Jhus Horse Saddle Trail #252, AZ

Jhus Horse Saddle Trail #252 & Pinery Horsefall Trail #336 form an east-west route that leads up and over the crest of the north Chiricahuas. The area they lead through is one that has been the center of quite a bit of mining and cattle ranching activity. The mines have closed down, leaving behind a few old roads and some rusting relics. The cattle ranches are still operational.

Both of these trails are also outside the boundary of the Chiricahua Wilderness. The area they pass through is quite remote, nevertheless, and a traveler along them will most likely encounter fewer people here than on many of the Wilderness trails.

Pinery-Horsefall Trail traverses a variety of settings from a sycamore shaded riparian area in Pinery Canyon (good birdwatching here), up and over a dry, juniper-dotted ridgetop to a grassy canyon sprinkled with Apache pine and big walnut trees. This second canyon is named Horsefall and the trail stays with it through stands of Douglas-fir and Gambel oak as it climbs to Jhus-Horse Saddle.

Jhus-Horse Saddle Trail approaches this same saddle from the east. It starts in an area of abandoned mines and old mining roads and climbs through chaparral and a few drainages to the saddle. This trail can be hard to find and hot, too, on a sunny day. The road (FR 341) that leads to it can be a bit of an adventure in its own right.

Check out the Official Route.

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2018-07-14 HAZ_Hikebot