Find Nearby Peaks

This peak is not in the book. Published November 2021

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Leslie Butte is located on the southwest side of US-93 between Mackay and Arco just south of the [unsigned] hamlet of Leslie, Idaho. The butte is particularly obvious when driving up from Arco. There is a lot of posted private property in this area, so public access is quite limited. This route is entirely on BLM land. USGS Darlington

Access

From the signed junction of US-93 and Houston Road in Leslie, Idaho (just north of the Mormon Church on US-93), turn south on Houston Road and reset your odometer. This junction is just south of the well-signed junction with Pass Creek Road and is about 8 miles south of Main Street in Mackay. At 0.4 miles, the road turns sharply right/west. At 1.1 miles, reach a parking pullout at the base of an unsigned jeep road (not shown on maps) on the left/southeast side of the road. Park here (5,735 feet). GPS coordinates: 43⁰51’20”N, 113⁰28’51”W.

Map Errors

The USGS topo map mis-spells Houston Road as “Huston Road.” It also fails to show the numerous 2-track roads on and around Leslie Butte.

North Ridge, Class 2

The Climb

This climb is mostly on old jeep roads (Class 1). From the parking pullout, hike south-southeast up the 2-track road to a shoulder crossing at a saddle. Continue on the road to a second shoulder crossing and another saddle. Leave the road here and scramble left/northeast up a minor shoulder (or face) to reach the north ridge just south of Point 6460. The terrain on this somewhat-steep scramble is a combination of scrub, loose shale, and rocky outcrops. Once on the north ridge, follow it south then southeast down to a saddle on easy scrub and broken scree.

At the saddle, find a weak 2-track road and follow it southeast to a ridge hump and pick up an old mining road here. Go left/east onto the old mining road and follow it along the weaving, undulating ridge crest to another saddle. From that saddle, continue south along the mining road up a steep-ish shoulder to reach a crest in the road. Leave the road here and scramble west-southwest up easy, open scrub and broken scree to the summit of Leslie Butte. The summit is somewhat rocky and has a triangulation post/wiring and a summit cairn.