One of the most prominent peaks seen from the town of Mackay, climbed via a saddle it shares with neighboring Little Mac.
Access has been complicated in recent years by a private-land closure of the traditional Lower Cedar Creek Road. Current options include parking near Nielsen Ditch on a BLM road reached from the Bench Road east of Mackay (elevation about 6,680 feet, adding roughly 3 miles of extra approach), or an alternate northern access off US-93 near the Mackay Reservoir Dam turnoff, which now ends at a fenced closure around 7,000 feet. Check current conditions before a trip, as access here has changed more than once. From the flat area on Little Mac's south ridge, traverse into the gully separating Little Mac from Mount McCaleb and climb it (boulders, talus, and scree) to the Little Mac/McCaleb saddle at 10,660 feet. From the saddle, scramble up what is called the "West Ridge" but is really more of a west face -- loose scree with occasional goat trails -- trending left to gain a better-defined northwest ridge. This ridge turns southeast; a climber's trail (loose, better for descending than ascending) leads the rest of the way to the narrow, elongated summit area, which has two points of apparently equal height.