I came across this trail head while scouting the area for quail last year. My hiking partner beiley, sparked my interest in longer hikes this year, so I suggested this one. It was great, with awesome views and good workout. There is a really neat riparian area that you hike along for the first part of the trail with a running creek for part of the way. Then you pull a steep grade up out of the canyon southeast to the top. As you loop around and begin heading north, there are many views along the Verde Rim and you come to a trail head and take a short jaunt to the top of Pine Mountain. There were some cattle in there and we saw a young whitetail buck deer, a horse that came up to say "hi", a roadrunner, lots of butterflies, some wildflowers. The trail starts in the pinyon, juniper and riparian habitat and tops out in Ponderosa pine and oak trees.