Silver Bell Mountains Archives – GlassMountains Trip Reports

On Wednesday, December 19, I joined the Southern Arizona Hiking Club for a climb of Ragged Top, a craggy peak in the Silver Bell Mountains west of Tucson. Ragged Top has 1357 feet of topographic prominence. I first noticed Ragged Top on my climb of Silver Bell Peak on November 16, 2016 and knew I would try to visit it someday.

Ragged Top's northeast face. We hiked over a saddle to the left. — Ragged Top’s northeast face. We hiked over a saddle to the left.

I drove us into the Ironwood Forest National Monument on primitive but passable roads and parked just below the northeast face of Ragged Top. Ragged Top is quite imposing in appearance with complex steep buttresses of rock separated by shadowy narrow gullies. But we knew there was a reasonable route up, so we started with high expectations of success.

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On November 16 I explored west of Marana, Arizona, and hiked and scrambled up Silver Bell Peak, the high point of the Silver Bell Mountains. Silver Bell Peak has only 4261 feet of elevation but is the 81st most prominent peak in Arizona with 1921 feet of prominence. I got good use of my Jeep on the drive in and hiked through mostly open country.

Silver Bell Peak from the Jeep road

Although Silver Bell Peak is close to Tucson I was not able to find access information for it. However, I was able to map out a driving approach to the peak using topographic software and Google satellite views. I have since posted my driving directions online here. This approach route worked well for me, although the last 2.9 miles in was rocky and rutted in spots. I recommend visitors have a high-clearance 4WD vehicle with good tires.

Ragged Top, Arizona, December 2018

Silver Bell Peak, Arizona, November 2016