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I am looking for a fairly easy two-night backpacking trip in the Superstitions for March or April. We are going to have a couple of kids with us (14 year old girls), and since this is their first backpacking adventure it needs to be pretty low-key. We want them to enjoy it and get a taste for the outdoors. Ideally we would like to set up camp on the first night and stay there, and do a day hike on day 2. Nearby water would be ideal, 5-7 miles to camp would be ideal too.

I was looking at Haunted Canyon, but it is hard to tell whether it is still accessible and whether the water might be too high this spring, with all of our snow and rain. Can anybody advise on whether this would be a good hike for us? Or suggest a different hike that we might enjoy?

Thanks a bunch.
N.

Eastern: Miles trailhead to the Oak Flat area. Short and sweet.
Haunted canyon still open for access to Tony Ranch. Tony cabin is neat, enough to keep teens busy.
Western: First Water to Marsh Valley. Water in nearby drainages. From M.V. you can explore in any direction.

It would be helpful to know what type vehicle (car,truck,suv,4x4) you plan to drive to the TH? I drove on FR287 & FR287A by the Haunted Canyon TH to the Miles TH, and as of that Sat-1/18/08 I would only recommend driving a truck, suv, or 4x4.

I agree with Marsh Valley. You could take the Dutchman's trail into "Boulder Basin" then across Bull Pass. As an alternative, you could camp in "Boulder Basin".

My advice is to climb Black Top Mesa for the 2nd day. The view from up there is incredible, plus lots of people do it so your girls could handle it. Might be some people around too, depending on when you go.

Good thing about going in a well traveled area like this is that the likelihood of seeing snakes is vastly diminished because of all the traffic.

I can't improve on the above advice, I was going to recommend Tony's cabin, but te-wa and grasshopper covered it all.

Thanks everybody for the great information. I think we will be in a 4x4 SUV-type vehicle. We'll do some research on these different hikes and will pick one out. Thanks again.