Baboquivari Peak Wilderness

Cultural significance

Baboquivari Peak is the most sacred place to the Tohono Oʼodham people, regarded as the navel of the world where the earth opened and the people emerged after the great flood. It is the home of the creator, I'itoi, who according to tribal stories resides in a cave below the base of the mountain. The O'odham name for the peak is Vav Giwulik, meaning a basalt outcropping narrow around the middle. The mountain was mentioned in the journals of Jesuit missionary Padre Kino beginning in 1699.

Climbing history

The peak is a technical summit accessible only by class 5 rock climbing. The first recorded ascent was made on July 12, 1898, by Dr. Robert Humphrey Forbes and Sr. Lorenzo Montoya after five attempts, via what is now the Forbes-Montoya route.

In the 1930s, the Arizona Civilian Conservation Corps installed wood-and-metal stairs, a ladder, and an observation tower along the western approach, now known as the Standard Route. These structures were later dismantled, but remnants remain. The easiest route is rated 5.4.

Did You Know?

• According to O'odham legend, a Spanish officer and his men were swallowed by Baboquivari when they tried to dig into it.
• Sightings of jaguars have been recorded in the Baboquivaris during the last decades.
• The wilderness contains the desert tree Bursera fagaroides.