Grant Cabin Shortcut Trail #306, AZ

The Northwest portion of the Blue Range Primitive Area where this trail is located has been severely affected by the Wallow Fire of June 2011. The area is currently open to public use and entry - HOWEVER trails may not have been recently assessed or maintained for hazards associated with the fire, so plan your trip accordingly.

Please keep in mind that any area affected by the wildfire can be prone to hazards such as falling trees, flooding, and burned-out stump holes. The environment you are entering is highly susceptible to rainstorms and wind events. Any time you enter the forest, you should be aware of your environment and changing weather conditions. You are responsible for your own safety! Always look up, look down, and look all around.This shortcut connector provides a route from Grant Creek Trail on the rim of Grant Creek Canyon to Upper Grant Creek Trail along the canyon floor. It offers access between those two trails or to Long Cienega Trail without having to go the long way around via the Paradise Trail. So doing, it cuts over 4 miles off a loop hike that starts down Grant Creek Trail and returns by Upper Grant Creek Trail. That leaves a manageable but ambitious Grant/Upper Grant Creek day hike of about 10.5 miles rather than one of over 14 miles. It also makes a loop route via Grant Creek and Long Cienega 4 miles shorter than hiking them via the Paradise Trail.

About 100 yards upstream from the point where the trail reaches the canyon bottom "on the only flat land in the canyon," you'll find what's left of Grant Cabin, an old ranch line shack. Only four walls and an old corral remain from the days when cowboys had to virtually live with their cattle. Remains of old copper vessels found nearby suggest that a little moonshining may have been practiced here as well.

Grant Cabin Shortcut, and the nearby portions of the trails it connects, winds through a variety of upland habitats. A relatively solid canopy of mixed conifers, broken intermittently by small cienega and occasional ponderosa pine stands, covers the highlands. On the slopes of the canyon, pinyon/juniper woodlands cover southern exposures, while colonies of conifers keep to cooler northern slopes. Below their Grant Cabin connection, the environs of Grant Creek and Upper Grant Creek Trails change markedly as they begin their dive into the lower reaches of the Blue.

Notes: No mechanized vehicles (including mountain bikes) permitted in the Primitive area.

Trail Log:
0.0 Junction with Grant Creek Trail #75. Junction occurs at a gate about 1.5 miles below P-Bar Lake on the Grant Creek Trail. Trail cuts back to the west at this point.
0.3 Trail is adjacent to a fence. Don't cross through the gate!
0.6 Trail crosses rock outcrop and descends through a series of switchbacks (constructed by Apache-Sitgreaves volunteer crew in 1989)
0.9 Junction with Upper Grant Trail #65. Grant Cabin and old wooden corral are visible upstream.

USGS Maps: Hannagan, Strayhorse

2021-06-01 HAZ_Hikebot