McCannster - Nov 12, 2024 8:01 am Date Climbed: Nov 11, 2024
Ultra #32
With Julie and Zoe on a nice day. The road in definitely is the crux. Cool cabin and canyon. Would return to this area! 8 hours car to car.
LazyJSkwires - Nov 14, 2021 5:17 pm Date Climbed: Nov 13, 2021
Another fine day
I had done a day hike of Charleston Peak the day before, this one felt much easier but that drive in was awful, even with a truck.
The cabin looked cool and there's a few picnic benches available. The boy scouts also built an outhouse almost exactly a year ago according to the placard on it, but they didn't dig it very deep so who knows how long it'll be usable for.
On my way out I saw two guys heading in. They had gone maybe a mile and had one hour left of good sunlight. I told them I hoped they dressed warm cause it was freaking COLD in the morning walking up. Those canyons really trap the cold air and with the sun so low it stays shady for most of the day
technicolorNH - Oct 21, 2021 7:37 pm Date Climbed: Oct 20, 2021
the drive in is the crux
Four and a half hours to the summit from the parking area, although I did some unnecessary moves over the rock outcroppings on the ridge near the top. The cabin was cute and rustic, while the spring was flowing steadily at a mild pace. I used a club quite heavily on the way down, so the cairned use trail is even easier to follow now. Got out after full dark, but the trail is obvious in Deadman Canyon. The crump of bombs dropping off to the west was very apparent at the TH but drops off fast once you enter the canyon. Slightly weird area.
bdreese2 - Sep 21, 2020 6:30 pm Date Climbed: May 19, 2017
Charging to the trailhead
Made it to the trailhead in a rental Dodge Charger. I was uncomfortable on the Alamo Road in this vehicle, but made it. Nice hike through Deadman Canyon and wonderful views from the top.
mstender - Jun 2, 2020 9:50 am Date Climbed: May 31, 2020
Deadman Canyon
Camped at the trailhead and starting at sunrise the next morning. I enjoyed the hike up Deadman Canyon with its changing vegetation. From the cabin I actually took the drainage up to the saddle and then the well cairned use trail to the top. Very windy!
jdmorehouse - Apr 9, 2018 6:18 am Date Climbed: Apr 6, 2018
3rd Ascent
Cool, cloudy skies made for a pleasant day hike. The spring is flowing nicely at the cabin now.
Brian Kalet - Jan 15, 2018 4:58 pm Date Climbed: May 31, 2016
Hot
With Fred Genske.
utclimber - May 18, 2017 10:58 pm Date Climbed: May 12, 2017
Hayford Peak
Nice hike with lots of solitude. Ultra #34 for me.
xbaghat - Dec 30, 2016 1:03 pm Date Climbed: Jul 9, 2016
seventeen ultraprom
...
gimpilator - Dec 20, 2016 12:26 pm Date Climbed: Dec 4, 2016
28 Peaks in 15 Days
Nice cabin, but one of the more boring routes and summits of the overall trip.
Other peaks we did during this trip include; Potosi, Cheyenne, Muddy Mountain, Muddy Peak, Virgin, The Orphan, Silica Dome, Cairn, The Sentinel, East Redstone, Redstone, Mystery Cairn, Vista, Clark, McCullough, Spirit, Stepladder, Big Maria, False Maria, Black Butte, Chuckwalla, Pinto, Orocopia, Toro, Santa Rosa, and Thomas.
surgent - May 23, 2016 2:37 pm Date Climbed: May 22, 2016
Deadman Canyon Route
We car-camped at the TH and started hiking at 5:45 a.m.. Arrived at the cabin a little over two hours later where a scout group was packing up to leave. Followed north-trending ridges to the saddle west of the peak, then up to the peak itself. We had no route-finding troubles: there were cairns and occasional paths to follow. Hike out went well, including encountering a diamondback rattlesnake on the trail near where it opens to the desert. Clear and pleasant afternoon and a beautiful area!
jdmorehouse - May 13, 2016 11:38 pm Date Climbed: May 13, 2016
2nd Ascent
Up the DPS standard route, and down by the west ridge (much, much better). An unexpected bonus with the (still) cooler temperatures.
