Cristo BM, Esmeralda County, Nevada

On BLM land, Elevation = 8001 ft. (2439 meters)

Highpoint of the Monte Cristo Range

The Monte Cristo Range lies northwest of Tonopah and the highpoint is Cristo Benchmark. The prominence is 1866 feet. The above map shows a hiking route from the abandoned Norman Mill site west of the summit. The map has the UTM grid using NAD27. There is a fairly good road to the mine area from highway 6.

Driving Directions: On highway 6 look for a road going north about 0.1 miles east of a microwave tower on the south side. This is also 0.4 miles east of the junction with route 265. Reset your odometer and note the following points: At 5.8 miles go right at a junction. At 6.2 miles go straight ahead. At 7.5 miles pass two large boulders on your left. The road curves around a lot in this area. There are some side roads, but stay with the best graded track. At 10.8 miles go left at a T junction. At 13.1 miles turn right onto a poor road going toward the mill. This is point 083 on the map. In a short distance curve right up a hill and then turn left at about 13.2 miles. I camped near point 084 at 13.5 miles, but you can turn right there and continue up to a mine pit at point 086. The jeep road is in bad shape and I would not try to drive further.

Hiking Directions: From point 086 hike east on the old jeep road. You eventually cross a steam bed at point 089. From there turn southeast and get on the ridge that goes up to the left side of a distinct saddle. On the ridge it is an easy walk to the top. The route from point 084 is about 3.6 miles round-trip with a gain fo 1400 feet. It took me about 1 1/2 hours to reach the top. 4/13 RLC

Cristo benchmark at the summit, placed in 1952. Datasheet.