Tortuga Trail - Spur Cross, AZ

Overview
Used to access Elephant Mountain Trail or as a loop with Spur Cross Trail.

Hike
From the northeast junction with Spur Cross Trail, you immediately head up a gentle slope. Soon you top out on a small deck with nice views north of Sugarloaf Mountain. On this trip, Sugarloaf was covered in yellow brittlebush blooms.

As noted in the elevation profile the trail soon heads right back down to a usually dry ravine. Here I encountered a Parks & Recreation truck. Signs remind you that going off-trail is not allowed. Perhaps they were enforcing park law. Maybe somebody tried to shortcut the 250 feet down to the Spur Cross Trail... who knows!

Across the ravine, you head up a huffer slope. Even at its worst, it's only a 150-foot climb. Perhaps no worse than the first switchback of Piestewa. All the lower trails up to this point could practically be negotiated in flip flops. Here the footing gets loose. The good news is the old jeep road is beyond Parks & Recreation cruiser negotiable. Especially because there are a couple of boulders lined at the top as a mammoth waterbar.

Soon you'll find yourself at a junction with Elephant Mountain Trail. Take a left and head south onto the ridge-of-views. On this trip, the ground was literally covered in green flora and wildflowers. The views are top-notch all around. Looking ahead/SSE, Black Mountain dominates the horizon. Even in this above-average rainfall year, the ground sports deep drought cracks.

A half-mile down this subtle sloping ridge, you come to the southwest junction with Spur Cross Trail. New River Mesa shaded a majority of my late afternoon hike. Talk about a bonus!

Check out the Official Route and Triplogs.

Leave No Trace and +Add a Triplog after your hike to support this local community.

2008-03-21 joebartels