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 Overview: Located west of Greer, Horseshoe Cienega Lake is accessed via Highway 260 and is at an elevation of 8,000 feet. There are several family camp units available. There is safe drinking water along with fishing and boating activities. The managed Season is April to November. A store and boat rentals are available in season. Trailers are accommodated. Stays are limited to 10 days. Horseshoe Cienega Lake has areas for the physically challenged to fish and enjoy their vacation. This is a fee area and permits are required from the White Mountain Apache Tribe. Horseshoe Cienega Lake is 121 acres at and elevation of 8,100 ft, located 18 miles east of Pinetop off Arizona 260. The lake is visible from the highway. This horseshoe shaped "cienega"; or meadow was transformed into a lake in the mid-1960s. It has become one of the most popular reservation fishing lakes and has given up the state record for brown trout at 16 lbs. 7 oz. Check out the Triplog. 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
Horseshoe Cienega
White Mountains Winter 2013
White Mountains Winter 2013
I needed to feel some snow beneath my feet - so having heard from my neighbors Terry and Giselle about their New Year's trek to Sunrise Ski Park (check out => http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=1307 ), I thought a couple of days in the White Mountains would be "just the ticket". I couldn't take advantage of my Marriott Rewards or Priority Club Rewards booking a hotel since none of their hotels in the vicinity of the White Mountains are "pet friendly". Luckily the Best Western in Eagar AZ will accept dogs in the room, so we had our base camp.
Wednesday 1/2 - Arrived in the White Mountains late morning via Hwy 260 with our first stop near Sunrise Ski Park and FR112 and the Railroad Grade Trail #601 (see => http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=15451 ). Lots of snow fun on the slopes of the Railroad Grade. FR117 was unplowed so our afternoon plans to explore Green's Peak and the Four Knolls (see => http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=792 ) were thwarted. Our back-up plan was to explore trails near the village of Greer. Mini-hikes on West Fork Trail #94 and Butler Canyon Trail #98 (see => http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=784 and http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=2250 ) and exploring some real estate poking around the village. You can see the scarred forest and how close it came to torching all of Greer from last summer's Wallow Fire (see => http://wildfiretoday.com/2011/06/09/wal ... r-arizona/ and http://hikearizona.com/map.php?QX=769 ). We ended the day with a sunset hike of the G&F Grasslands (see => http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=963 ). Grasslands lived up to the hype for surefire wildlife encounters as we met up with a herd of mule deer.
Thursday 1/3 - After a frigid night, arrived at the South Fork Trail #97 (see => http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=602 ) trail head with my truck thermometer indicating 19degF (neglected to get photo evidence, but did capture the noon time temperature of 23degF). We hiked the 3 miles to the bridge with the dogs enjoying the snow. Once again scars from the Wallow Fire could be seen along the hiking route. Next up was Pole Knoll (see => http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=802 ). Hiking was challenging post-holing your route beside the set track for cross country skiing. I was very impressed with the skiing conditions at Pole Knoll - makes me want to break out my skis! We Wrapped up our White Mountain tour with some photo ops at Horseshoe Cienega (see => http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=17512 ) and Los Burros (see => http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=603 ). We had a late day dinner in Show Low and returned home via Hwy 60.
I needed to feel some snow beneath my feet - so having heard from my neighbors Terry and Giselle about their New Year's trek to Sunrise Ski Park (check out => http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=1307 ), I thought a couple of days in the White Mountains would be "just the ticket". I couldn't take advantage of my Marriott Rewards or Priority Club Rewards booking a hotel since none of their hotels in the vicinity of the White Mountains are "pet friendly". Luckily the Best Western in Eagar AZ will accept dogs in the room, so we had our base camp.
Wednesday 1/2 - Arrived in the White Mountains late morning via Hwy 260 with our first stop near Sunrise Ski Park and FR112 and the Railroad Grade Trail #601 (see => http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=15451 ). Lots of snow fun on the slopes of the Railroad Grade. FR117 was unplowed so our afternoon plans to explore Green's Peak and the Four Knolls (see => http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=792 ) were thwarted. Our back-up plan was to explore trails near the village of Greer. Mini-hikes on West Fork Trail #94 and Butler Canyon Trail #98 (see => http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=784 and http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=2250 ) and exploring some real estate poking around the village. You can see the scarred forest and how close it came to torching all of Greer from last summer's Wallow Fire (see => http://wildfiretoday.com/2011/06/09/wal ... r-arizona/ and http://hikearizona.com/map.php?QX=769 ). We ended the day with a sunset hike of the G&F Grasslands (see => http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=963 ). Grasslands lived up to the hype for surefire wildlife encounters as we met up with a herd of mule deer.
Thursday 1/3 - After a frigid night, arrived at the South Fork Trail #97 (see => http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=602 ) trail head with my truck thermometer indicating 19degF (neglected to get photo evidence, but did capture the noon time temperature of 23degF). We hiked the 3 miles to the bridge with the dogs enjoying the snow. Once again scars from the Wallow Fire could be seen along the hiking route. Next up was Pole Knoll (see => http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=802 ). Hiking was challenging post-holing your route beside the set track for cross country skiing. I was very impressed with the skiing conditions at Pole Knoll - makes me want to break out my skis! We Wrapped up our White Mountain tour with some photo ops at Horseshoe Cienega (see => http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=17512 ) and Los Burros (see => http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=603 ). We had a late day dinner in Show Low and returned home via Hwy 60.
2013-01-02 Randal_Schulhauser
