Cookes Peak

It was a cool fall morning when I did this hike quite a few years back. Our group of Las Cruces Sierra Clubbers and other hikers gathered together as an Apache man sang a beautiful song under the blue skies that framed "Standing Rock" or Cooke's Peak . We then started cross country heading southwest from the corral at the end of the county road, and soon picked up the old Boy Scout trail( so I was told the name) in OK Canyon.This trail was pretty easy to follow in this southeast facing canyon as it ascends  passing  alligator junipers and the occasional walnut tree. On the  north side we began to climb very steeply on some switchbacks that weren't quite switchy enough eventually reaching a saddle and then crossing the ridge, where the trail, cut high into the steep side of a tributary drainage  descends(slightly)into an oak woodland at its very head. Here the trail, which had been easy to follow ( and is also highly visible on Google Earth, which was not available at the time)  was a bit hard to come by, and we did a bit of wandering around before finding it heading north up to the ridge. As we got closer to the final pitch up to the peak, it disappeared altogether and we made our way as best we could through the piñons, junipers and mountain mahogany until we reached the bare rock of the summit tower.There's a crack in the rock to follow here that we went on all fours to climb.Once we could stand again it was an easy walk to the top, although there's is a small gap in the stone that has to be hopped over. It has long drop-offs on either side, so it's best to look straight head. This last part was a little nerve-rattling, even more so than when I climbed the highpoint of the Organ Mountains.The mountain top is not entirely bare as it might appear: they were few bush- like box elders and oaks.We took in the sights and then descended by the same route.Round trip distance was around 9 miles.Elevation gain was over 3,000 feet. 

Since the time that I did this hike the BLM has put it a road that bypasses some private property by first heading west and then north back to the road through Cookes Peak ghost town. At the point where it changes direction  would be the place to park and start the route described here.  Then, by walking southwest a 1/2 mile or so,  one would pick up the trail on the north side of OK Canyon. It saves  around 1.4 miles roundtrip, which is not much, I know, given the hefty overall length and elevation gain, but every little bit counts. For an even shorter, steeper adventure, with even more sketchy trail finding, read on.

 The bypass road makes it possible ( most likely with four wheel drive and high clearance) to drive further up the mountain  through the old mining area and town. It is very rough, but, a little less than 1.5 miles from where the bypass road rejoins the older road is a mine road that branches off to the southwest  which now seems to be the preferred starting point for climbing the peak.  It does eventually bring you to the same ridge on the southeast side of the summit tower from which point the ascent of the peak is the same as the OK Canyon hike. Check out Greg Magee's Day Hikes and Nature Walks in the Las Cruces-El Paso Area for a description of this route.