Route Editor
Route Scout
Interior View of Superstitions by Tim This hike is described in great detail in Carlson's "Hiker's Guide to the Superstition Wilderness" under trip #41. This hike started off being an 8.2 mile loop but quickly expanded to 14.4 miles when we saw FSR 213. While the four of us, (Carolyn, Paul and Jim), were in a 4x4 Tahoe, there was no way it was getting up that road without leaving some key automotive components behind. I don't think a Hummer could get up that road. You'd have to have one seriously jacked up vehicle to clear the rocks at the start of this "road". Walking the road added 3.1 miles to each end of the hike and took an hour each way, but was actually quite pretty. The FSR eventually dumps you onto an unsigned trail that leads up a hill to a gate. Approximately 1/2 mile past the gate you come to the signed intersection of the Hoolie Bacon & JF Trails. After you follow the Hoolie Bacon Trail south across a couple of creek crossings it begins a gradual climb up to the top of Horse Ridge. From this saddle you are treated to excellent views of the surrounding Superstitions. Figuring most prominently is Miners Needle to the south. Coming down from the saddle one heads across Horse Basin until intersecting a wash at the bottom. This is where the fun really starts. From this junction, one back tracks sharply to your right towards a low point on the ridge. Now in Carlson's book, they recommend heading up the wash to the top of the ridge before heading west to the saddle as this route has less cat claw, but I'm not so sure. We ground it out up the wash which in spots was very overgrown. (NOTE: A great strategy for bushwhacking is to send a big Irishman, (that would be Jimmy), into the thicktes first so as to widen the path.) Once we got as far as the "H" in "Horse Camp" on the topo, we had had enough of the creek and elected to head due west up the ridge. This proved to be much easier going. Once you reach the saddle you can look down into the flat plain between Horse Ridge and Tortilla Mountain where Peters Trail lies. After heading down this ridge and across yet another wash we stumbled across Peters Trail for the trip back to Tortilla Well. This is the prettiest part of the hike as the trail winds down a narrow canyon to Kane and Indian Spring. The views on the way down are spectacular and I really recommend doing the loop in a clockwise fashion for this reason. After passing Indian Spring, (dry), you cross Tortill Creek several times before exiting a narrow slot canyon just before the trailhead. The actual 8.2 mile loop from trailhead to trailhead took us 3 1/2 hours with just a brief break for lunch. Overall, the trip was 14.4 miles and 5 1/2 hours to and from the Apache Trail. Check out the Official Route and Triplogs. Gate Policy: If a gate is closed upon arrival, leave it closed after you go through. If it is open, leave it open. Leaving a closed gate open may put cattle in danger. Closing an open gate may cut them off from water. Please be respectful, leave gates as found. Leave No Trace and +Add a Triplog after your hike to support this local community.
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WARNING! Hiking and outdoor related sports can be dangerous. Be responsible and prepare for the trip. Study the area you are entering and plan accordingly. Dress for the current and unexpected weather changes. Take plenty of water. Never go alone. Make an itinerary with your plan(s), route(s), destination(s) and expected return time. Give your itinerary to trusted family and/or friends.
Most recent of 16 deeper Triplog Reviews
Hoolie Bacon - Peters Trail Loop
Hiked Peter's Trail to the pass then across the back side of Horse Ridge to do some exploring. Lots of catclaw but to be expected. Scared up a couple white-tail deer who looked surprised to see us. We then headed towards peak 4066 and made our decent on the right or east side dropping down onto Little Hawk Spring. Enjoyed lunch and a break at the spring and then continued down the drainage to the wash, then continued east to meet up with the Hoolie Bacon Trail which we then followed back to the trailhead. Great weather, overcast and even a brief rain shower.
Foliage
Some trees along Tortilla Creek were showing some nice yellow foliage.
Foliage
Some trees along Tortilla Creek were showing some nice yellow foliage.
2017-11-04 hikerdw
Hoolie Bacon - Peters Trail Loop
Went back out to the Tortilla TH to do the Hoolie Bacon - Peters Trail Loop ( Thanks hikerdw for the guidance of your GPS Route ) Really does give you a sense of what this area has to offer. A Million Words of Caution ----- Wear long Pants, Long sleeves, get your suntan on a different hike, because you will encounter the dreaded Jungle of Cats--Claw !!!! from the lower part of Hoolie Bacon all across to the Peters Trail.... Didn't see much Wild life, but Rick spotted a couple of deer down in the wash, managed one picture worth keeping 
Met only one soul heading up to Peter's Pass as we were heading down. Came across 3 hikers as we were heading back to 88 about 2 miles in,, stopped and visited for awhile, noticed only one had water in a small camelbak, asked if they had enough water ---- Yes, are you sure ?? advised them to be careful and not go to far, I think some don't really get it 
Be Prepared when you go out and know your limits !!!
