Peak 5940 Black Mountains and USLM 120, Death Valley

Jack Hamm

16 Feb 2025 • 6 min read

The Greenwater Valley and former boom town of Greenwater are among our favorite Death Valley regions. We've been meaning to explore more of the Black Mountains from the Greenwater Valley so today we decided to do a little hike off Kunze Road and find US Location Monument 120 and then do nearby Peak 5940.

**Left:** General map to show where we hiked. The spot where the dark blue and light blue lines meet is where the parking area is.

First Stop: US Location Monument 120

A US Location Monument (USLM) is a survey control marker established by the U.S. government, primarily used for land surveying, geodetic mapping, and precise geographic positioning. These monuments are typically made of metal or concrete, though on this hike we find a stone one, and serve as fixed reference points for legal land descriptions, property boundaries, and geographic data collection.

In mining areas, like Greenwater, USLMs played a critical role in defining claims, ensuring accurate mapping of mineral deposits, and preventing disputes over land ownership. During the height of mining booms in the western United States, these monuments were essential for delineating federal land from private claims and guiding exploration activities. Today, many USLMs remain in historic mining districts, serving as relics of the era when accurate surveying was vital for the rapid expansion of mining operations.

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You might also encounter USMMs (US Mineral Monument). These are specialized monuments established specifically for surveying mining claims and ensuring legal land descriptions for mineral extraction. USMMs were placed in remote or difficult-to-survey areas where traditional Public Land Survey System (PLSS) section corners were impractical to use for mining claim locations. These monuments helped miners and surveyors properly define the boundaries of mineral-rich lands, reducing disputes over claims. There are several USMMs in Death Valley that are now USLMs after being repurposed during the establishment of the Death Valley National Monument and later National Park Boundaries. A good example of this is USLM 72 in the Talc Hills near the New American Mine. It was originally USMM 72, but was rebuilt to survey the Park boundary.

We got a late start today and rolled onto Greenwater Valley Road around 10:30a and took a brief stop to air down. After 20ish miles we turned left on Furnace Connector Road for 2 1/2 miles then another left onto Kunze Road for another 2 miles to a saddle with a broad parking area at 5,400'.

From here, we hiked north-northeast following the least stabby path across the very red pebbles that are common in this area of the Blacks. Following the easiest ridge we could find we stumbled across some old prospects, some showing copper, before arriving at USLM 120.

Old prospect on the way to USLM 120. There is a bit of copper ore (greenish-blue rocks) showing in the pile. (Remember, you can't take rocks from National Parks)

USLM is a carved stone marker at coordinates 36.16828N, -116.63934W and elevation 5,361 feet ASL. The long wooden post on the ground is the original witness post and was unusually long so it could be used to survey off of from the Greenwater Mining District located in the hills below this location.

Second Stop: Peak 5940 in the Black Mountains

After visiting USLM 120, we headed back uphill to the Jeep, grabbed our packs, and headed off up a ridge line to check out nearby Peak 5940. From the Jeep we headed north on the road a tiny bit to grab the most obvious east-west ridge that didn't look like a total legbuster.

Peak 5940 is just left of center in the background. We took the ridge that starts where Kunze Road vanishes over on the right side of the photo. Coming down we took a more direct route down the steeper ridge that ends directly center of the photo where the road is.

Climbing the ridge gave us great views to the east and north. We could see all the ranges out to the Spring Mountains and Charleston looked great with recent snow from the previous week.

Next closest mountains are the Greenwater Range. You can see Eagle Peak just right of center as a slightly darker mountain that's alone. Then look for the pyramid shaped Shadow Mountain, the northern end of the Resting Spring Range. The large white area in front of Shadow Mountain is the Amargosa River flood plain and Death Valley Junction is visible down there. Then the Nopah Range is right and slightly behind the Resting Spring. Finally, the Spring Mountains with snow covering Stirling Peak (left) across to Charleston Peak at the highest point. Snow line is about 6,000 feet when this was take to give you a sense of the height.

One aspect of this hike that was interesting is the number of very old mining claim corner posts we found. Greenwater was formed around a mining strike in 1904 or 1905 depending on the source. It was an absolute bust and completely shutdown by 1909. There was never a secondary breath of life for Greenwater because the ore was low grade and very difficult to extract. This meant that the normal overstaking or relocation of closed claims didn't happen at Greenwater. We found several corner posts that are likely from the original 1904 to 1909 period based on their condition and that makes them between 116 and 121 years old! Don't disturb them if you come look, they are likely very fragile and made just fall apart if disturbed.

Some of the oldest mining claim markers we've found in our explorations so far. These are all likely from the 1904 to 1909 period making them up to 121 years old!

Following the ridge to the summit of Peak 5940. The peak is the right side summit in the background. There's an old prospect on the hill straight ahead.

The view from the summit of Peak 5940 is great. You can't quite see into the floor of Death Valley, but the north-south views along the Black Mountains is very nice. There are some further unnamed peaks in the area that we plan to come back and see but today was just a short recovery day after doing a 14 mile segment of the T&T Railroad yesterday.

**Left:** Telescope Peak sneaking a peek through on the hike to 5940. **Right:** A glint of light caught my eye on the hike up and, sure enough, you can see all the way down to Dantes View.

The view west from the summit of Peak 5940. We'll be back to tackle those 6k-ers further west some other day.

The view west from the summit of Peak 5940. USLM 120 on the small pyramid shaped one dead center of the shot. Greenwater Mining District on those hills. Next Greenwater Valley, then the Greenwater Range. Funeral Range past that and the large massif of Pyramid Peak. Amargosa Desert is visible in the middle background of the right side of the shot.

Final Stop: China Date Farm for a date shake

I include this stop only because A) we saw a great roadrunner and B) we got the Rubicon very dirty on Furnace Creek Road.