There is no public access road provided by the BLM to the Coyote Mountains Wilderness Area. MORE INFO >>>
There is no public access road provided by the BLM to the Coyote Mountains Wilderness Area. This wilderness is surrounded by state, reservation, and private land. Permission to drive on an access road through the King Anvil Ranch property is granted by the owner during the months of September through February (access closed March through August). This access road also crosses Arizona State Trust Land. The owner of the King Anvil Ranch and the Arizona Game Fish have provided a sign in station for you to register your visit. Please sign in and sign out at the station. Furthermore the Arizona land managers require that you obtain a recreation permit to drive across Arizona State Trust Land. The application for this permit ($15/year) can be found at: www.land.state.az.us/programs/natural/rec_permit.pdf
This information is a public crowdsourcing effort between the Access Fund,
and Mountain Project. You should confirm closures, restrictions, and/or related dates.
Access is via PRIVATE land and may be CLOSED!MORE INFO >>>
The access for Mendoza Canyon is via the good graces of the owner of the King Anvil Ranch you pass through to get to the canyon.
Update from Jeff Mayhew: 3-20-10
Mendoza Canyon access will still be open through King's Anvil Ranch from September 1 through March 1, as usual. The ranch owner, John King, is considering allowing foot access again at the original parking area, (see Approach Map,) from Sept. 1 through Dec. 1. After that he may re-post the No Trespassing sign, but may still allow foot access through the alternate parking area at the north end of the canyon's mouth, (see map.) Legally set traps are throughout the area so the suggestion is to leave the dogs at home. Regardless of this information, please obey all posted signs in the area. Access is still hanging by a thread!
After talking to Game and Fish, State Land Dept., and BLM it is clear that Mr. King has every right to block access at any time... and he is ready to at the drop of a hat. Fortunately, there are only about 15 of us that even go out there, so we mainly have to worry about the random rabble-rousers, (now there's a good name for a climb!)
Thanks for all the support and feel free to contact me. Jeff Mayhew (user JMayhew on this site)
Update from Jeff Mayhew 10-18-10
As of 10/2010 the access along the dirt road leading from the "original parking" at the small corral (see approach map) is still signed "No Trespassing." Please respect that!
The "alternate parking" shown on the map still allows foot access along an old, faint road. This eventually connects to the main dirt road before the pond, but Mr. King had said last spring that access was permitted at that point, as long as people respected the private property. Be sure to remember that fork--it can be tricky to see when you're hiking out tired... and possibly in the dark!
There is still an old, hand written note in the sign-in box stating access to Mendoza is closed. This was in there before Mr. King gave "us" permission to access via this alternate roadway.
Update from Charles Vernon (12.6.10): We ran into John King's daughter herding cows yesterday, on the way into the canyon. She was very nice, and we talked to her for a little while. She believes that the missing traps that led to loss of access last year were a result of hikers (climbers? hunters?) whose dogs got caught in the traps, leading to the dog owners taking or destroying the traps to free their dogs.
Regardless of what exactly happened, she made it clear that dogs are not welcome. It sounds as though just heading out there with dogs, without more, could be enough to cause them to rethink access. So please, do not bring dogs to Mendoza!
This information is a public crowdsourcing effort between the Access Fund,
and Mountain Project. You should confirm closures, restrictions, and/or related dates.
Elephant Dome is the huge granite dome on the north side of the wash as you approach the canyon. This dome contains a number of mixed routes including The Elephants Trunk (5.7), B-Cubed (5.10b), Elephantiasis (5.10c), and Crater Genetics (5.11b R). The rock quality covers the spectrum from rotten to excellent. Grass and cactus are local residents on many ledges on the dome. Scenic views of the saguaro cactus-covered desert wilderness below add to this backcountry climbing experience. Although some of the routes can be rapped to descend the dome, there is a descent scramble/rappel in the south-facing gully between Elephant Dome and Right Dome to its east (see B Cubed descent description).
Getting There
Follow the “Getting There” description for Mendoza Canyon and the access instructions to arrive at the small reservoir. Walk across the dam and follow path marked by cairns. The trail will branch with the left branch going to Table Dome and the right branch goes to Elephant dome. The approach paths can be difficult to follow so keep on the lookout for the cairns. At the fork, take the right branch which will cross the canyon’s wash through a small and thick bamboo forest. Continue on trail scrambling up toward the dome. The trail reaches the dome between Elephantiasis and B Cubed.
The Classics
Mountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for Elephant Dome:
This unique route climbs the prominent left-diagonaling crack system on the west side of Elephant Dome, roughly in the vicinity of the west-side rap route. It has only seen a few ascents despite being put up over 20 years ago. Scary, runout, and loose in places, it also has some excellent climbing. In particular, the crux 4th pitch is sustained, well-protected and probably one of the best pitches in the canyon. The first pitch is classic Mendoza exfoliating face climbing with 6 bolts and just a ...[more]Browse More Classics in AZ
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