Pump House Loop - 8/9/25

Old Mill Pump House

Pump house ridge corner with view of South Sister

Old house foundation with rebar in the Cement

Meadow area on Pump House Ridge

Starting up Old Mill Trail

So, of course, the Old Mill located up the hill from the Old Mill Picnic Area on Lee Canyon Road needed a pump house! We received word that we have missed this pump house on any of our hikes. This hike went looking for it! A "pump house" is a structure that typically houses water pumps and related equipment, often in the context of water management systems. It can also refer to a building that contains the pumping equipment for irrigation or other industrial applications. Well pump houses are common on properties with wells, protecting the well pump and related equipment like pressure tanks and control switches from the elements, especially freezing. 

~ AI Overview 

Fork (Old Mill to left & South Sister to right)

Climbing gentle ridge to pump House

Three Lady Hikers parked at the Pay Phone Trailhead on Lee Canyon Road at the traffic circle and started walking up past the Old Mill Picnic Area on its asphalt road. We took the fork to the right up onto the Old Mill Trail, a gravelly trail that is bordered by lines of rocks.

Old road to pump House

The Old Mill pump House

Three Lady Hikers at pump House

We soon came to another fork. The Old Mill Trail continues up to the left and the South Sister Trail veers to the right. In the middle of the two trails at the fork, there is a gentle ridge rising in a short distance. This is the beginning of Pump House Ridge. We crossed the washed out gulley and started up the ridge. We found that we were climbing on an old old road that was barely there anymore. The short road led up to a flattish place on the ridge and, lo and behold, there it was; a structure that we never knew was there! Looking inside kind of gave me the creeps. Its hole was dug below ground. The size of the square hole was about 8'x8'. And, there was a pipe coming through the foundation about 3'. Immediately, we all thought ... pump house! I guess we're showing our age or origins (one of the two!). We walked around the small structure built into the side of the hill and took photos. We also noticed a trail leading down the side of the hill toward the South Sister Trail that ended in the old spring cistern area.

Scenes of pump house from all Sides

Climbing Pump House Ridge with use of lateral horse Trails

Leaving these old trails to explore on the return trip, we started up the steep, newly named, Pump House Ridge. Hoping the old road continued, we climbed it for about 100' until it disappeared. Oh, well.

So, where exactly are we?

Mummy Mountain from Pump House Ridge

Lee Peak in Distance

The gentle part of the ridge quickly relinquished into very steep terrain. At this point, a horse trail took over the road moving laterally across the scree. (It was barely a trail! But, you could make it out.) When the horse trail disappeared, we switchbacked up to the left. A couple more switchbacks using other horse trails and we were seeing beautiful views of Charleston's north loop ridge. On the ridge above us, we saw a rock outcrop rising about 10' in our path. We chose to go around this obstacle on its right side. This ended up being a "corner" of the ridge. We continued, in a lateral way, to climb up the ridge that was now curving to the left. When we started out, we didn't know where our day would take us!

Some steep Stuff

Working our way to the right of an Outcrop

There was a lot of steepness between us and the South Sister Trail at this point so we decided to continue the curve up to the main Bonanza Trail Ridge. The Spring Mountain Divide rose very high up the ridge on which we balanced ... the Pump House Ridge.

Mummy Mountain and Lower Bristlecone Trail from Pump House Ridge

Water break on the steep Ridge

More Climbing

When we ended up on a horse trail running laterally along near the top of the ridge, we tried to use this for most of the climb. This kept us off the messy ridge line and provided a good trail to follow. Animals always know the best ways! The ridge, itself, undulated a bit. At one point, we found a meadow filled with yellow flowers, we travelled through a small gentle dip and there was a lot of deadfall along the way. When we couldn't use the horse trails any longer, we moved up to the ridge spine. The climb became steeper as we neared the Bonanza Trail. We ended up stopping for our break just below the the ridge summit. Veering to the right after the break, we waltzed onto the Bonanza Trail near the campsite that is just below the high point of the South Sister Saddle Loop hike. Yes, I waltz, too.

Meadow area on Pump House Ridge  -  I'm looking, Susan!

Lateral horse trail nearing main ridge Above

Turning right on the Bonanza Trail, we hiked through one of the most beautiful parts of this 15 mile trail. Soon after, we came to the South Sister Saddle Ridge junction and turned right. A trail took us down the initial steep hill in several small switchbacks.

A break with Charleston Peak in View

Finally connecting with the Bonanza Trail 

The Bonanza Trail

This trail began many years ago as a suggestion! Soon after, one of our club members made the South Sister Saddle Loop v Pine Cone Canyon famous, the trail became better and better. Now, the trail is good and easy to follow. No longer do we need to follow cairns that kept getting knocked down. The three of us hiked down the hill, past the usual break spot, through the flower-filled meadow and over the small hill at the end of the ridge. The final drop put us right on the South Sister Saddle. We didn't stop on the saddle for long ... just long enough to share a few jokes about the pile of horse apples that is always there! Next, we started down the South Sister Trail. We had done this steep hill a few weeks ago and the recently maintained trail was too slippery. On this hike, the rocks have returned to their appropriate place and the descent was much easier. No falls. Down we went on the very familiar trail until we reached the spring cistern area. There were just a couple more trails we needed to check out.

Descending on the familiar South Sister Saddle Ridge

Nice trail on South Sister Saddle Ridge

On the other side of the gulley, another trail led diagonally up the hill toward the pump house area. Almost immediately, we face a very large deadfall tree. It isn't fun, but you can circumvent this tree on the left end. We deftly performed this maneuver and followed the remaining part of the trail up to the pump house area. We came down the ridge toward it after reaching the meadow above it.

Climbing the last little hill of the Hike

Diving down the South Sister Trail

Taking the old spring trail up past the spring Cistern

Now, we wanted to check out the other trail right next to the cabin that headed down to the South Sister Trail and spring cistern area. Another large tree blocked the way but it was much easier to climb over. All that was left was to pay a visit to the house foundation. Supposedly, this was the mill boss's house where he and his family lived. Finished with the exploring, we returned down to the "fork" and down to the Old Mill Picnic Area. The place was hopping! What another great day of exploring in the Spring Mountains NRA! 

Stats: 5 miles; 1600' gain; 5 hours

Arriving again at the pump House

Taking a different trail down to the spring Area

Susan crosses the gulley at the buried trash Can

A visit to the house Foundation