Trip report July 2005 by Richard L. Carey.
Dona Ana Peak is northeast of Las Cruces and is one of two peaks with the same spot elevation which are the highpoints of the Dona Ana Mountains.
Dona Ana is the southerly of the two peaks, the other being Summerford Mountain, also 5835 ft., which is 4.5 miles to the north.
Getting to the peak: Take highway 70 east of Interstate 25 in Las Cruces and exit after about 5 miles near a McDonalds on the north side. I don’t recall the name of the exit, but in this area take a frontage road on the north side of route 70 and head west from the McDonalds and look for North Jornado Road. From the frontage road note the following mileages: At 3.7 miles cross a cattle guard and continue north. At 6.2 miles there is a sign on the left for the Chihuahua Desert Nature Park. At 6.6 miles go left at a gate for the Jornada Experimental Range. Go west along the fence and at 7.6 miles go right at a toilet at the Chihuahua Park boundary. Go under power lines at 9.2 miles. Go left at a junction at 9.6 miles. Heading south toward the mountain the road gets nasty. I went until 10.8 miles and parked, but without four-wheel drive you may want to park sooner.
Hike: You can head south up the steep slopes for about 0.4 miles to the summit, which has a cairn and register. The gain would be about 800 ft.
Map: Dona Ana, 1:24,000 scale topo map, 1994.