Foothills Rim Trail - Cerbat Mnts, AZ

Warning
At first glance, the trail maps for this trailhead can be very misleading. There are two maps on the board. Monolith Gardens and the Foothills Rim Trail are special because they have multiple connectors, which the second map on the board illustrates in more detail. Each trail is color-coded. The Foothills Rim Trail (FR) is red. The trail map seems to indicate that the (FR) is 10.20 miles long. It is not. It is closer to 6.5 miles long. However, several connector trails compromise the FR Trail, and for some reason, are included in the mileage for the FR Trail. If you look at the second map, it displays more clearly what the Foothills Rim Trail and its connectors are.


Overview
The Cerbat Foothills Recreation Area is 11,000 acres of mountains and high desert grasslands. Vegetation includes catclaw, yucca, hedgehog, prickly pear, creosote, and Mesquite. Wildlife may include mule deer, Sonoran desert tortoise, coyotes, foxes, quail, several types of raptors, and, though very unlikely (never say never), Cerbat. Cerbat comes from the Hualapai Indian meaning “bighorn sheep”, the park's namesake. Depending on how you look at it, there are 9 trails with multiple connectors, or, counting the connectors, there are 18 trails in the system that can be accessed from 4 different trailheads. The Coyote Pass trailhead provides the best access to the Monolith Gardens and Foothills Rim Trails. This trailhead has parking for about 12 cars, has a trail map, bathrooms, and sun-exposed picnic tables.Hike
The Foothills Rim (FR) Trail is an interior trail, so some additional hiking is required. From the trail, map hike about 1 mile to reach the beginning of the Foothills Rim (FR) Trail. There is only one trail that departs from the map, so there should be no confusion.

The FR Trail departs the Monolith Garden Trail heading in a southwest direction. There is a low, sloping hill before you that the FR Trail gradually switchbacks up. This trail is annoyingly rocky on the slope, but it doesn’t last long. As soon as you reach the plateau, the trail straightens out and becomes much smoother. The trail seems to head off with a purpose, heading south and quickly reaching the lip of a small canyon. However, the trail is just showcasing the local landscape. It quickly turns northwest and heads towards two mountains (or anthills, as I began to think of them. The FR Trail navigates around a lot of hills of various sizes, not big enough to be a mountain (in my mind), but bigger than what I think of as a hill. The trail passes a small power station and swings to the north of the anthills. At 1.96, it crosses a dirt road and starts heading down between the two anthills. The views pick up as you pass through this open canyon. As the trail exits the canyon, it will swing briefly towards the larger mountain, before turning east and then ascending a short hill. At the top of the hill, you reach your first trail connector, the Slick Rock Bypass.

Three connector trails along the FR Trail can shorten the length of the FR. This is the first such connector, and honestly, it doesn’t shorten it by much. I did not take this Bypass, but it may offer a different tread for bikers. That being said, the FR Trail that I followed didn’t seem that bad and offered some nice, close-up look at cavity-riddled rocks. At 2.92 miles, you reach the Tech Loop. This is a 1-mile trail that lassos back to this spot and can only be accessed from this juncture. At 3.07, you reach the other end of the Slick Rock Bypass. Shortly after this, you cross a powerline road and are offered tantalizing glimpses of the mountains to the south and west. The trail, continuing south, starts to play with several “juts” that hang over the Golden Valley to your right. It never quite gets you to the end of the “juts” but offers enough glimpses to impress. As you are making your way along the midsections of these “juts,” you have reached the high point of the trail and are offered some stunning views in the opposite direction overlooking Monolith Garden.

At 3.3 miles, you reach your second connector trail, the Basalt Connector. Combining this Connector with the Red Tail Connector can shorten your loop quite a bit and take you to the Monolith Garden Trail. Continuing on the FR Trail will keep you playing on the midsection of the “juts”. The trail finally reaches its southern terminus, offering one final, fantastic view of the mountains to the south, and starts a very gradual descent to the west. During this time, you have circled multiple “anthills”, some close to the trail, others further down into Monolith Garden. It’s funny, when you first start the trail, you wonder which mountains (anthills) this trail might play with. Though the FR Trail doesn’t really play on any of their slopes, it circles them all! At 4.58, you reach the Red Tail Connector, and then a little later at 5.58, you reach the other end of the Basalt Connector. According to the trail map, these two connectors intersect within the interior of the FR arc, offering different ways that you can shorten the FR. As the FR Trail played in this higher elevation, it had a fairly nice tread, being a combination of compact dirt and slightly rocky. As it begins its gradual descent, the trail becomes more rocky and starts to incorporate more twists and turns. The scenery, which had been stunning for most of the back end, becomes more ordinary.

At 6.74, the FR Trail ends when it junctures with the Monolith Garden Trail (I think). Up until this time, the trail had been very easy to follow with signage at all the junctures. However, at this point, the trail comes to an obvious split in the trail with nothing to mark it but a yellow reflector sign. The trail map at the TH makes me think this is the connection to the Monolith Garden Trail, but there is no trail signage to indicate this. In my mind, this is the end of the trail, but not necessarily the hike. If you enjoyed the views, you can turn around and return the way you came, or if you still have energy to burn, you can continue southwest down trails with questionable signage and the knowledge that your ride home is to the north. Or you can follow the unsigned trail north, which eventually leads to a signed Monolith Garden Trail and your path back to the TH.

Water Sources
There is no water at the trailheads, so plan accordingly.

Synopsis
This is a surprisingly nice hike, and though the trail map does a nice attempt to muddy the waters, the trail signs are pretty good once you get out on the trail…(until the end). The views are much better than anticipated, though you have to hike to get to them. You can shorten this hike by utilizing the Red Tail, Basalt Connectors, but still plan for a 7+ mile hike. With the map and trail signs being somewhat misleading, taking a picture of the map before you start your hike will help you in making decisions as you enjoy the Cerbat area.

2025-04-24 mt98dew