Dynamite Trail - San Tan MRP, AZ

Dynamite Trail via Goldmine

This trail starts at the northernmost park entrance off of Wagon Wheel Rd. You start off on a relatively flat portion of the Goldmine trail. Shortly you will see the new sign pointing off to the right for Dynamite Trail. This trail winds it way through the Goldmine Mountains and provides a far more gentle slope to enter the rest of the park as compared to the Goldmine Trail.


Just after the start of the trail, you can head up the first mountain to a newly erected Arizona state flag. The trail ends in 2.4 miles. At this point, take a left onto the San Tan Trail to rejoin the Goldmine Trail. Take a left onto the Goldmine Trail to ascend and descend the only difficult part of this hike. Fortunately, the park has re-graded. In my estimation, this has removed some of the peak difficulties, but they have distributed a lot of loose hard-scrabble over long stretches of the trail. Thus, while the peak difficulty is decreased, the average difficulty has gone up. When you come down the backside of the mountain, it is still steep, but far more easy to navigate than previously. The trails are well-signed so this should present no difficulties. If the steepness of the Goldmine Trail is a concern, you can turn this into an out-and-back.Warning: The park still labels the Goldmine portion of the trail over the mountain as difficult. As I mentioned, it is better than it used to be, but can still present issues to the inexperienced hiker.

Water Sources: There are no water stops on this hike, but water can be found at the ranger station.

2012-02-26 bigdad