Standard route up Deadman to Hidden Forest Cabin, then semi-obvious use trail up ridge to peak. I had to work in Vegas in the AM, left late morning and was at TH by ~1PM. Packed up to cabin, stopped, checked out cabin, filtered water and stowed pack, then continued up to peak, returning to cabin ~15 min before dark. Camped by cabin and packed out in the AM, but could have hiked back down Deadman by headlamp without difficulty.
This is a beautiful hike. Deadman gets progressively prettier as you climb, and Hidden Forest is a really lovely place. (The cabin is in great shape, and would be a welcome shelter in inclement weather. The spring in front of the cab was flowing well in mid-September- about a gallon every 5 minutes.) Above the cabin the hike is open and airy, along easy ridgelines through open stands of bristlecones. The peak itself isn't spectacular, as views are partially obstructed to the North, but still good.
The drive is long and a bit tedious- took me 1 hr 10 min from visitor center, but only because the road is rocky and washboarded; neither clearance nor traction were issues. A patient driver in a passenger car with decent tires would make it to the TH just fine. (Keyword being "patient".)
melias - Apr 26, 2015 11:02 am Date Climbed: Apr 23, 2015
Hayford Peak
Went up via Deadman Canyon. No snow or ice along entire trail. 7:30 AM start and up in 3 hours 10 minutes and back to car in 6 hours 20 minutes after spending 30 minutes on summit. If not hiking solo, would count on at least 7 hours roundtrip. GPS reads 7.8 miles one way. It did start snowing while I was on the summit but no accumulation. Prior entries were from April 20th -- didn't even see other cars on the access roads heading in or out. Overall was a very enjoyable hike and the Hidden Forest is neat. No vertical exposure and plenty of cairns along the ridge. Only a short section of class 2 near the summit. Stay left of rock outcroppings on way up as others have noted. I did start down the wrong ridge on the way back down off the summit so be aware. Only a trickle of water coming out of the hose near the cabin. As for getting to the trailhead, I rented a Wrangler and it took about 45 minutes from the Corn Creek Station -- but I drove reasonably fast given large/thick tires. A passenger car could make it to the Hidden Forest Road turnoff and potentially up Hidden Forest Road but I wouldn't recommend it. I also probably wouldn't take a car I owned up Hidden Forest Road.
scgrant - Jan 25, 2015 9:36 pm Date Climbed: Jan 24, 2015
Hayford Peak
With my Dad up Deadman Canyon. It was a quick 5.5 miles up to the cabin with a fair amount of packed snow in the canyon. From the cabin on up to the top there was virtually no snow, which I imagine is an oddity for late January. Very easy going along the ridge with an easy to follow use trail and many cairns along the way. We made the top in less than 4 hours. The last entry in the summit register was over 5 weeks ago on 12/16/2014. Very, very windy and cold on top. Temperatures on the hike out, once off of the ridge had to be in the mid to upper 50's. Awesome day and awesome hike. Ultra #25 for me and the last one I needed in Nevada.
Fletch - Nov 9, 2014 11:26 pm Date Climbed: Nov 9, 2014
long day
Especially after Charleston the day before...
seano - May 29, 2014 3:22 pm Date Climbed: May 7, 2014
Standard route
The drive in is about one slow hour. The cabin is very nice. The view would have been nice, but it was snowing. Trip report.
RaymondShevsky - May 25, 2014 6:33 pm Date Climbed: May 24, 2014
Bonus peak
Tagged as part of an overnight backpack to the Hidden Forest cabin. Some uphill sloggage, but overall a very straightforward route.
Redwic - Jun 6, 2013 10:18 am Date Climbed: Jun 4, 2013
Simpler Than Anticipated
First thing is first. Despite notions by some people to the contrary, DO NOT attempt to take a regular passenger vehicle on either Alamo Road or Hidden Forest Road; both roads are in very poor condition. Follow Alamo Road for 14.8 miles and then Hidden Forest Road for 3.7 miles to its road-end/parking area. Despite only being 18.6 miles from Corn Creek Field Station, expect the drives along Alamo Road and Hidden Forest Road to take an hour.
