Rustler Park Campground in the Chiricahua national monument

[cdyerinaz]

Hello fellow hikers.
Quick question... I will be joining in the missing persons search party for the young lady that has been missing from the Rustler Park campground this Saturday. My question to all of you is do you know if the area can be traveled safely by horsesback? I am not sure if we will be taking the Crest Trail during this search but I figured we could cover more ground with the horses. They are planning a 2 mile search radius from the location she went missing, but I'd like to go out a lil farther if I can. if any of you have any info I would really appreciate it!

Thank you in advance!

[jonathanpatt]

It's a bit late now (though Janet Castrejon has still not been found, and there is now a hiker, Laurence Kosden, missing in the same area as of a few weeks ago), but I thought I'd provide an answer regardless. In general, the Crest Trail can be safely traveled by horseback, though there is always the chance of new deadfall that may create obstructions. The best bet currently, both for hikers and equestrians, is to walk up the Long Park Road and take the Long Park Trail to hook into the Crest Trail at the 5 way junction at Fly Saddle, just north of Fly Peak. The Crest north of there currently has a significant amount of uncleared deadfall and aspen, locust and raspberry overgrowth, but is comparatively clear to the south.

Also, Rustler Park is in the Chiricahua Mountains but not the Chiricahua National Monument. The vast majority of the Chiricahua Mountains is administered by the Forest Service, with the Park Service-administered Monument only a small portion in the northwest of the range.