Overview

The Teutonia Peak Trail runs 1.6 miles and climbs about 700 ft from the Cima Road trailhead to Teutonia Peak, the rocky crags on the east side of Cima Dome. The trail runs across a sandy landscape to Teutonia Mine (Dutch Silver Mine: lead, silver, and gold) at the base of the ridge. The trail then steeply climbs onto the rocky ridge, crosses over onto the other side, and heads south to climb into a notch on the ridge between huge summit blocks of Mesozoic granitic. The trail does not actually go to the summit, which is about 0.2 miles farther south, and even the summit blocks above the overlook involve a few feet of 5th-class climbing, but views from the summit could hardly be better than those from the Lunch Overlook area at the end of the trail.

In August 2020, the Dome Fire burned 43,273 acres in the Joshua Tree woodland of Cima Dome, including Teutonia Peak and this trail. Hike the trail, mourn the loss of plants and animals, and understand that because of climate change, this area will never come back, at least not as a desert woodland.

Link to map.

Watch Out

Other than the standard warnings about hiking in the desert, ...this is a pretty safe hike, but be careful on the rocky outcrops at the end of the trail and don't mess with old mines.

While hiking, please respect the land and the other people out there, and try to Leave No Trace of your passage. Also, even though this is a short hike, be sure to bring what you need of the 10 Essentials.

Getting to the Trailhead

This hike is located in Mojave National Preserve, about 2 hours south of Las Vegas. From town, drive south on I-15 into California. Exit onto Cima Road, southbound. Drive south 11.3 miles to Teutonia Peak Trailhead, a pullout on the west (right) side of the road. Park here; this is the trailhead.

The Hike

From the trailhead (Table 1, Waypoint 01), the Teutonia Peak Trail runs southwest and up the gently sloping desert flats towards the rocky ridge on the skyline, but a considerable distance north of the summit. The trail runs out old sandy roads through an area densely vegetated with Joshua Trees and lots of blackbrush, Mormon tea, cholla, yucca, Bitterbrush, and buckwheat. There are some nice boulder piles and sheets of bedrock along this part of the trail. Most of this burned.

At about 0.47 miles out, the trail crosses a dirt road (Wpt. 02). Continuing southwest another 0.47 miles, the trail intersects a closed road (Wpt. 03) at the edge of the Teutonia Mine area. The trail turns right onto the old road, then quickly turns off (Wpt. 04) and resumes the southwesterly direction.

As always, mines are interesting, but don't climb over the fences to get a better view, as the shaft looks particularly deep and dangerous.

Continuing west towards the ridge, the trail quickly passes another old road (Wpt. 05) and starts up the side of the ridge. The trail here is fairly steep, but there are several switchbacks, and the ridgeline isn't far off (only about 0.25 miles and 190 vertical feet).

At the crest of the ridge (Wpt. 06), the trail crosses onto the west side and gives some great views of Cima Dome, which is the skyline to the west. Before crossing over the ridge, consider walking north a few yards to a rocky knob that provides nice views.

Continuing, the trail runs south for about 0.2 miles on the west side of the ridge to a nice rocky outcrop (Wpt. 07) with perhaps the best view on the mountain of Cima Dome.

From there, the trail steeply climbs (with some multiple trailing) back onto the ridgeline at a notch in the crags (First Notch; Wpt. 08) with nice views to the east. For hikers aiming for the true summit, continue through the notch onto the east-facing slopes and continue south.

For hikers following the trail, back out of the notch onto the west side of the ridge and continue a few yards south into the Second Notch (Wpt. 09). At this point, the official trail ends in a notch between two huge blocks of Mesozoic granite. This is the end of the trail, as it would require 5th-class climbing to get atop the granite blocks on both sides of Second Notch. A ledge on the northern (left) block, requiring a fairly safe 10-foot-high climb, gives great views back towards the trailhead and all points east. This is a great place for a picnic lunch on a warm, sunny day.

Return to the trailhead by following your footprints in the trail dust back down the trailhead.