About this place
The Mount Tipton Wilderness covers 30,760 acres in Mohave County, 25 miles north of Kingman. It takes in the whole northern half of the Cerbat Mountains.
Mount Tipton Peak reaches 7,148 feet and dominates the skyline.
The real attraction is somewhere else. The Cerbat Pinnacles sit north of the peak and below it, and they are immense rows of maroon-colored spires standing over open, tawny valleys.
The wilderness is large and the ground is complicated, so there is a lot of walking, backpacking, photography and horse riding to be had.
If you can make the climb to the top of Mount Tipton, two things wait for you.
One is a remnant stand of large ponderosa pine, below the peak on its northeast side.
The other is the view. It is unsurpassed in every direction.
You want a four-wheel drive for the drive in.
The terrain is extremely rugged. A few old vehicle ways make walking routes in places, but most people use the sand washes that cut through the area.
The summer climate here is harsh. Daytime temperatures run over 100 degrees.
October through April is more moderate. Winter can be quite cold, and snow is possible higher up.
Water is scarce in this part of the Cerbat Mountains.
Springs marked on topographic maps can usually be trusted for drinking water.
After rain there is water sitting in potholes, but it dries up fast. Purify all of it, wherever it came from.
Follow the rules for the area, and leave no trace, so it stays that way.
Motors and machines are generally banned on any federal land designated as wilderness. That covers motor vehicles and off-highway vehicles, motorboats, bicycles, hang gliders, wagons, carts and portage wheels. Landing an aircraft or a helicopter counts too.
Ask the agency if you need more on the rules. The detail matters in a wilderness, and getting it wrong carries a penalty.
Some of the land around the wilderness, and inside it, is not federal. Do not cross it or use it without the owner’s permission.
The facts
- Cost
- Free to camp
- Roads around it
- Four-wheel drive strongly advised
- Drinking water
- No treated supply. Springs on the topographic maps can usually be trusted, but purify it
- Type
- Open area. Camp anywhere within it
- Managed by
- Bureau of Land Management
Getting there
Four-wheel drive is advised on every route except the Big Wash Road. A high clearance vehicle is needed on all of them.
Antelope Canyon access. Turn east onto the Pierce Ferry Road from Highway 93 at milepost 42. Go north and east through Dolan Springs to 19th Street. Turn right on 19th Street and go 0.6 miles. Turn right on Ocotillo Drive and go 1.0 mile. Turn left on 17th Street and go 0.2 miles. Turn right on Orchid Street and go 0.5 miles. Turn left onto 16th Street and go one block. There is no sign for it. Turn right onto Palm Street and go 0.5 miles, and there you are at the wilderness boundary. A jeep trail carries on south another 1.5 miles along the boundary to a parking area. There is a small half mile loop trail at that parking area, outside the wilderness itself, good for walking or riding.
Indian Springs access. Turn east onto the Pierce Ferry Road from Highway 93 at milepost 42. Go 1.5 miles toward Dolan Springs and turn right onto 5th Street. Follow it about 4.5 miles until you meet a fence. Turn left and follow the fence about 0.1 mile, then turn right through the gate. Follow the jeep road 0.8 mile to the parking area.
Marble Canyon access. Go to milepost 48 on Highway 93. Go through the gate on the east side of the highway onto a jeep trail. It passes a corral and a water tank, then runs alongside a wire fence for about 0.7 miles. Go through the gate in the fence and follow the trail another 2 miles, bearing right where an obscure fork appears. Go through another gate. A quarter of a mile further on, take the left fork. Another 0.5 mile brings you to the wilderness. Park where you like along this road, remembering that the wilderness starts 30 feet off it on either side.
Big Wash Road access. Go to milepost 51 on Highway 93. Turn east onto the maintained dirt road, known as the Big Wash Road, and follow it about 4.5 miles. The wilderness is then on your left. Park where you like along the Big Wash Road, but do not make a hazard for other traffic.
Coordinates 35.535886, -114.198461
Open in Google Maps Agency page
What is near here
A few more of our own spots are within reach of this one, along with some better-known places.
- Route 66 Oatman Road Back Country Byway Directions
- Black Canyon of the Colorado Directions
- Mount Nutt Wilderness Directions
- Grand Canyon Skywalk Directions
- Davis Dam Directions
Every distance on this page is the driving distance. A short distance can still take a long time. The road may be closed for the season, covered in snow, or washed out. Many of these roads are dirt. Plan your route before you leave home. Out here there is often no phone signal to look it up on the way.
Nearest town and supplies
- Dolan Springs, AZ Directions
Dolan Springs is big enough that you’d normally expect fuel and somewhere to buy food. Nobody from here has been to check, so don’t count on it if you’re running low.
Have you been here?
Fees and access change, and the records do not always keep up. If you have been, tell us what you found.
Thank you, that is recorded. It helps the next person.
Add road notes for this site
The thing we cannot get from any government record is what the drive in is actually like. If you have done it, this is the most useful thing you can leave behind. We read everything before it appears, and we print a first name with it if you give one.
Thank you. A person will read it before it goes on the page.
Where this information comes from
The description on this page is ours. The facts in it, and the fee and facility details below it, come from the Bureau of Land Management’s own records, read in August 2026.