Sandstone Valley - 1/29/25

Sandstone Valley

View from Domingo Trail of Blue Diamond Hill Escarpment

Domingo Trail

Twisted Metal Mine from Sandstone Valley Trail

Three of us went out to begin to develop a hike in the Twisted Metal Mine area on a beautiful day that began a little nippy. There was another sandstone area at the base of the Blue Diamond Hill escarpment further up to the north from the mine. Curious to see what that was like, we mapped out a route using the bike trails and old roads we saw online. Starting from the Twisted Metal Mine Trailhead located halfway between the junction of SR 159 & SR 160 on SR 159. We hiked straight out through the fence until we found a good place to cross the wash to our right. Joining the Domingo bike trail, we followed its fun windy route, took the left fork and crossed two main dirt roads (where sometimes the trail continued off the road a little further out), and at last, turned to the right and left to stay on a bike trail. We came to one more small dirt road where we turned left and found the continuation of the trail on the right about 1/10th of a mile to the west. This last bend to the right kept us on the trail that began climbing gently uphill. The trail wiggled left and right with six switchbacks.

Approach to Sandstone Valley

Sandstone Valley Trail

Approach to Edge

Off trail Cairn Overlook

We cut out the switchbacks by heading uphill on the easy slope. After the last cut up, we crossed a big wash to the other side and continued on the trail. This is where we were leaving the route to the Twisted Metal Mine and joining what we would call the Sandstone Valley Trail. We climbed across the alluvial fan and came to another huge area of sandstone outcrop. The trail came to an edge of the cliff over the wash below and turned right. We turned left to explore the terrain. Not finding an easy way to cross the sandstone to the other side of the big wash below, we climbed up to a large cairn that was built a little above. We noted that there was a land formation on the other side of the "valley" that reminded us of a very small Turtlehead Peak. A promise was made among us to go home, regroup, and figure out how to get to the top of the Baby Turtlehead without hiking a million miles! (I think I might have it. Stay tuned!) We returned to the trail and continued on our alternate plan following the trail as it wound its way down the ridge next to the alluvial fan cliff edge. We finally came to a junction on a small saddle. To the right, someone had accomplished his task and placed a marker on the trail to the right. The sign read, "The marker." Perfect!

Baby Turtlehead at Sandstone Valley

Sue at Sandstone Valley

Las Vegas from Sandstone Valley Trail on Descent

View back at Sandstone Valley

Also, here at the junction, we found two folding chairs. Hmmm. Susan decided to take a short break here on one of the chairs! We turned right toward The Marker and followed the trail to another old road. We took a peek to the left for a look-see then turned right to follow the road for a half mile. At that point, the road turned into a very vague two track road. Continuing straight, we went another 0.6 miles. Nearing a larger dirt road that appears to still be in use, we crossed the road and climbed up and over a small ridge hill. At the top of the hill, we could see the trailhead. Completing the short bushwhack, we dropped down into a wash, walked down for just a little and climbed out to the right. Here, we joined another old road still heading back to the cars.

City view from Descent

Susan takes a break at Two Chairs Junction

Interesting Stuff

A look down a shallow Wash

The road made a turn to the right and we turned to the left in the next wash. Again using the wash as a trail, we eventually had to climb out and bushwhack some more. All the while, we were more or less going straight back to the cars. As I said, there are a lot of trails, unused roads and, apparently, roads that are still in use. We had a beautiful and fun day of exploring.

Stats: 6 miles; 900' gain; 3.5 hours

Pile of debris next to the vague 2 track Road

Our cars (right of center in distance) from bushwhack over the Hill

Passing a load of old Bricks

Moenkopi Arch Loop - 1/25/25

Moenkopi Arch

Las Vegas Strip from lower end of arch Ridge

Small scramble Wash

Bike trail on approach to the arch Ridge

First view of Arch

There are several loop routes you can use to do a hike that includes views of the Moenkopi Arch. This is just one of them. Twelve hikers began at the Moenkopi Road Trailhead and crossed the road to start out a trail that basically paralleled SR 159 for about a mile on our left. Meeting a wash and the hill in front of us, we turned right and followed a trail that paralleled the escarpment hill on our left. Keeping the hill on our left, we made a couple of turns that brought us to an interesting winding bike path through a smaller wash. Soon, we had a view of the Moenkopi Arch ahead of us in the distance. The path brought us to the saddle between the arch ridge and the escarpment where we posed for a photo. We continued to follow the bike trail as it zigzagged down the next hill. It also began a balance on a small ridge. Right after zigzagging one more time, we stopped just before the trail started down another ridge balance. Here, we broke into two subgroups. A small posse of hikers decided to climb up to the top of the ridge and take photos inside the arch. This is no easy task. It is very steep as you get to the top of the ridge. But, they accomplished the task and produced the photo below. Their only remark was that the descent was a lot worse than the ascent!

