Date: October 17, 2025 • Elevation: 2,691 feet • Prominence: 621 feet • Distance: 2 miles • Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes • Gain: 660 feet (1 furlong) • Conditions: Sunny, clear and pleasant

Arizona • Main • PB • LoJ

This peak rises northwest of Silver Bell Peak, about 40 miles northwest of Tucson, on the Ironwood Forest National Monument. It is a big ridge of volcanic rock, its slopes uniformly steep on all sides, covered in black volcanic boulders.

I was driving back to Bisbee from Tempe. I left Tempe at 12:30 p.m., and wanted a hike to break up the drive. The high temperature today in Tucson was about 82°, cool enough for a hike like this. I also wanted to explore the roads back here, as I have never driven this far back. There are many other peaks back here that interest me.

I exited the interstate at Marana Road a little after 2:15 p.m., and made note of my odometer's mileage. I followed Marana Road west, to the Trico cut-off onto Silver Bell Road, then followed that west until it lost its pavement. The dirt continuation is wide and well maintained. I've been this far in, but only about three miles in.

The rains from last weekend had affected the road. There were ruts and rocks, and some of the arroyo crossings were haggard, but I was able to drive in without any problems. I drove until I came to a T-junction with Sasco Road. A sign said this was 17 miles from Marana.

I went left (southwestish) and followed the road (still called Silver Bell Road) toward the peak, which was visible in the near distance as it rises by itself, set apart from the main band of peaks and hills. The road was a notch worse in quality, and I had to take it slower, but it was still a decent road.

About five miles later, past a single residence, I came to a cattle grate and a side track going due west toward the peak's southern tip. I passed a wire-stick gate and drove in about a quarter mile, parking in a clearing before a bad arroyo crossing that looked too rough for my car.

I had driven 23 miles in about an hour. It was a shade past 3 p.m., and I was on schedule insofar as I had planned it. It was warm, about 78°, but very pleasant, the humidity almost non-existant. I suited up and started walking almost immediately.

I took off on a direct line toward the peak, weaving through the mesquite, palo verde and saguaro, and occasionally crossing an arroyo. I made good time, covering a little under a mile to get to the base of the mountain.

My plan was to aim for a lowpoint in the ridge and take that up, but as I closed in on the mountain, the slope right in front of me looked tolerable. I decided to follow it and hope for the best.

There is one last arroyo crossing, and after that, the mountain begins in earnest. The demarcation between the mountain's rocks and the desert scrub was about ten feet wide. The transition was instantaneous.

I just started upward, following any lane or slope that looked safe. I often angled one way then the other. The slopes were steep and the rock varied. Sometimes it was the big beefy boulders set solidly in place. Other times it was smaller cobbles about the size of a baseball, all ready to roll with the slightest touch. Cholla cactus was everywhere, as were its bulbs on the ground.

This slope involved about 500 feet of elevation gain. It was tedious and steep and often frustrating, but it went. After about twenty minutes of this, I was on top the ridge. I hung a left and started south toward the highpoint, about 500 feet away.

The ridge walk was easy but very rocky. I came to the highpoint ridge and to what I felt was the highest point. Some rock knobs a little to the south looked lower. I tagged the top rocks and looked for a register, but found nothing. It had taken me about an hour to get here.

The views were magnificent, with the sun lowering in the west enhancing the shadow effects on the surrounding ridges and countryside. There were a few clouds also dropping shadows. Ragged Top looked especially raggedy. I stayed up top for about five minutes.

Going down, I dropped down pretty much from where I was, figuring all slopes were pretty much the same. I got down about a hundred feet and hit some very steep scree slopes and a couple of heaped rock cliffs. The footing was loose and despite being careful, I still slid a few times.

The cliff heaps were messy. I was able to downscoot a chute, about a twenty-foot drop using my hands, butt and legs to ease down. Going up, it could be rated class 2+ or 3-. After a few more loose slopes and some minor (5-foot) drops, I was on less-steep slopes, which I followed down to the desert flats.

I couldn't see my car but I used the mine in the distance as an azimuth, and walked toward it. In doing so, I came out to the road first, about a hundred yards west of my car. Moments later, I was back to my car, a 45-minute descent. It was now about 4:45 p.m.. I heard a boom from an explosion over at the mine.

I changed into shorts and a t-shirt and started the drive out, taking a little under an hour to get back to the interstate at Marana. Once on the highway, I just got busy driving. The sun was low by now, and by the time I was passing the Interstate-19 interchange, it was well into dusk. I was home by 7 p.m., just in time to catch Shohei Ohtani's third home run of the NLCS clinching game against the Brewers.

Malpais Hill is appropriately named, Malpais meaning roughly "bad country". It's a typical volcanic loaf-shaped mound, common in these parts. This one is a little more pronounced than the others, and I suspect any approach slope will be a mix of steep slopes, some cliffs and scree, but not impossible if one is careful. I'll be back because there are more peaks out this way, and knowing the road is good will motivate me.