Mount Bangs is a seemingly, unassuming peak located in the Virgin Mountains of Arizona. It is, however, the highest peak in Mojave County, AZ and also the highpoint for the Paiute Wilderness Area. To us it is the “pointy” peak, hovering over the Virgin River Gorge, that we see each time we drive south on I-15 to St. George. We have wanted to hike it, but know how hard (43 miles of dirt roads) it is to get to this corner of Arizona.
So, when Tom called saying he needed some exercise and wanted to help Kent cross off a “to-do” peak on his list, we didn’t hesitate. What made this even more special was that Tom had already hiked Mount Bangs last year and was willing to give us a "lift" in his side by side – what a friend! The peak provided us with a fun boulder scramble towards the top and unobstructed 360° views on a perfect day!
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| Out in the middle of nowhere we spotted this funny road sign . . . Sad, but true . . . tourists from all over the world get lost by following their GPS! |
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| We began our hike at the Cougar Spring Trailhead . . . We then followed an old mining road for a 1½ miles to the saddle |
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| At the top of the saddle lies Littlefield Reservoir . . . We had hoped to find water, but due to the drought it was dry (Looking northeast towards the Pine Valley Mountains above St. George) |
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| After a break at the reservoir, we turned north and began our final push for Mount Bangs There is very little shade along the trail . . . we would recommend this hike for the cooler months! |
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| The entire valley was covered with thick Manzanita bushes . . . many were taller than us! Thankfully, we had a trail to follow and didn't have to bushwhack through this stuff |
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| We stopped to give the dogs a drink . . . silly Ezy lost his dog-pack in the thick brush, so we made due with a Ziploc bag water bowl . . . we're just glad he wasn't carrying the keys! |
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| Once we reached the ridgeline we had nice views of the Virgin River Valley . . . In this picture, we are looking down on Beaver Dam, AZ |
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| That's not the top . . . it's still a 15 minute scramble up those boulders in front of us |
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| Kent & Allison work their way to the summit, while Tom waited with the dogs . . . Once we returned, Tom summitted, while we watched "The Crew" |
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| We found the benchmark (8012') right away . . . we're not sure why it denotes Hancock Peak Possibly a mix up by the surveyors?? The next canyon over is called Hancock and has a spring by the same name |
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| Kent is standing near Reference Marker #1 |
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| We had nice views all the way around . . . this is looking southwest toward Virgin Peak Virgin Peak (in the distance) is the highest peak in the Virgin Mountain Range |
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| Reference Marker #2 . . . had a unique shape, it looked almost square |
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| We enjoyed a lunch break here after we descended from the summit . . . You can't see the actual summit from this vantage point . . . but it's close! |
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| Ahhh . . . back to the easy part of the trail! (Heading back towards Littlefield Reservoir) |
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| Cushion Phlox were in bloom |
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| Somehow we missed this interesting granite cliff on the way up . . . The striations caught our eye on the way down |
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| Back into Manzanita Valley |
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| Beautiful Indian Paintbrush were in bloom |
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| On the way out, we took a short side trip up to Black Rock Lookout . . . This allowed Tom to bag another peak and add to his collection of Arizona lookouts . . . It also gave us one last chance to enjoy a final view of Mount Bangs! |
As Tom would say, "The crux of this hike is just getting to the trailhead." If you'd like a topo map and GPS tracks for this hike, you can click here to get Tom's Peakbagger post. Round trip mileage was approximately 5.8 miles with a 1700 ft elevation gain.