Met only one soul heading up to Peter's Pass as we were heading down. Came across 3 hikers as we were heading back to 88 about 2 miles in,, stopped and visited for awhile, noticed only one had water in a small camelbak, asked if they had enough water ---- Yes, are you sure ?? advised them to be careful and not go to far, I think some don't really get it Be Prepared when you go out and know your limits !!!2016-02-17 hikingaz2
Hoolie Bacon - Peters Trail Loop
Headed out JF Trail, hooked up with Hoolie Bacon about a mile out and ended up linking it to Peter's Trail by bushwacking about two miles. Hoolie Bacon trail is in pretty bad shape, Bob trimmed some as we went along, but it needs a full crew to get it back in acceptable condition. It seems like the cats claw this season is worse than ever, the bushwacking section nearly tore our clothes off. Only saw one other hiker all day, the 3-1/2 mile walk in from the road to the trailhead keeps many folks away, we took the RZR in. Running water still in Tortilla creek. Weather's warming up, take plenty of fluids, you'll be glad later.
2016-02-17 rtaylor3235
Hoolie Bacon - Peters Trail Loop
Met up with Kyle for another trek on the Tortilla Super Loop. This is our third time making this loop and probably not the last. We parked right off the 88 hwy around 7:20am and started hiking the road. This part flies by and we hit the JF trail opting for a clockwise loop. The hike up Hoolie Bacon went well and we dropped down to Red Tanks Trail. We made good time as the miles poured by and took our lunch at La Barge Spring. Here we talked to a pair of guys making a loop from Peralta and were exiting the Whiskey Spring Trail. They were asking how much time they had back to the trailhead. I guessed 3-5 hours. We continued on and headed up the Peters Trail. This portion of the hike started to take it's toll on us. We were both getting tired and route finding kept our heads on a swivel. We took a break at a creek and filtered some water. From there we had one more small climb and then all downhill back to the Tortilla TH. Some trail maintenance has been completed through here and made for quick travel. Once back to the TH we flew down the road and were back to the vehicle around 5:40pm. This was a long day but I'm glad we did it. This is a great hike that doesn't get a lot of traffic. Thanks Kyle for suggesting this one and driving.
2016-02-06 John9L
Hoolie Bacon - Peters Trail Loop
Didn't see any trip reports for the area after the recent rain, and hiking across Horse Ridge has been on my wish list for a while, so off we went. The hike up JF and then Hoolie Bacon was very pleasant, trail conditions were better than expected, and all the water flow added to the fun factor. We took a break once we hit the top of Horse Ridge and surveyed our starting route across. Just as we started across we spooked up two white tailed deer and watched them scamper of in the general direction we were headed so we basically followed their route. At a saddle, and as we looked across, we were treated to a blanket of very dense catclaw 
to which Ryan commented "what do you think?". What do I think, "we are going to get scratched and poked but let's go". It was bad but the game trails made it better than it could have been. Found a really nice spot about half way across the ridge to have lunch and refuel which made the second half of the off trail section seem like a breeze. On our way down Peters Trail we checked out Kane Spring which is about 3/4 full.
On a side note, regarding last nights playoff game, I suspect the half-time speech went something like this, "Larry, do not let us lose this game". Thank-you Fitz!
to which Ryan commented "what do you think?". What do I think, "we are going to get scratched and poked but let's go". It was bad but the game trails made it better than it could have been. Found a really nice spot about half way across the ridge to have lunch and refuel which made the second half of the off trail section seem like a breeze. On our way down Peters Trail we checked out Kane Spring which is about 3/4 full.
On a side note, regarding last nights playoff game, I suspect the half-time speech went something like this, "Larry, do not let us lose this game". Thank-you Fitz!
2016-01-16 hikerdw
Hoolie Bacon - Peters Trail Loop
This is the second time we've done this sweet loop and this time we decided to try counter clockwise. It was a long long day but well worth it. It was a little longer than last time because 9L parked even further away from the trailhead 
2014-03-22 Tough_Boots
Hoolie Bacon - Peters Trail Loop
We were limited on time and where we could drive (shocks on the truck needed replacing and had to be ordered) so this was our choice. I also wanted to record a good GPS track of the route we use when connecting Hoolie Bacon with Peter's for others to use as a reference. Like our previous trip doing this hike, this was a great outing, although it did seem like the cat claw was a little more dense this time around. Had lunch on top of the ridge that separates the two trails under the shade of one of the few trees. It was pretty dry out there.
Regarding the truck, shocks (Bilstein's) were received on Monday and installed yesterday so we are good to go
Regarding the truck, shocks (Bilstein's) were received on Monday and installed yesterday so we are good to go
2014-01-18 hikerdw
Hoolie Bacon - Peters Trail Loop
Kyle and I headed out to Tortilla with plans to make the Hoolie Bacon - Peters Loop. We started driving up the road and I was not crazy about the obstacles. We had a quick look and decided to dump the jeep and wrack up a bunch of miles.
