Canyon of Fools, AZ

Warning
There are several things to be aware of for this trail and trailhead. One, there are no services at this TH, so plan accordingly and bring enough water for your planned hike. The second warning is uniquely special to this trail. The Canyon of Fools Trail is laid out in such a way that bikers traveling north to south may be traveling at speeds that are dangerous to other users. So when hiking be vigilant for oncoming traffic.


Overview
The parking for this trail is roadside parking. There is enough room for about 10 vehicles. The positive about the roadside parking is that there is no permit or fee required to use this trailhead. On the south side of the road, there are other trails along with the trail map of the trails in the vicinity. The trail map is a great way to get familiar with the area, see how the trails interact, and pre-plan your hike.Hike
The Canyon of Fools Trail starts on the north side of the Boyton Pass Road. The trail is signed and its path is obvious as it makes its way north. At first, the views are somewhat open, allowing you to get a decent view of the surrounding vistas, primarily Mescal Mountain and Capitol Butte. Almost immediately the views begin to disappear as you enter the canyon. And it’s not that you’re climbing down into the canyon as the canyon walls are rising around you. In fact, as you continue, you’re actually gaining elevation it’s only the walls around you are getting elevation faster. Since you’re in a relatively narrow canyon, staying on the trail is not a problem. The trail will twist and turn following the way of the canyon. At one point, the canyon walls will rise 15 feet above you and come within 3 feet of touching each other, but this is only for a brief time. As you slowly gain elevation, the canyon transitions from canyon to wash to drainage. At just under 0.5 miles you will reach a hilltop and come to a trail juncture. You have gained about 60 feet in the process and the views are a little better than when you started. In my mind, this intersection and the trail signage are not very clear. To stay on the Canyon of a Fools trail, you need to make a hard left and descend a hill going in a southwest direction. If you continue north you are on the Yucca trail.

The Canyon of Fools Trail will lose a little over half of its elevation gain as it turns west and descends into a valley. As you reach this new low point you encounter a wash shaded by several decent-sized pines. At 0.75 miles you’ll exit this pine-covered wash by beginning a series of switchbacks. Throughout, the trail is obvious and easy to follow, though at about 0.9 miles a user trail takes off from one of the switchbacks. At the time of this writing, this user trail has been “rocked off”. Just realize, that as you are doing the switchbacks, your goal is to climb towards Mescal Mountain. The trail ends when it connects to the Mescal Trail for a total of 1.25 miles. At this point, you have several options. You can return the way you came for an easy 2.5-mile hike. Or you can make a loop of various lengths by going either left or right on the Mescal Trail.

The Canyon of Fools Trail is composed primarily of hard, compact, red dirt. But there are spots will you will get brief glimpses of red rock slabs. This will become more true as you approach the Mescal intersection. Foliage for this trail is minimal, offering little protection from the sun. Morning and evening times would be the preferred hiking times, with the surrounding landscape providing shade opportunities. The Canyon of Fools Trail would be nice to hike in either direction. However, if you are biking the obvious, more fun-filled direction, would be north to south.

2023-10-07 mt98dew