Trail Approach

Saddle at top end of Ridge

Bike trail balances small Ridge

Close-up of Arch with small posse of Hikers

Climbing the small scramble Wash

Meanwhile, the remaining hikers bushwhacked down to the wash at the bottom of the arch ridge on a diagonal track through the waves of arroyos. We waited on the rocks at the bottom. When the posse of hikers joined us, we continued into the nearby wash and turned right. There is a nice little canyon wash here that is an easy but fun scramble. At the top of the scramble, we found the continuation of a trail turning to the left going up the hill to an arch overlook. A right turn paralleled the small wash below along a traverse of the hill. There were two dips before we veered to the right and passed a very large cairn before junctioning with the trail we had used to approach the arch. Turning left here, we took the second right turn and a following bend to the left. Here, it appears that you are hiking straight to the firehouse below but the trail takes another turn to the right and crosses the desert to meet the initial approach trail. I know this sounds like a lot of twisting and turning but that's the nature of bike trails with no signs. If you study the track maps below, you will understand the simplicity of the loop. It was a cold morning but a friendly and willing group of hikers.

Stats: 5.5 miles; 750' gain; 3 hours

Beautiful small Wash

View on Return

Passing large Cairn

Final leg of Return

Twisted Metal Mine - 1/24/25

David enters one of the Twisted Metal gypsum mine Adits

Wheelbarrow artifact at Twisted Metal Mine

View straight into an Adit

Our approach on a bike Trail

Another new hike for the club, the Twisted Metal Mine is located at the base of the North Blue Diamond Hill escarpment on the southeast side behind the gypsum board plant. There is a large gravel trailhead on SR 159 for this hike. It is 1.5 miles from the community of Blue Diamond, NV and 1.5 miles from the junction of SR 159 & SR 160 in the other direction on the northeast side of the road. There are a lot of bike trails in this area, too. We used one called Domingo for part of the loop. We set off through an opening in the fence on a road and veered to our right. Crossing the wash, we joined the Domingo bike trail to head toward the escarpment. After winding through some rock layers, we came to a fork.

Warming up on the Domingo bike Trail

View back toward Trailhead

Sign at fork - We went left.

Leaving trail to start hill Climb

We took the left fork and continued straight. The trail crossed an old road with another sign that indicated "Domingo." Eventually, the trail veered to the left without much fanfare and we continued straight again. But, soon after that, we turned left to cross a wash and start up a long hill. The yellow sandstone at the top of the hill was our target. We bushwhacked up until we were able to turn left onto the sandstone cliffs. There is a vague trail that led us on a traverse that has a bit of exposure. Be careful here. The small trail has a few hazardous small rocks. Part of the group of hikers chose to take the higher traverse but also ran into some difficult terrain. Nonetheless, we all reached the mine road on the other side.

Twisted Metal Mine Landscape

Group climbs to higher route Level

Lower route has vague exposed Trail

Higher route has difficult Terrain

The mine road was well-built as it was shored up with a beautiful rock wall. There was probably heavy equipment on that road during the mine's heyday. The first road fork to the right led up to two mine adits. We explored the entrances and reconnected with the road just below. Another fork to the right led to two more adits. All of the adits were the same size. Finally, back on the main lower road, another fork up to the right led to a fifth and final adit. This adit was deeper. David explore inside but the rest of the group chose to stay outside. There were mine artifacts all around. The remains of ore car tracks led off the cliff to the left. Next, we followed the road through hills where there was likely a small bridge at one time.

Starting down the mine road with built stone Wall

View back up the mine road with Las Vegas in Background

Blue Diamond Gypsum Plant from ore car Track

Hikers ponder the Adit

Passing a few more artifacts, we followed the main road all the way down the side of the escarpment to the wash below. While we waited for the rest of the group to arrive, we took our break. Going in and out of the last adit caused a little bit of a mixup above us. But, we did find everyone and gathered again at the wash. Starting out for the return, we headed down the rocky wash until it took a turn to the left. We turned to the right and started a bushwhack. We could see where we wanted to go (the trailhead area) in the distance. Crossing a couple of washes and roads, we bushwhacked happily straight back to the cars. As we hiked, we passed the Blue Diamond Gypsum Mine wallboard plant on our right.

Second adit of Five

Returning to lower mine road from Adits

Remains of an ore car track Bridge

Taking a break at the bottom of the mine Road

We were far enough away that we could not have worried anyone. This was a great new hike that we have now added to our repertoire. Many thanks to Susan and David for their previous research.

Stats: 5 miles; 800' gain; 3.25 hours

Some of many Artifacts

View of Twisted Metal Mine from wash Below

Wash descent on Return