into the mid 20s. I followed the usual route: AZ-80 to the Double Adobe Road, then north to Elfrida onto US-191 with a stop in Elfrida for snacks. I followed US-191 north and west toward Sunsites.
Date: December 17, 2024
• Elevation: 5,098 feet (HP), 5,056 feet (North Peak) ✳
• Prominence: 556 feet & 139 feet ✳
• Distance: 6.6 miles
• Time: 3 hours, 30 minutes
• Gain: 1,045 feet (gross)
• Conditions: Sunny, some high clouds, cold at first but warming
Arizona
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LoJ
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Mine information
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Lidar
The only feasible and legal access route to the Red Bird Hills is a large pullout on the west side of US-191, immediately south of the exit from the interstate. This spot is over two miles from the hills, so I wanted to try another approach that might cut off some walking distance.
I left US-191 onto Dragoon Road amd followed that west through Dragoon and onto Interstate-10, then doubled back east. I wanted a faint road that branches directly off the interstate. This road appeared clearly on the satellite images and also on the topographic maps.
I was going by visual reckoning. I slowed as I neared where it should be but I saw nothing, not a thing. No clearing where a road would be, nothing to suggest a road. Traffic was light so I did not have anyone on my bumper. Nevertheless, I gave up this approach immediately and drove the extra couple miles to the exit, back on southbound US-191.
I pulled into the big pullout and parked. I got dressed properly and my things in order. I wasn't enthusiastic about leaving my car here alongside a major highway but I had no choice. I was on State Trust land and put my placard in the window.
The hills rose to the southwest. It was close to 8 a.m. now, and the day was looking to be clear and pleasant. It was cold still, but into the 40s, so not uncomfortable. The sky was clear and the sun angled to provide good lighting for images.
The fence here was very sturdy, five strands of barbed wire where four is the norm, including one about 6 inches off the ground. I would not be able to shimmy underneath the fence. I walked a little along the road and came to a culvert where the fence stops briefly. I was able to sidle down one of the concrete bulwarks into the arroyo, then up and out, now amid heavy brush fronting this arroyo.
I started walking on a bearing toward the hills, but also followed any lanes as I found them. The first fifteen minutes was through this heavy brush, a lot of it thorny. I followed the arroyo itself for a ways. Finally, as I angled away from it, the brush lightened, now more spread out and less pointy.
I came upon another fence, this one much easier to breach. Then I just walked and walked toward the northern summit, which is 40 feet lower than the highpoint, but closer to me for the time being. Slowly, I gained on the hills and I could sense the land rising ever so gently. I had to cross yet another fence along the way. This desert trek covered 2.5 miles and took about an hour.
An obvious ridge comes off the north peak, so I got onto it and followed it up. The terrain was rocky, a mix of limestone and conglomerates, and low brush. Slightly higher now, there was more creosote, along with the usual grasses and low cactus. The slopes steepened but were always gentle, and I made good time. Higher up, there was more ocotillo.
I did not intend to climb all the way to the north peak at first. I got as high as I felt was wise before I started sidehilling around it, intending to get to the saddle separating this north peak from the highpoint peak. This did not work so well as the slopes were loose and quite steep. I moved carefully and got myself onto the saddle.
After a few easy intervening hills, I started up the slopes toward the highest point. The rocks form cliffs facing west and steep slopes facing east, but I found a path that led almost the whole way up. This was welcome, and it made this final climb go by fast.
I was on top of the peak at 9:50 a.m., a one-way hike of about an hour and 45 minutes. The top was narrow and grassy with a few low rocks. I found the cairn and a register, signing myself in. There were a number of signatures going back many years. Most were the usual peakbagger addicts, a few hunters, and other names I did not recognize. It came out to about two people or teams a year.
The views were excellent. I spent about ten minutes looking around and snapping images. Unfortunately, the sun was perfectly positioned to the south to glare out everything that direction. It was warmer now, in the 50s-low 60s, with a slight breeze.
On the descent, I did not want to deal with the sidehilling, so I climbed the north peak, then followed its nice long slope down, following the ridge all the way down to the desert floor. The mines are north of this north peak and I never actualy got near them.
While up high I could see some tracks that appeared to connect some water tanks set up for the cattle, and intended to walk those most of the way back to my car to avoid the brush, but once down low, a band of cattle appeared out of nowhere and stood in the road. I nixed that plan and just followed a general bearing back to my car, essentially repeating my ingress track.
I was too far away to see my car, but I could see trucks on the interstate, and also, there was a tall antenna structure north of where US-191 and Interstate-10 meet, so I just aimed for that. I had to recross those fences, and then do battle with the heavy arroyo brush.
I knew I was close but even as I was within a hundred or so feet, I still couldn't see my car! I was starting to get worried. Fortunately, it was there. I had unintentionally parked it near a thick batch of vegetation that blocked it entirely until I was about a stone's throw from it. I exited via that same culvert, and was back to the car at a shade after 11 a.m..
I was happy to be out and happy to be successful. The hike had gone very well with no unnecessary issues or delays. I was still feeling up for more adventures, so I set my sights on Peak 5560, the one near the Texas Canyon Rest Area.
Elevation: 5,496 feet
• Prominence: 356 feet
• Distance: 1.2 mile
• Time: 1 hour
• Gain: 540 feet
• Conditions: Warmer
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LoJ
I parked at the Rest Area and started walking, looking for a way to breach the fencing. The only option was a trash-strewn gully with bad brush, which turned me off immediately. I had not done much homework on this peak and gave up this attempt. I may look at it again for the future.
Back at the car, I got on my device and looked for other options. One jumped at me: Blacktail Hill. It would be on my way home, not too far of a detour, and likely not a peak I would come all this way for on its own.
On southbound US-191, I drove into Sunsites and then followed Ironwood Road westbound through the scattered homesteads. It is paved, then wide graded dirt, as it heads toward the eastern half of the Cochise Stronghold.
I left the road and turned north onto Forest Road 795. It crosses private property briefly, then enters onto the Coronado Forest lands. The road's condition was pretty good, mostly smooth and not too many ruts or rocks.
It comes to a junction, a left going toward the usual starting point for a hike up Mount Glenn, which is where we started when me and my partner climbed it back in 2009. I went straight. Blacktail Hill rises ahead, set apart from the main mass of the range.
The road meandered, going north again before trending west. It got a little rougher too, more rocks and ruts, but as long as I went slow, my Subaru handled it well. I got in about another mile, parking at a plastic water tank with a solar panel, northwest of the peak.
I was very close, less than a mile from its top. It had an obvious northwest ridge that looked steep but open, with no cliffs or other distractions. I walked a few meager paths and a little bit within an arroyo before starting up the grassy slopes to place myself on this ridge.
Once on the ridge, I just marched uphill. Quickly, I was at the top of the grade. The summit was up ahead. I dropped about twenty feet, then up to the top, which was grassy with a couple rock cairns and a fenceline. The one-way hike took about thirty minutes.
Views were good so I snapped a few images, plus signing myself into the register. Mount Glenn itself is the most dominant feature, rising over 2,000 feet higher immediately to the south. I could even see the Red Bird Hills looking north, but they blecnded in with the surrounding terrain.
Going down, I followed the same route, and was back to my car about an hour after starting. This was a fun peak and a perfect second peak for the day. It was uncomplicated, and it had an attractive appearance. It would be a natural bonus peak for those coming down from Mount Glenn.
I exited the same way back to US-191 then just followed that into Elfrida, where I stopped again for gas and snacks, before heading home.
The day's hikes had gone well and I was very pleased. Red Bird Hills was a nice prize, and Blacktail Hill was an excellent bonus.
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