Date: December 17, 2025 • Elevation: 5,249 feet ✳ • Prominence: 328 feet ✳ • Distance: 7.5 miles • Time: 3 hours, 10 minutes • Gain: 690 feet (gross) • Conditions: Sunny, high clouds, pleasant

Arizona • Main • PB • LoJ • Lidar

Peak 5249 is the southernmost peak in the Mustang Mountains. It has no official name. The map cites an elevation of 5,251 feet while Lidar says it's 5,249 feet. It rises about a mile south of the range highpoint.

The peak abuts the north boundary of the San Ignacio del Babacomari land grant, which dates from the Spanish colonial era. It was then a part of Mexico and then the United States. It has remained private and has never once been in the public domain. The current owners date from 1935, being passed down through the family. It is a working ranch that includes some tourist amenities.

I would approach the peak from the northwest, via the Las Cienegas National Conservation Area, administered by the BLM. The other half, including the mountain itself, is on State Trust land. It would be a longer hike but would be on publicly-accessible land, all fully legal as long as I had my State Lands permit (which I do).

I left Bisbee and drove about 50 miles to the Elgin cut-off road off of state route AZ-82, then south a couple miles to the access gate onto the Las Cienegas portion. I went east a mile on this road, which was decent but had a couple of rocky segments. This is where we started our Mustang Mountain hike back in 2017, and this was my first time back to this location. There were two other gates to pass through along the way.

The roads start to branch, so I followed the one going southeast, hoping to reduce the amount of hiking mileage. I got in maybe another quarter mile, the road being a little rougher. I descended into a draw and decided this would be a good place to park, my vehicle hidden from prying eyes.

The day was sunny and cool, but not cold, temperatures at the moment in the mid 50s. Highs were expected to be in the mid 70s. There were some high wispy clouds and there was no breeze. I got suited up and started walking at 8:10 a.m..

The maps do not show the many tracks that exist, but the satellite images do. I was able to sketch out the track(s) I needed to follow with some useful visual aids such as windmills and water tanks. I walked the road I was on and in another half mile or so, had come to its end at an earthen tank. The road to here was a little rough but possibly Subaru-able.

A meager fence blocks any further vehicle access. A rough track branches south, into an arroyo and up the other side, then bends more east toward a lone tree, by now the track almost imperceptible. To the south I could see a water tank I knew to aim for.

The next quarter mile has no roads or tracks. I walked through the grass into an arroyo, this one a substantial one with vertical walls about fifteen feet high. I found some cattle paths that led into and out of this arroyo, and aimed for the water tank. I came to a fence line and an ancient gate. I was back on track, literally.

I passed through this gate, then another one about two hundred feet later, then continued south along this track for about a half mile. The peak itself could first be seen along this track. This fed me onto a "major" ranch road, which I went left, going southeast.

Another half-mile, maybe more, and I came upon a windmill, which I was also expecting. The road then dips into and out of an arroyo, then when it bends north, a side track branches east toward the peak. I followed this until it ended, about a half-mile later. I was now below the north slope of the peak's lower western bump. I had covered about three miles to here in an hour. In fact, most of this was down hill; I had lost about a net-200 feet of elevation from where I parked to here.

Now I had to actually start the climb. The slopes were very grassy with some thorn brush, but nothing horrible. I was in shorts. The thorns were small and they tended to just lightly scratch my legs rather than draw blood. Frankly, it felt kind of good as long as I didn't over do it.

I gained about 250 feet to top out on this western bump. The highpoint of the peak rose close by to the east, about forty feet higher and less than a quarter mile distant. I had about a hundred-foot drop to the saddle below.

About this time I looked back at the windmill I had just passed about twenty minutes ago and see a truck, and could hear some voices. I stopped and watched. They got in and started driving my way on the road. They did not take the side branch I had followed. They were aiming for some tanks up on a hill to the north. They were likely doing their "check the tanks" rounds.

I descended to the saddle and started up the following slope, now a little brushier to where I needed to weave through it. Plants included ocotillo and prickly-pear. The truck was now heading my way down another track. Although I knew I was fully legal, I decided to stay slightly below the crest of the ridge and remain hidden until I topped out a few minutes later.

The top features a rock pile and a big prickly-pear growing right on it. A plastic jar may have held a register but it was busted open and completely rotted. Views were excellent. I could see big cottonwood trees lining the creeks down on the Babacomari Ranch. I had fine views of the rest of the Mustang Mountains, the Huachucas and the Santa Ritas. It was 9:30 a.m., a 1-hour, 20-minute one-way hike.

I stayed up top a little while. I wanted to watch the truck. It continued back up to the main track then proceeded east. They likely never saw me. This peak might get one visitor every three years, so they would not be expecting to see anyone. Nevertheless, I'd rather avoid them if possible. A ranch hand might not care about details of who owns what. Best not to be seen, in my opinion.

I descended back to the saddle, but instead of reclimbing the western bump, just aimed downward through the grass and thorns back to the track. I reversed my route, and made good time on the tracks, even if it was mostly a slight uphill gradient. I did not see those guys in the trusk nor anyone else.

The outbound hike took me about an hour and ten minutes, and the whole hike, including stops for various reasons, about three hours. It had warmed by now into the 60s, and it felt fantastic. Back at my car, I changed and started the drive out and on home to Bisbee. I ran a couple errands in Sierra Vista.

I enjoyed this hike. It was an easy walk along tracks for about 80% of the hike, which great views the whole way. The tracks tend to go up and down with the land so there is more rolling countryside as compared to a long flat desert trek. The grass can be thick and in warmer weather, would be ideal for hiding snakes.

I looked up "San Ignacio del Babacomari" but who this person was, there seems to be no reference to him. All links point to the ranch. The maps spells it "Babocomari". It was at one time one of the largest continuously-deeded land parcels in Arizona. Looking at maps from the 1800s and today, it appears to have shrunk a little in size, but is still a big swath of land. Funny enough, state route AZ-90, for about a two-mile stretch south of Whetstone and before Huachuca City, passes through the land grant.