History: Charles D Poston was born in 1825 and came west in pursuit of mining opportunities. Soon he became interested in politics and led the fight for the separate territory of Arizona. Upon winning that fight he became the first delegate to the U.S. Congress to represent the Arizona Territory. For that reason he is often referred to as the father of Arizona. After losing his seat in congress he traveled and wrote of his travels. In India he became fascinated with the Parsi people and Zoroastrianism. He wrote a book entitled The Sun Worshipers of Asia in 1877. Back in Florence, Arizona he became obsessed with building a fire temple in the shape of a pyramid on top of Primrose Hill. He took deed of this hill in 1883 from James Addison Reavis, The Baron of Arizona. He never finished the Temple To The Sun and the locals jokingly referred to it as Postons folly. After holding several jobs as a miner and various political appointments he died in 1902 near penniless and was buried in Phoenix. On his 100th birthday in 1925 Governor George W.P. Hunt led a ceremony relocating Postons remains to a pyramid shaped tomb and renamed Primrose Hill-Postons Butte.

Hike: The Beatles song Fool on the Hill, is about a solitary man on Primrose Hill. With this tune in my head I began this straight forward hike at the railroad underpass on Hunt Highway just west of SR 79 in Florence. Follow the dirt road to the barbed wire gate. Open then close the gate. From here you can see the entire hike on the eroded dirt road that proceeds to the top of Postons Butte. You can also see the Pyramid Tomb which is your destination. There is surprisingly little mature vegetation in the area. Primary plants include Greasewood and Palo Verde. The trail being short, close to the pavement and steep enough to get a short cardio, is topped off with some nice views of Desert Wells to the north and North and South Buttes to the east. It’s a great place to watch a sunset. A small block building (unknown purpose) behind the tomb has been vandalized.
- Feb 22 2009 AZLOT69

One-Way Notice: This hike is listed as One-Way. When you hike several trails on a single "hike", log it under the initial trail or the destination trail. Then link the other trails to your logged trip, check out the example.