Woolsey Peak, 3,171' (Gila Peak Benchmark), Gila Bend Mountains

Essence: Woolsey Peak is a wild volcanic summit surrounded by Sonoran vegetation. Black basalt ventifacts gleam on the desert floor. This climb is best suited for experienced desert mountaineers. Various trip reports reference routes on the north face. This southwest ridge approach is perhaps the friendliest but it is still a parabola of steepness. Navigation is critical to avoid crumbling cliff bands. The isolated, flat-topped crest is the high point in the Gila Bend Mountains. The 64,000 acre Woolsey Peak Wilderness was designated by Congress in 1990.
Travel: These driving directions begin in Gila Bend. If you are coming from AZ 85 North, see Todd's Desert Hiking Guide. In a high clearance, 4WD vehicle, measure from Pima Street, the main drag in Gila Bend, and Old US 80. Travel north between cotton fields and photovoltaic installations. Woolsey Peak Wilderness is on the west and the Sonoran Desert National Monument on the east. At 22.5 miles, cross the Gila River on the historic Gillespie Dam Bridge (pictured at the end of this post), an elaborate, herky metal structure built in 1927. Turn left on Agua Caliente Road at 25.7 miles. To remain on this road, turn right on a dirt road at 26.5 miles. If you stay straight (as we did), you will come to a locked gate. At 31.5 miles, leave the main road and continue straight onto a narrow track at a fork, unsigned Woolsey Wash Road. Pass a ranch at 32.9 miles and go left of the windmill. The lumpy road, squeezed by creosote, crosses several dry washes. Pass into the signed Signal Mountain Wilderness at 35.4 miles. Unsure of our route up the mountain, we parked near Point 1,083' at 36.9 miles. In retrospect, I would have continued about 1.4 miles and parked in the vicinity of Point 1,065' before the road drops to Woolsey Spring. Park on a high mound so your vehicle is visible on your return.
Distance and Elevation Gain: 8 miles; 2,400 feet of climbing. Shave about a mile by parking near Woolsey Spring and deduct 200 feet if you stay out of deep arroyos.
Total Time: 5:00 to 7:00
Difficulty: Off-trail; navigation challenging; low Class 3 with mild exposure; cholla alert--wear long pants; carry all the water you will need and hike in winter months.
Map: Woolsey Peak, AZ 7.5' USGS Quad
Date Hiked: January 11, 2020
Quote: This land is a poem of ocher and burnt sand I could never write, unless paper were the sacrament of sky, and ink the broken line of wild horses staggering the horizon several miles away. Even then, does anything written ever matter to the earth, wind, and sky? Joy Harjo, 2019 United States Poet Laureate

Wild horses roam across the Sonoran landscape on the lower reaches of Woolsey Peak. Encircling basalt blockfields are attributed to a relatively recent eruption from the Woolsey Cone. The summit is armored with a friable escarpment. Below, the north face approaches are on the left and the southwest climbing ridge is right of center.

Route: We had minimal route information and figured it out on the fly. We took the black-line route but you will save about a mile total if you travel further on Woolsey Wash Road and take the blue-line alternative. On our return, we stayed clear of the deepest arroyos by bearing further west on the bajada. Friends have successfully climbed Woolsey via the north face but I was uncomfortable with this approach. The black-line southwest ridge route is difficult but relatively safe.

Depending on where you park, starting elevation will be a little shy of 1,100 feet. It's a big, open desert out there so take note of landscape features behind you to mark the location of your vehicle. Below, our yellow Jeep can be seen between Signal Mountain and Point 1,689'.

One of the best features of this climb is immediately apparent on the floor of the bajada. The smooth playa, so sublime, is interspersed with glistening black basalt boulders. Many of the fine-grained, igneous stones are ventifacts shaped by the erosive action of windblown sand. The boulder population explodes as you approach the mountain.

The Sonoran vegetation is well spaced. Creosote bush is ubiquitous amongst the saguaro, palo verde, buckhorn cholla, ocotillo, hedgehog and mammallaria cactus, symmetrical agave, and short barrels with red hooks. The land is incised with abandoned, rock-bordered two-tracks. The bajada is bifurcated by deep arroyos. We clawed our way down into and back out of several on our approach.

Looking at the image below, the southwest ridge is on the far right horizon with a stone face. Walk between Points 1,529' and 1,333'. Below, Point 1,529' is difficult to distinguish from the more prominent Peak 2,030'.

We gained the southwest ridge at 1,600 feet. Climb over two rollers; the boulders are dug in.

The vibrations of my step caused a female Arizona Blond Tarantula to freeze. She was four inches long and may have been as old as 24 years. Tarantulas are nocturnal hunters so I was lucky to see this spider with eight walking legs and two pedipalps that are used for moving prey.

The saddle between the rollers felt like a park. It was almost as if someone distributed the rocks to show off their individual characteristics.

The approach is over at 2,100 feet at the base of a 500 foot talus field. The remaining 1,000 feet of climbing is difficult and time-consuming. The slope is steep enough that boulders are poised to cut loose. It is Class 2+ but expect some hand over hand scrambling. As you reach the top of the field, move left because your next goal is the ridge seen below on the left. (Thomas Holt Ward, photo)

At the top of the boulder yard you will enter a bowl. As soon as you are free of the cliffs do an ascending traverse and gain the ridge on your left (west). Make your move in the vicinity of 2,600 feet. The image below was shot near the top of the blockfield. The double saguaro behind the palo verde is a proven place to start your climb to the ridge.

Since we had minimal information on the route beforehand, we entered the center of the upper bowl. It was soon Class 3 and shedding rocks. Scrambling to the rim looked formidable. So we worked our way laterally to the ridge and from there the way was pleasant.

By 2,800 feet you will ideally be on the low Class 3 ridge.

Upon reaching the summit platform note your descent location. Woolsey Peak is mass-producing teddybear cholla.

No matter how delicately you walk and how defensively you dress, you are going to get attacked! Wear spine-proof footwear. (THW, photo)

The mountain is named for pioneer King Woolsey. In 1862, he bought the Agua Caliente Ranch, dug irrigation ditches, grew crops, and operated Arizona's first flour mill. Woolsey was a member of the 1st Arizona Territorial Legislature in Prescott. In 1864, the session enacted Arizona's first legal code in just 43 days. Curiously, when the U.S. Geological Survey placed the benchmark in 1949 it was named Gila Peak.

It seems a little incongruous but there are concentric stone circles and a rock-lined path over to the twin summit on the east.

From the perspective of Woolsey's west flank, Signal Mountain thrusts its spear skyward and Eagletail Peak takes flight several miles away. This represents but a wedge of this vast, little known, and truly unfettered wilderness. (THW, photo)

The 1,700-foot-long Gillespie Dam Bridge is a nine-span truss bridge with interlocking oxidized girders and beams.