Yesterday's climb of Picacho Peak had been the main attraction for the weekend but I didn't want to drive all the way out to Yuma just for a single peak.  I'd already done Muggins, the two DPS Peaks off the 8, and The Thumb + Palo Verde Peak in the area and I was really starting to reach for new ideas when someone suggested Little Picacho.

USGS Little Picacho Peak is the bump to the north of Picacho.  It's confusing because the Sierra Club Desert Peaks Section likes to refer to Picacho as Little Picacho to distinguish it from Picacho del Diablo aka Big Picacho down in Mexico.  Nevermind the fact you also have *another* Picacho peak in the state park not far to the east.

USGS Little Picacho is a short hike from the road leading to the northern trailhead for DPS Picacho and could easily be done on the same day if you had a suitably fast group.  It's a rough approach but there's some quality scrambling near the top and I'd love to go back and see if there was a way to get even more down lower.

(The picture at the top of the article is a view of Little Picacho from the summit ridge of DPS Picacho)

January 21th, 2018

Little Picacho Peak (1,508')
1.3 miles, 1,300'

[Pics] [CalTopo] [Map]

This was part of the annual New Years trip for 2015. This year it was a long haul out to Tucson with the main goal of finally getting to explore Cave of the Bells after missing out the previous year.

New Years 2015

• 01/01 Muggins Peak (this entry)
• 01/02 Tucson Mine Exploration
• 01/03 Cave of the Bells 
• 01/04 El Dorado Hot Spring & home

Muggins isn't on any list I'm aware of it just popped out to us when we were looking for something to climb in the area.  The DPS peak Little Picacho is in this area and I've always liked the rock.

January 1st, 2015

Muggins Peak (1,424')

[Pics] [Map]

Muggins, in addition to just looking cool, promised some 3rd class rock and wasn't incredibly long which was a plus since we'd be driving to Tucson (-ish) afterwards.

December 2nd, 2012

Stud Mountain (2,130')

Little Picacho Peak (1,920')

[Pics] [MapStud] [Map Picacho]

After spending the previous two days climbing Baboquivari followed by a slightly less successful trip to Mexico which morphed into a somewhat bushy descent on Mount Ajo we had relocated out to Yuma after another lengthy late night drive.

Sunday morning we woke up in the desert north of Stud Mountain at what I'd loudly declared to be Camp Studly.