San Juan Hill - Rincons 5269, AZ

Overview
San Juan Hill, at an elevation of 5269 feet, is one of the lower-elevation peaks in the Rincon mountains. This hike is a lot shorter and easier than many of the other huge Rincons peaks like Rincon Peak, Mica Mountain and Tanque Verde Peak. There is no trail but if you follow my route through the sandy rocky wide canyon and then up the ridgeline it is a pleasant hike. Note that there are many other bad ways to go for this hike. Some of the lower hillsides and narrow canyons are filled with catclaw bushes, but these are mostly avoided if you take my route.


Hike
From the parking area, walk roughly 500 feet South on the road and look for a cattle trail on the west side of the road. Follow the cattle trail(s) for roughly 500 feet. There's an intersection of 2 canyons in this area and your goal is to get into the canyon that heads west, not north. The canyon heading west will open up and have a lot of sandy areas and rocky areas, but it is fairly easy to navigate, for the most part. There will be some obstacles to go around, which is common with most canyons.In January, there were some pools of water in low areas. During the wetter periods, this canyon will have water flowing in it, making the hike a bit slower but perhaps more enjoyable. After you have hiked a total of 0.75 miles, look for a way to exit the canyon on the left side (southwest side). Your goal is to get up on the ridgeline which will take you to San Juan Hill. There are patches of catclaw bush in many areas outside the canyon. Look carefully for these and you should be able to find ways around. You will find some good animal trails on the top of the ridge, but animals like deer aren't too good at clearing catclaw bush because they can easily jump over it. In my experience, the catclaw bush was sometimes on both sides of the animals' trails but there were sometimes ways to go around it. When it wasn't easy to go around, I was able to step on some of it, or slowly squeeze through and not get affected by it. I'd highly advise wearing durable jeans on a hike like this. I wish I remembered to bring my pruning cutters on this hike.

When I got higher up on the ridgeline I saw less catclaw bush and more oak, mesquite, manzanita, bear grass, and other non-thorny plants. When I hiked in early January, there was some snow cover higher up on the ridgeline but the snow wasn't slippery and there were patches of mossy plants in many areas. There were at least 2 rocky sections higher up on the ridgeline that were not trivial. You will need to weave around them. In one case I remember coming down through a rocky area and I needed to squeeze by a few dead oaks and some manzanitas.

Eventually, you will make it to the summit and you should find a registry in a rock pile. From the summit, you should be able to see Rincon Peak to the northwest. Looking northeast you should be able to see Forest Hill and North Star peaks. Take the same route down and remember, staying on the ridgeline and wider sandier canyons will allow you to avoid most of the catclaw bush.

2024-01-11 Mike_W