St Clair Peak 4230 - Tonto NF, AZ

Overview
Saint Clair Summit Hike is a ~4.23-mile hike up to the summit of Saint Clair Mountain. There is ~826 elevation gain and the hike follows a jeep trail then you have to bushwack to the top.
33.897567, -111.750167
Hike
You can park at the Kentuck Mountain staging area but do not block the gate.
Enter the trail at this gate. N 33 53.854 W 111 45.010


When you reach the trailhead, you will have to jump over a locked gate, as the first part of the trail used to be a jeep trail but is now locked off to vehicles. You will follow this jeep trail for ~1.3 miles. At the 0.2-mile mark, you will pass a gated area that contains a waterhole. You are not allowed to camp within 1/4 mile of this waterhole.When you reach the ~1.3 mile mark the jeep trail splits. You will see a trail that is even more overgrown which heads straight, while the jeep trail turns right. Follow the overgrown trail straight ahead. The overgrown trail proceeds to curve around the mountain towards the saddle over ~0.5 miles. This trail will become more overgrown until it eventually stops near the saddle at around the ~1.8-mile mark. You will need to bushwack the remaining ~0.4 miles to the top.

This is where the trail becomes a bit hard. The last ~0.4 miles gain ~500 feet as you climb to the top. There is a wash area where you can try to walk up, it's definitely easier than bushwacking through the tall grass. Near the summit, there are some Native American ruins, please treat the area with respect and take only pictures and leave only footprints.

The summit is now very close, there were lots of gnats on my hike. There is also a summit register at the top located at these coordinates (N 33° 53.869' W 111° 43.717') When going down, make sure the rocks you are stepping on are stable so you don't tumble down the mountain.

2023-09-04 NitroTheWolf