The walk up the road flew by. We found ourselves at the true trailhead within the hour. We connected on JF to Hoolie Bacon and followed the trail down towards Red Tanks. Once on the Red Tanks we proceeded west. I really enjoy this portion of trail. Along the way we crossed paths with Fricknaley & Azdesertfather. We continued on and had lunch at La Barge Spring. From there we continued north and ran into more HAZ members, Slowandsteady and BiFrost. We had a nice chat and then continued.
Once on Peters Trail we started making the climb up. Our progress slowed but we pushed on. Along Peters we passed four separate backpacking groups. Most of them were heading to Charlebois. After a while we returned to the parking area and then hiked back on the road and back to the jeep.
This was a long day but well worth. I'm really glad we checked out this area of the Supes and I didn't mind the extra mileage. I look forward to returning to this area again someday.
The walk up the road flew by. We found ourselves at the true trailhead within the hour. We connected on JF to Hoolie Bacon and followed the trail down towards Red Tanks. Once on the Red Tanks we proceeded west. I really enjoy this portion of trail. Along the way we crossed paths with Fricknaley & Azdesertfather. We continued on and had lunch at La Barge Spring. From there we continued north and ran into more HAZ members, Slowandsteady and BiFrost. We had a nice chat and then continued.
Once on Peters Trail we started making the climb up. Our progress slowed but we pushed on. Along Peters we passed four separate backpacking groups. Most of them were heading to Charlebois. After a while we returned to the parking area and then hiked back on the road and back to the jeep.
This was a long day but well worth. I'm really glad we checked out this area of the Supes and I didn't mind the extra mileage. I look forward to returning to this area again someday.
2013-01-19 John9L
Hoolie Bacon - Peters Trail Loop
Hoolie / Red Tanks / Peters Loop
John and I hadn't hiked out of the Tortilla TH before so we decided today was the day. Unfortunately, that road is way rougher than we had imagined. We made it maybe 1/8 mile up the road and decided to stash the jeep-- we'd just have walk it and make it a big day. Good thing I packed heavy on the food and an extra gatorade.
Hoolie Bacon is pretty lackluster-- I had kind of imagined that. It get better the closer you get you Red Tanks. We hit Red Tanks and hiked through Upper LaBarge (one of my favorite areas). We ran into fricknaley and azdesertfather who told us rumors that JaunJaime was hiking in from Rogers-- we never got to run into him though. Near Labarge, we met slowandsteady and BiFrost-- nice to meet you
We finally made it out to Peters. I think this was the highlight of the day-- what a great trail. Its steep as crap, rugged, and had great views! We saw four groups of backpackers on Peters. We were surprised to see so many.
We made it back to the road and slogged the remaining three miles to the jeep as the sun lowered. We were ready to be done. This was a great day and a solid hike. I would definitely do this one again
Hoolie Bacon is pretty lackluster-- I had kind of imagined that. It get better the closer you get you Red Tanks. We hit Red Tanks and hiked through Upper LaBarge (one of my favorite areas). We ran into fricknaley and azdesertfather who told us rumors that JaunJaime was hiking in from Rogers-- we never got to run into him though. Near Labarge, we met slowandsteady and BiFrost-- nice to meet you
We finally made it out to Peters. I think this was the highlight of the day-- what a great trail. Its steep as crap, rugged, and had great views! We saw four groups of backpackers on Peters. We were surprised to see so many.
We made it back to the road and slogged the remaining three miles to the jeep as the sun lowered. We were ready to be done. This was a great day and a solid hike. I would definitely do this one again
2013-01-19 Tough_Boots
Hoolie Bacon - Peters Trail Loop
The mornings have been nice so I decided to do a short hike in the Supes. I slept in till 3:30a so I didn't start hiking until 5:20a. I saw a coyote cross the road just before getting to the Trailhead. I hiked down FR213 and saw several rabbits on the way in. I took Peters trail in and saw bear scat on the trail. There is still some water in pools but they won't last long. I hiked up past Kane Spring up to a ridge. From there I went off trail, through the catclaw and over some unnamed hills. I kicked up 4 whitetailed deer and watched them prance over the hill. Eventually I intersected the Hoolie Bacon trail and took a break in the shade for second breakfast. It was like lunch but since it was only 9a I had to rename it. I located the hill where LDM jr is located but decded to save that for another day. It was starting to warm up so it picked up the pace and was back to the Jeep before 11am and was back home right at beer-thirty. I only went through 3.5 quarts on the trail and there was a breeze that kept me feeling good. If you're out by 11a it can work.
2012-06-02 wallyfrack
