Elevation: 3,390 ft
Prominence: 40
This peak is not in the book. Published December 2019
Flagstaff Butte is a minor hump located along Range Road where the road is heading in an east-west direction just north of the primary artillery area. This is one of the easiest peaks you will ever summit, tumbleweeds notwithstanding. USGS Christmas Mountain
East Face, Class 2
Access
From the signed junction of Range Road and Orchard Road, drive west on Range Road for 2.3 miles to an unmarked junction/pullout on the right/north side of the road at the base of the east face of Flagstaff Butte. There are lots of scattered concrete road blockades and a few tall cylindrical concrete silos/towers here. There is plenty of parking space here and the elevation is 3,340 feet.
The Climb
It’s almost embarrassing to admit how short this hike is. Three minutes each way. That’s all. And you even get a little help from a weak jeep road, as if you needed it. But the weak road doesn’t go all the way to the boulder-strewn summit of Flagstaff Butte. You must leave the road and bushwhack through the thickest concoction of dead tumbleweeds that I have ever seen. These tumbleweeds will entangle your legs/feet. The summit boulders also have large, dead tumbleweeds mixed in, so it’s a bit treacherous to finish this easy peak off. Be careful that you don’t lose your footing.
Additional Resources