Snow Flat, AZ

Overview
Why write a description for an easy, half-mile hike to nowhere? Because it's beautiful, and if you happen to be camped at Snow Flat in Arizona's Pinaleno Mountains, you might wonder what lies below the flat. A well-traveled trail, possibly dating to Snow Flat's days as a Boy Scout camp, leads into the forest below Snow Flat's little lake and makes for an interesting, albeit brief, exploration.


Hike
From the little concrete spillway on the south side of Snow Flat Lake, a distinct trail heads downhill into the coniferous forest, following Snow Flat's creek down a shallow drainage. The path soon beelines through a small meadow, which is filled with the Pinaleno's ubiquitous yellow wildflowers in summer.As the drainage narrows, leafy skunk cabbage and cow parsnip plants line the trail, which stays close to the trickling creek.

After a quarter-mile of lush greenery, the drainage drops off the southern edge of the Pinaleno Mountains, and the little trail comes to an end atop a rocky platform next to the creek. Below, the canyon steepens and becomes a maze of near-vertical rock walls and tangled broadleaf trees. One can see a small wedge of the Sulphur Springs Valley out of the mouth of the canyon. There may be some small waterfalls farther down the canyon, but navigating through this rough terrain is not likely worth the effort.

On the return hike, be sure to stay right when the drainage forks, as a little side trail heads up the left drainage as well.

2009-07-19 PrestonSands