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Valley Views by MEWhiteman Overview: The Black Canyon Trail (BCT) is recognized as a National Recreational Trail and when complete, will meander 78 miles from Carefree Highway (AZ74) north to about 8 miles north of Mayer. There are a number of hike descriptions on this website covering various segments of this trail. This description covers the trail from Antelope Hill on FR259 about 1.1 miles south of Cordes north to where the trail crosses Antelope Creek Road near the town of Spring Valley. The hike is partially along dirt roads and partially along a single track and maintains an elevation between 3,900 to 4,200 feet. There are distant views is many directions as you hike north and midway through the hike is a nice valley along the single track. The vegetation is mostly low growing shrubs, grasses and cactus with occassional junipers to provide a little shade during a morning hike. I saw numerous cattle and one jack rabbit along the way. Hike: From the parking hike .2 miles east on FR259 toward Cordes until you come to where the trail crosses the road at N34 17.623 W112 10.452. Turn left onto the signed trail heading north on a dirt road. This point is 0.00 miles for the purposes of this description. At 0.34 miles (N34 17.694 W112 10.784) you pass a corral on the left. There are views to the west here including a distant valley and Crown King behind the valley. At 1.17 miles (N34 18.256 W112 11.124) pass under some powerlines. I saw some cattle in this area but they are free to roam over much of this area and may be spotted anywhere. At 1.73 (N34 18.651 W112 11.272) pass through a gate. At 1.97 miles (N34 18.822 W112 11.292) there is an old windmill, watertank and corrals. There was also a dry dirt tank and one steel tank with water. At 2.01 miles (N34 18.856 W112 11.300) just north of the windmill area turn left to leave the dirt road and begin following a narrow single track. There is a BCT sign here. There are occassional large cairns along this section. At 3.12 miles the trail turns right to begin descending through a nice valley. At 3.87 miles (N34 19.838 W112 11.351) the trail crosses a drainage and is well marked with cairns. At .04 miles further (N34 19.863 W112 11.366) cross another drainage and turn right following the large cairns to stay on the trail. At about 4.0 miles stay on the trail with the cairns as there seems to be other cattle trails is this area. At 4.47 miles (N34 20.250 W112 11.370) turn left onto a dirt road. At 4.68 miles (N34 20.397 W112 11.492) turn right onto another dirt road passing under some powerlines. Shortly after topping a small hill you'll see the objective for this hike, Antelope Creek Road. At 4.80 miles (N34 20.491 W112 11.449) pass through another gate. At 5.08 miles (N34 20.517 W112 11.238) reach Antelope Creek Road. The trail continues north on the other side of the road. There is parking here if you want to spot a car and do this as a one way hike. All in all I enjoyed the hike. There were some interesting sights, and it was possible to keep up a good pace. Check out the Official Route and Triplogs. Gate Policy: If a gate is closed upon arrival, leave it closed after you go through. If it is open, leave it open. Leaving a closed gate open may put cattle in danger. Closing an open gate may cut them off from water. Please be respectful, leave gates as found. Leave No Trace and +Add a Triplog after your hike to support this local community.
One-Way Notice This hike is listed as One-Way. When hiking several trails on a single "hike", log it with a generic name that describes the hike. Then link the trails traveled, check out the example. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WARNING! Hiking and outdoor related sports can be dangerous. Be responsible and prepare for the trip. Study the area you are entering and plan accordingly. Dress for the current and unexpected weather changes. Take plenty of water. Never go alone. Make an itinerary with your plan(s), route(s), destination(s) and expected return time. Give your itinerary to trusted family and/or friends.
Most recent Triplog Review
Antelope Hill to Antelope Creek Rd, BCT
Hidden Treasure to Big Bug (BCT)
Another Saturday rolled around where we had some time to hike all day, so my brother-in-law Todd joined me yet again for this 5th section of the Black Canyon Trail. This time, we were heading northbound again from Hidden Treasure trailhead off of Crown King Rd and wrapping up at Big Bug trailhead, the last marked trailhead to the north. There's another 7.1 miles left of the BCT after that, but Big Bug is the last road access to the trail northbound without getting back on dirt farm roads.
We set off at first light, this time without having to shuttle a car. We would have a ride waiting for us at Big Bug that would bring us back to my truck, and this saved us a bunch of extra driving this morning. Todd had plans to check out 8 different geocaches along this section of the BCT, and the first one was supposed to be located at Hidden Treasure trailhead by the west side of the cattle pen. We were unable to locate it and assumed it was now missing based on previous reports and our inability to find any trace of it.
Today was slated to be one moderate gradual climb over the first 8 miles, and then we would level out with some small rolling hills until the end. We got started from the cattle pen at Hidden Treasure trailhead and proceeded northeast and then nearly due north up a very scenic canyon with healthy vegetation and quality trail surface. The next 2 geocache searches were only about a mile into the trail, so we searched for the next one and again were skunked. But, the 3rd cache was just ahead and Todd finally had success locating it at the top of the hill. This cache was in a metal cookie tin on a small peak to the east of the trail. After finding this cache, we realized we were behind pace, so we kicked it into high gear and continued the ascent.