Another thing worth noting: Hidden Forest Cabin is on the National Register of Historical Places. According to my contact person at DNWR, people are not encouraged to stay there (but they still do, anyway, and DNWR is not going to prevent access to anyone who wants to visit). One of my concerns is/was actually one of DNWR's concerns: that eventually somebody staying there might get Hantavirus because of the little mice running around the area. Rob told me it had never been reported at that elevation, but you never know if it will in the future.
As for the peak, itself, I had neglected to print-out the route instructions except for the route map and driving directions. I like exploring and the route map seemed easy enough to follow: Hike along a trail to Hidden Forest Cabin and then go up the WSW ridgelines of Hayford Peak. I was hoping my presumptions would be correct, especially considering I needed to get back to Las Vegas in the afternoon with enough time to catch my flight back to Seattle. I had spoken via telephone with one of the main people at DNWR (Rob), who had given me a brief description of the route and roads. With my GPS handy, I figured summit route would be straightforward... and fortunately it was.
Actually, the route is even more straightforward than people have implied. After I reached the cabin, an obvious path leads up the intended ridge to the leftside. The path basically peeters-out, but then it is just a matter of continually ascending the slope to the ridgeline above. Soon after reaching the ridge crest, I started seeing occasional small rock cairns as well as a defined dirt path of some sort. The path disappeared a few times, but more or less it followed the ridge lines and led to the summit. There was one brief section where I went up a narrow Class 2 scramble (no exposure) through a rocky pinnacle rather than dropping down and around its leftside, while there was another rocky pinnacle where I did just the opposite. The summit register is located right next to the USGS Benchmark. This was the fifth of five peaks (including four Ultras) I would summit in 3-1/2 days.
The highlight of the ascent, and the entire peakbagging trip, was seeing DOZENS of hummingbirds buzzing around the springwater coming out of the small pipe near the cabin at nearly 6:00 AM. I never expected to see hummingbirds on a desert peakbagging trip.
jdmorehouse - Mar 13, 2013 1:39 pm Date Climbed: Nov 3, 2012
A great over night
We hiked up the wash to the cabin and put down our packs and finished the climb. Afterwards, we found a nice place to camp and spent the night and hiked out the next morning. A nice weekend getaway.
McCannster - Nov 12, 2024 8:01 am Date Climbed: Nov 11, 2024
Ultra #32With Julie and Zoe on a nice day. The road in definitely is the crux. Cool cabin and canyon. Would return to this area! 8 hours car to car.
LazyJSkwires - Nov 14, 2021 5:17 pm Date Climbed: Nov 13, 2021
Another fine dayI had done a day hike of Charleston Peak the day before, this one felt much easier but that drive in was awful, even with a truck.
The cabin looked cool and there's a few picnic benches available. The boy scouts also built an outhouse almost exactly a year ago according to the placard on it, but they didn't dig it very deep so who knows how long it'll be usable for.
On my way out I saw two guys heading in. They had gone maybe a mile and had one hour left of good sunlight. I told them I hoped they dressed warm cause it was freaking COLD in the morning walking up. Those canyons really trap the cold air and with the sun so low it stays shady for most of the day
technicolorNH - Oct 21, 2021 7:37 pm Date Climbed: Oct 20, 2021
the drive in is the cruxFour and a half hours to the summit from the parking area, although I did some unnecessary moves over the rock outcroppings on the ridge near the top. The cabin was cute and rustic, while the spring was flowing steadily at a mild pace. I used a club quite heavily on the way down, so the cairned use trail is even easier to follow now. Got out after full dark, but the trail is obvious in Deadman Canyon. The crump of bombs dropping off to the west was very apparent at the TH but drops off fast once you enter the canyon. Slightly weird area.
bdreese2 - Sep 21, 2020 6:30 pm Date Climbed: May 19, 2017
Charging to the trailheadMade it to the trailhead in a rental Dodge Charger. I was uncomfortable on the Alamo Road in this vehicle, but made it. Nice hike through Deadman Canyon and wonderful views from the top.
mstender - Jun 2, 2020 9:50 am Date Climbed: May 31, 2020
Deadman CanyonCamped at the trailhead and starting at sunrise the next morning. I enjoyed the hike up Deadman Canyon with its changing vegetation. From the cabin I actually took the drainage up to the saddle and then the well cairned use trail to the top. Very windy!
jdmorehouse - Apr 9, 2018 6:18 am Date Climbed: Apr 6, 2018
3rd AscentCool, cloudy skies made for a pleasant day hike. The spring is flowing nicely at the cabin now.
