Water on Houston Brothers

[MaricopaTroop389]

Hello All,

Just found about this site from a ranger. My Scout Troop will be backpacking up on the Rim along the Houston Brothers portion of Cabin Loop. Has anyone been up there recently and if so is there water in the springs so we can filter? We will bring extra water, but filtration is always more preferred than having to carry all that weight.

Thank you for the help!

Jeremy Simon
Scoutmaster Troop 389
Maricopa AZ

[xsproutx]

Where/when do you plan to camp? Barbershop, which is ~1/4 mile off of Houston has water and Pinchot has water as well as Aspen. Water will be in the drainage along much of that section of trail for a bit, too, after this past weeks weather.

[MaricopaTroop389]

@xsproutx
Thank you, We will be up there this weekend. I am familiar with barbershop, we did that portion last year. This time we are starting at the northern trailhead to the southern and will camp on the rim. We will have water at the rim, but wanted to find a place to filter along the trail. Sounds like it will be alright. I appreciate the response.

[chumley]

Hi Jeremy-

As @xsproutx mentioned, you should find water in several locations along Houston Brothers trail, including in the creekbed next to Pinchot Cabin, half a mile up at Pinchot Spring, Aspen Spring, McFarland Spring, and most likely also at the "top" of Houston Draw (3 miles south of Pinchot Cabin). South of there the only reliable water will be off of Houston Brothers at Barbershop spring.

Note that Pinchot, Aspen, and McFarland springs are all sourced from shallow caves/alcove/overhangs in the bedrock and may not be visible/flowing on the surface outside of the spring source but are reliable if you explore into the boulders/cliff where water comes out.