The next bit of trail takes us further up the canyon ascent and into changing terrain. Desert gives way to a change of biome at the top of the canyon with an occasional juniper tree and some narrow but shallow ridges. A trail runner with his 2 kids passed us oncoming through this section. Dad needed to teach his bike-riding kids about yielding to hikers, but we helped him out.
The ascent finally plateaus out with vistas of Crown King Road below us to the south, and views of the Turkey Creek area and the old mine remnants on the south side of the road. I've hiked down in that canyon before, but this perspective was pretty cool. We stopped at this windy viewpoint for a moderate break and ate our lunches.
The next bit of trail is a short road walk that ends at Drinking Snake trailhead. This crummy bit of road would be ok for a passenger car in dry weather, but it ends quickly. Todd showed signs of issues with one of the IT bands in his knee, so we stopped for him to stretch it out and take some ibuprofen, hoping we wouldn't have to hit the panic button and arrange a ride out of there. Within a half hour, he was outpacing me and moving along nicely with minimal to no pain. Crisis averted, so we pushed on across the grassy plateau until the final descent started.
Down we go. The terrain is a mix of high desert with a scattering of juniper and small cactus. There's a lot of sign of cattle grazing through here probably due to the abundant grasses along this section. We make quick time along some more short road walks and easy trail with a gradual downhill grade. This section is relatively flat however, so walking is easy.
After a bit, we round a ridge and get a view of Spring Valley to our northeast. Big Bug trailhead sits along Hwy 69 between Spring Valley and Mayer. Both towns are about 2 miles away to the east and west, so walking to either for supplies would be easy. We come around the ridge and head west towards Big Bug, where we see our ride pulling into the parking lot 5 minutes before we get there.
Big Bug is a very large trailhead and well-marked from Hwy 69. Big signs for the Black Canyon Trail are right on the highway so it's easy to find. There are pit toilets and a very large parking lot here that could hold about 30 cars. It's a popular trailhead start for mountain bikers looking to head southbound.
With only 7.1 miles of official trail to go, this was a nice cool day with some great changes in scenery. The big climb in the first half of is section was a very manageable grade and never wore us out at all. This was a nice finish to the "major" sections of the BCT.
We set off at first light, this time without having to shuttle a car. We would have a ride waiting for us at Big Bug that would bring us back to my truck, and this saved us a bunch of extra driving this morning. Todd had plans to check out 8 different geocaches along this section of the BCT, and the first one was supposed to be located at Hidden Treasure trailhead by the west side of the cattle pen. We were unable to locate it and assumed it was now missing based on previous reports and our inability to find any trace of it.
Today was slated to be one moderate gradual climb over the first 8 miles, and then we would level out with some small rolling hills until the end. We got started from the cattle pen at Hidden Treasure trailhead and proceeded northeast and then nearly due north up a very scenic canyon with healthy vegetation and quality trail surface. The next 2 geocache searches were only about a mile into the trail, so we searched for the next one and again were skunked. But, the 3rd cache was just ahead and Todd finally had success locating it at the top of the hill. This cache was in a metal cookie tin on a small peak to the east of the trail. After finding this cache, we realized we were behind pace, so we kicked it into high gear and continued the ascent.
The next bit of trail takes us further up the canyon ascent and into changing terrain. Desert gives way to a change of biome at the top of the canyon with an occasional juniper tree and some narrow but shallow ridges. A trail runner with his 2 kids passed us oncoming through this section. Dad needed to teach his bike-riding kids about yielding to hikers, but we helped him out.
The ascent finally plateaus out with vistas of Crown King Road below us to the south, and views of the Turkey Creek area and the old mine remnants on the south side of the road. I've hiked down in that canyon before, but this perspective was pretty cool. We stopped at this windy viewpoint for a moderate break and ate our lunches.
The next bit of trail is a short road walk that ends at Drinking Snake trailhead. This crummy bit of road would be ok for a passenger car in dry weather, but it ends quickly. Todd showed signs of issues with one of the IT bands in his knee, so we stopped for him to stretch it out and take some ibuprofen, hoping we wouldn't have to hit the panic button and arrange a ride out of there. Within a half hour, he was outpacing me and moving along nicely with minimal to no pain. Crisis averted, so we pushed on across the grassy plateau until the final descent started.
Down we go. The terrain is a mix of high desert with a scattering of juniper and small cactus. There's a lot of sign of cattle grazing through here probably due to the abundant grasses along this section. We make quick time along some more short road walks and easy trail with a gradual downhill grade. This section is relatively flat however, so walking is easy.
After a bit, we round a ridge and get a view of Spring Valley to our northeast. Big Bug trailhead sits along Hwy 69 between Spring Valley and Mayer. Both towns are about 2 miles away to the east and west, so walking to either for supplies would be easy. We come around the ridge and head west towards Big Bug, where we see our ride pulling into the parking lot 5 minutes before we get there.
Big Bug is a very large trailhead and well-marked from Hwy 69. Big signs for the Black Canyon Trail are right on the highway so it's easy to find. There are pit toilets and a very large parking lot here that could hold about 30 cars. It's a popular trailhead start for mountain bikers looking to head southbound.
With only 7.1 miles of official trail to go, this was a nice cool day with some great changes in scenery. The big climb in the first half of is section was a very manageable grade and never wore us out at all. This was a nice finish to the "major" sections of the BCT.
2018-02-10 Mudhole
