Pine Creek Trail - Tonto Natural Bridge, AZ

Overview
A 400ft developed trail leads down to the undeveloped Pine Creek Natural area within Tonto Natural Bridge State Park.


Hike
An easy well-groomed dirt trail leads down to a perennial section of Pine Creek. Once down in the creek bottom, the method of travel becomes easy boulder hopping following the yellow painted arrows and signs downstream.A spring-fed waterfall, blackberry thickets, and cave area will soon come into view to the east, which is inaccessible from the Pine Creek Trail but can be reached by the wholly separate and short 'Waterfall Trail". This is also where numerous and consistent sightings of coatimundi occur, so stay quiet and keep your eyes peeled, and you may get lucky enough to see the peculiar creatures.

Near the end of the Pine Creek trail, it makes a sharp bend east, where the only mandatory creek crossing is located.

After that, one can proceed further to the natural bridge or head out of the canyon via the 500 ft long "Anna Mae Trail". Anna Mae brings you back up top, where a paved walking path can be used to loop back to your vehicle at the Pine Creek trailhead located in the northern portion of the park.

2019-08-06 MountainMatt