Brian Kalet - Jan 15, 2018 4:58 pm Date Climbed: May 31, 2016
HotWith Fred Genske.
utclimber - May 18, 2017 10:58 pm Date Climbed: May 12, 2017
Hayford PeakNice hike with lots of solitude. Ultra #34 for me.
xbaghat - Dec 30, 2016 1:03 pm Date Climbed: Jul 9, 2016
seventeen ultraprom...
gimpilator - Dec 20, 2016 12:26 pm Date Climbed: Dec 4, 2016
28 Peaks in 15 DaysNice cabin, but one of the more boring routes and summits of the overall trip.
Other peaks we did during this trip include; Potosi, Cheyenne, Muddy Mountain, Muddy Peak, Virgin, The Orphan, Silica Dome, Cairn, The Sentinel, East Redstone, Redstone, Mystery Cairn, Vista, Clark, McCullough, Spirit, Stepladder, Big Maria, False Maria, Black Butte, Chuckwalla, Pinto, Orocopia, Toro, Santa Rosa, and Thomas.
Click here to see the trip report with photos.
surgent - May 23, 2016 2:37 pm Date Climbed: May 22, 2016
Deadman Canyon RouteWe car-camped at the TH and started hiking at 5:45 a.m.. Arrived at the cabin a little over two hours later where a scout group was packing up to leave. Followed north-trending ridges to the saddle west of the peak, then up to the peak itself. We had no route-finding troubles: there were cairns and occasional paths to follow. Hike out went well, including encountering a diamondback rattlesnake on the trail near where it opens to the desert. Clear and pleasant afternoon and a beautiful area!
jdmorehouse - May 13, 2016 11:38 pm Date Climbed: May 13, 2016
2nd AscentUp the DPS standard route, and down by the west ridge (much, much better). An unexpected bonus with the (still) cooler temperatures.
aobbard - Sep 23, 2015 12:28 pm Date Climbed: Sep 19, 2015
Beautiful climb, longish-but-easyStandard route up Deadman to Hidden Forest Cabin, then semi-obvious use trail up ridge to peak. I had to work in Vegas in the AM, left late morning and was at TH by ~1PM. Packed up to cabin, stopped, checked out cabin, filtered water and stowed pack, then continued up to peak, returning to cabin ~15 min before dark. Camped by cabin and packed out in the AM, but could have hiked back down Deadman by headlamp without difficulty.
This is a beautiful hike. Deadman gets progressively prettier as you climb, and Hidden Forest is a really lovely place. (The cabin is in great shape, and would be a welcome shelter in inclement weather. The spring in front of the cab was flowing well in mid-September- about a gallon every 5 minutes.) Above the cabin the hike is open and airy, along easy ridgelines through open stands of bristlecones. The peak itself isn't spectacular, as views are partially obstructed to the North, but still good.
The drive is long and a bit tedious- took me 1 hr 10 min from visitor center, but only because the road is rocky and washboarded; neither clearance nor traction were issues. A patient driver in a passenger car with decent tires would make it to the TH just fine. (Keyword being "patient".)
melias - Apr 26, 2015 11:02 am Date Climbed: Apr 23, 2015
Hayford PeakWent up via Deadman Canyon. No snow or ice along entire trail. 7:30 AM start and up in 3 hours 10 minutes and back to car in 6 hours 20 minutes after spending 30 minutes on summit. If not hiking solo, would count on at least 7 hours roundtrip. GPS reads 7.8 miles one way. It did start snowing while I was on the summit but no accumulation. Prior entries were from April 20th -- didn't even see other cars on the access roads heading in or out. Overall was a very enjoyable hike and the Hidden Forest is neat. No vertical exposure and plenty of cairns along the ridge. Only a short section of class 2 near the summit. Stay left of rock outcroppings on way up as others have noted. I did start down the wrong ridge on the way back down off the summit so be aware. Only a trickle of water coming out of the hose near the cabin. As for getting to the trailhead, I rented a Wrangler and it took about 45 minutes from the Corn Creek Station -- but I drove reasonably fast given large/thick tires. A passenger car could make it to the Hidden Forest Road turnoff and potentially up Hidden Forest Road but I wouldn't recommend it. I also probably wouldn't take a car I owned up Hidden Forest Road.
