I took the 4runner up the Spanish 4×4 Trail to the wilderness boundary and then walked in to one of the Spanish Lakes that sits to the west of Spanish Peak. The 4×4 trail used to go all the way down to the lakes but when the wilderness boundary was drawn, they forgot to leave the 4×4 trail out. I know a guy who was on the crew that had to close the 4×4 trail down to the lake. He said it was an awesome 4×4 trail and was sad to close it.
The whole area is so pretty. Supposedly there’s an old lost Spanish gold mine somewhere up on the mountain. There certainly is a lot of evidence of minerals in the area and I saw a few places that looked like some test pits from prospectors. But considering there’s no mine in the area today, maybe the legend of the lost Spanish gold mine is just a legend.
A few years ago I was on the other side of the mountain above the Geraldine Lakes.