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| Hiking | 4.00 Miles |
400 AEG |
| | Hiking | 4.00 Miles | 3 Hrs | | 1.33 mph |
| 400 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | We did this hike using snakemarks' triplog as a guide. There is abundant free parking about one mile east of the Granite Reef Area on the river side of the highway. It's not labeled with anything other than No Camping signs, but hunters and fishermen use this parking area frequently and the ones I asked said no Tonto Pass is required to park here.
Cross the highway and a small trailmarker will point the way. A short spur trail takes you to the Saguaro Trail. We headed uphill/east/clockwise first in an effort to get the elevation change out of the way while it was early. It's not too difficult for a hiker but I'd be skeptical about being on a mountain bike in this area. The switchbacks and steep dropoffs would be enough to convince me to ditch the bike and trust my own footing. Nonetheless, there are plenty of tiremarks leading the way up the slope.
Quartz is abundant at several sections along the trail, but when you get to the highpoint the ground is almost completely covered in beautiful white rock. In this area, just below the summit, you can find evidence of diggings and the mine mentioned in snakemarks' triplog. I've never seen a mine so high up on a hilltop before so this definitely was unique.
From there it was downhill in a southwesterly direction. The trail smoothes out at this point, crisscrossing washes and past rocky outcroppings. Plenty of squirrels in the area but that was it as far as fauna goes. Saguaro and Cholla cactus are healthy and abundant on the south slopes. We shortcutted across a flat sandy wash just before the junction with the Granite Trail and back to the parking area.
Overall, it's not a bad trail system. You'll get great views of the Lower Salt River, the Valley, Four Peaks and the Mazatzals. There's an interesting mine and some beautiful quartz to check out. And plenty of solitude. We saw no bikers, no horseback riders and only a couple of other hikers in the distance. Pretty good for an "in-town" hike. |
| _____________________
"I've driven across deserts, driven by the irony, that only being shackled to the road could ever I be free"
- Frank Turner "The Road" |
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