Hermosa Hill - Patagonias, AZ

Overview
Hermosa Hill, which means beautiful hill in English, is roughly a 500-foot hill near Harshaw, AZ in the Patagonia mountains. There's some private property in this area, but there are a few possible routes that involve an open country hike with light brush.


Hike
Knowing that it was not possible to walk the restricted road going up, I followed an open gully to the north that basically paralleled the main road for about 1/2 mile. Then, I decided to hike east, climbing up higher. After a few minutes, I saw a yellow cord/wire, which could have been for phone/internet and I followed it up higher for a while. The yellow cord kept going higher but did not go to the summit. Instead, it headed toward the north side of Hermosa Hill. I didn't see any fences here or any private property signs. Eventually, I was able to make the summit.The brush wasn't bad at all going up. There were just some oak and pine trees and it didn't get too thick. I was able to find good paths up between the trees. The peak looked very nice and I could understand why it was named Hermosa (Beautiful, in English). There were some oaks and pines and some shady areas, and also some open spaces. From the top of Hermosa Hill, I was able to look south toward American Peak, which was considerably higher, about 700 feet higher roughly. I didn't see a survey marker at the peak, but I did see a circular metal hole where it looked like the survey marker may have been removed. You should see a registry in a rock pile at the top.

2023-05-05 Mike_W