scgrant - Jan 25, 2015 9:36 pm Date Climbed: Jan 24, 2015
Hayford PeakWith my Dad up Deadman Canyon. It was a quick 5.5 miles up to the cabin with a fair amount of packed snow in the canyon. From the cabin on up to the top there was virtually no snow, which I imagine is an oddity for late January. Very easy going along the ridge with an easy to follow use trail and many cairns along the way. We made the top in less than 4 hours. The last entry in the summit register was over 5 weeks ago on 12/16/2014. Very, very windy and cold on top. Temperatures on the hike out, once off of the ridge had to be in the mid to upper 50's. Awesome day and awesome hike. Ultra #25 for me and the last one I needed in Nevada.
Fletch - Nov 9, 2014 11:26 pm Date Climbed: Nov 9, 2014
long dayEspecially after Charleston the day before...
seano - May 29, 2014 3:22 pm Date Climbed: May 7, 2014
Standard routeThe drive in is about one slow hour. The cabin is very nice. The view would have been nice, but it was snowing. Trip report.
RaymondShevsky - May 25, 2014 6:33 pm Date Climbed: May 24, 2014
Bonus peakTagged as part of an overnight backpack to the Hidden Forest cabin. Some uphill sloggage, but overall a very straightforward route.
Redwic - Jun 6, 2013 10:18 am Date Climbed: Jun 4, 2013
Simpler Than AnticipatedFirst thing is first. Despite notions by some people to the contrary, DO NOT attempt to take a regular passenger vehicle on either Alamo Road or Hidden Forest Road; both roads are in very poor condition. Follow Alamo Road for 14.8 miles and then Hidden Forest Road for 3.7 miles to its road-end/parking area. Despite only being 18.6 miles from Corn Creek Field Station, expect the drives along Alamo Road and Hidden Forest Road to take an hour.
Another thing worth noting: Hidden Forest Cabin is on the National Register of Historical Places. According to my contact person at DNWR, people are not encouraged to stay there (but they still do, anyway, and DNWR is not going to prevent access to anyone who wants to visit). One of my concerns is/was actually one of DNWR's concerns: that eventually somebody staying there might get Hantavirus because of the little mice running around the area. Rob told me it had never been reported at that elevation, but you never know if it will in the future.
As for the peak, itself, I had neglected to print-out the route instructions except for the route map and driving directions. I like exploring and the route map seemed easy enough to follow: Hike along a trail to Hidden Forest Cabin and then go up the WSW ridgelines of Hayford Peak. I was hoping my presumptions would be correct, especially considering I needed to get back to Las Vegas in the afternoon with enough time to catch my flight back to Seattle. I had spoken via telephone with one of the main people at DNWR (Rob), who had given me a brief description of the route and roads. With my GPS handy, I figured summit route would be straightforward... and fortunately it was.
Actually, the route is even more straightforward than people have implied. After I reached the cabin, an obvious path leads up the intended ridge to the leftside. The path basically peeters-out, but then it is just a matter of continually ascending the slope to the ridgeline above. Soon after reaching the ridge crest, I started seeing occasional small rock cairns as well as a defined dirt path of some sort. The path disappeared a few times, but more or less it followed the ridge lines and led to the summit. There was one brief section where I went up a narrow Class 2 scramble (no exposure) through a rocky pinnacle rather than dropping down and around its leftside, while there was another rocky pinnacle where I did just the opposite. The summit register is located right next to the USGS Benchmark. This was the fifth of five peaks (including four Ultras) I would summit in 3-1/2 days.
The highlight of the ascent, and the entire peakbagging trip, was seeing DOZENS of hummingbirds buzzing around the springwater coming out of the small pipe near the cabin at nearly 6:00 AM. I never expected to see hummingbirds on a desert peakbagging trip.
jdmorehouse - Mar 13, 2013 1:39 pm Date Climbed: Nov 3, 2012
A great over nightWe hiked up the wash to the cabin and put down our packs and finished the climb. Afterwards, we found a nice place to camp and spent the night and hiked out the next morning. A nice weekend getaway.