Kingman Wash South Mine Loop - 3/1/25

Fortification Hill from Kingman Wash South Mine Road

Old South Mine near Kingman Wash

2.75 Mile slot canyon Approach

Entering the slot Wash

Every time you think you've seen all the best hikes in the Las Vegas area, along comes another. This new hike for the Around the Bend Friends hiking club goes to an old silver / gold / manganese mine located in the hills and washes near Fortification Hill and Kingman Wash Road, Arizona. Kingman Wash Road is found at Arizona's Highway 93 Exit #2. Taking this exit from Boulder City, we turned right and turned right again. There is a nice large trailhead parking area on the left that also serves the Lone Palm hike. Fifteen hikers gathered here and started the mine hike by going under the highway bridge and up the dirt road. About 1/3 mile from the trailhead, we turned right into a wash next to another optional parking area.

The slot Narrows

Slot Canyon

A step up in the Slot

Slot Canyon

This wash began as a wide rocky wash but soon gave way to a narrow-ish slot canyon that varied between 5 feet and 30 feet wide for almost 3 miles. There was only one scramble in the whole canyon as seen in the photo above. The canyon allowed several "escape hatches" as we hiked on either side. I guess you never know if a thunder storm might roll up in the mountains miles away and cause a flash flood! Our long line of hikers winded through the fantasy canyon dodging only a few catclaw acacias. The wash seemed to be used regularly so the thorny acacias were either cut back or pushed away. When the canyon became very narrow, we oohed and awed. There wasn't much else to see for the remaining three miles! Finally, the canyon began to open out and some red coloring indicated a change in terrain. A large wash emerged from the left side and we started up even though there seemed to be a dead end wall at the end. We turned around and went to the next wash on the left to see if the dead end wall appeared any more navigable. Nope. So, we started up to the top of the ridge that rises between the two tributary washes. Peaking out on the ridge, we saw that a trail had been forged from there to the saddle above.

An open area in the slot Canyon

Pow Wow in the Slot

Nearing the top of the slot Canyon

Nearing the exit to Left

Chuck H. said it wasn't the traditional route up to the saddle but he was very pleased with the outcome. On the saddle we were all struck by the gorgeous view of Lake Mead, Fortification Hill and the O'Callaghan Tillman Bridge area to our left. We could also see the old mine road running below us. Also on the saddle, the trail that we had used to gain the high point continued along the ridge and down to the road below. Well, that was fun! It took a while for the whole group to reach the road from the ridge on the somewhat precarious trail to the saddle. Once the group was on the old mine road, we turned to the right and began the final climb to an area to the left of a large black rock butte. On the way up, we began noticing old rusted mining equipment lying about.

Ridge to saddle Trail

View back at the ridge to trail Route (Hikers on the Ridge - L)

View from Saddle (Lake Mead, Mine Road and Fortification Hill)

View of O'Callaghan-Tillman Bridge from Saddle

We stopped at the old mine adits, one of which was blocked by one of those metal grates. Within another adit, we saw that the "roof" was held up by wooden studs. (Advice: don't go in there!) Mining equipment was scattered here and there but none of it appeared to be useful anymore. We took our break here and walked down to the mine adits below and to the left. Soon enough, we were ready for our return leg. The road from the mine offered a steep downhill, we passed the trail junction and circled around to see a nice wash on our right. Fortification Hill came into full view along with the lake. The road reached the top of a long slender ridge and began its journey down.

Taking trail down to Mine Road

Following mine road to Old South Mine

Mine area and Relics

Break at the Mine

For approximately 2.5 miles, the road balanced the ridge on a continuous descent to the main Kingman Wash Road. We turned left on the main road to hike down a little over 1/3 mile. Several cars passed us with their heads hanging out the window giving either words of encouragement or telling a joke to make things seem like a Saturday! Oh, it was Saturday! Anyway, we reached an entrance to the wash on the right side of the road and scrambled down. There were several really nice scrambles.

Starting down the Kingman Wash South Mine Road

Neighboring wash with old mine Barrel

Kingman Wash South Mine Road balances a Ridge

Nearing Kingman Wash Road Junction

The wash was a shortcut back to the trailhead and we named it the Art Gallery because of the culvert under the highway at the end. Some very talented graffiti artists have painted murals within the culvert. After the long walk through the tunnel, we turned right and climbed the hill up to the trailhead. Everyone seemed to have enjoyed the new hike very much. Hopefully, we will do it again every year!

Stats: 7.2 miles; 1400' gain; 4.5 hours

Sign at Junction (Wilson Peak, AZ in Distance)

Shortcut through Art Gallery Wash & Culvert

The culvert art Gallery