Crossman Peak

BOU AVENUE
Crossman Peak

On 24 December 2023, Zosia Zgolak and I hiked up Crossman Peak located just northeast of Lake Havasu City, Arizona. The usual ascent route via a telecommunications road and the west ridge is straightforward, but the access is a little tricky. The area is also rife with OHVs and shooting enthusiasts, and therefore, some caution is required when traveling here.

In the northeastern corner of Lake Havasu City, drive east on Bison Boulevard and enter desert after passing Colt Drive. The pavement ends here, and the subsequent dirt road is quite bumpy (high-clearance vehicle strongly recommended). After crossing a large plateau, follow the road as it descends into a wash. Keep right at the bottom and continue driving through the wash in a northeasterly direction. About 1.9 kilometres further, take an easy-to-miss road branching left. Drive another 3.5 kilometres to a pullout just before the road begins to climb steeply up the hillside. Park in the pullout.

On our drive in, Zosia and I thought that the left-branching road had been washed out and actually began hiking at that point. Fortunately, we realized our mistake fairly quickly--we had not driven far enough to the turnoff--and returned to our car to resume driving to the proper starting point. When we finally began hiking for good, we followed the road up the hillside and soon passed a locked gate before settling into a long and steady climb. Although walking up the road felt a little boring at times, we had plenty of things to see along the way including a lot of different desert flora and a few curious mine shafts. Upon reaching a bunch of telecommunications infrastructure at road's end, we turned east to follow an intermittent trail climbing up the west ridge. There are no technical or route-finding difficulties on this ridge, and we easily reached the summit of Crossman Peak without any trouble.

After taking a nice break on the summit, Zosia and I backtracked the way we came. We had no issues hiking back down the west ridge and the telecommunications road, and the drive out was also uneventful.

	The easy-to-miss road branching left is just a little further ahead of here and heads into the distant drainage at right. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	This pullout is the proper starting point for the hike up Crossman Peak.
	Zosia approaches a locked gate near the start of the hike up the road.
	Sonny tries to stroke a cholla cactus along the road. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Hiking up the road is simple but a little boring.
	Zosia catches her first glimpse of the telecommunications infrastructure at road's end.
	The gate just below the telecommunications infrastructure is open on this day.
	Zosia checks out a mine shaft beside the road.
	Zosia approaches the end of the long road.
	A trail continues up the west ridge of Crossman Peak from road's end.
	Zosia is careful to dodge some cacti as she climbs up the west ridge.
	The west ridge presents no technical difficulties.
	Zosia and Sonny stand on the summit of Crossman Peak (1550 metres).

"Havasu" is the Mojave word for "blue".

Lake Havasu City can be seen to the southwest.

The sunshine felt great!

In this view to the east, the clearing clouds seemingly resemble a wildfire.

	Zosia descends the west ridge.
	Zosia returns to the telecommunications infrastructure on the west ridge.
	An antelope squirrel ducks in and out of some rocks beside the road. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Here is a last look at Crossman Peak (centre) from the access road.
	A roadrunner roams through a residential area near the access road for Crossman Peak. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Total Distance: 7.1 kilometres Round-Trip Time: 3 hours 56 minutes Net Elevation Gain: 582 metres GPX Data