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| Hiking | 8.72 Miles |
3,185 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.72 Miles | 7 Hrs 45 Mns | | 1.13 mph |
| 3,185 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | We've had Superstition peak on our 'to do' list for a few years. I hiked the Flatiron in Dec 2023 and that's where I sprained my ankle on a bad fall for the 2nd time in my lifetime. I was starting to think these mountains were actually cursed! I've heard a lot of stories about strange events, missing people, etc. in this range. These mountains are not actually cursed. The terrain is just very rugged, the canyons are steep, and anyone who hikes here just needs to be extremely careful because there are a lot of hazards and the weather can be extreme also. I made it to the peak and back without any injuries or even scratches. I just took my time and did not rush anything - that's it!
There was a light rain around 9:45 am, so we delayed our start time until 10. At 10, the rain basically stopped and we saw a few dark clouds in the sky. We knew there was a slight chance of rain that day, but we decided to go for it. We walked to the Hieroglyphic trailhead which was only a few minute walk from the parking lot. Once at the Hieroglyphic trailhead we saw a trail junction with the Lost Goldmine trail. The Lost Goldmine trail heads to the East, while the Hieroglyphic trail heads North. Take the North branch. The trail is very well maintained, but very rocky in some areas, and it's about 1.6 miles to the petroglyphs which will be on the left side of the canyon wall. The first 1.6 miles of trail can be busy and full of tourists going to see the petroglyphs. It is important to note that hieroglyphs are ancient Egyptian writings. The drawings that you see on the wall are not hieroglyphs, they are petroglyphs. Most of drawings/symbols were drawn by native American tribes and it's estimated that they were drawn sometime around 1,500 years ago. There are probably some more modern fakes also.
We got some photos of the petroglyphs and then continued looking for the balanced rock trail. After hiking about 1.6 miles you can look up the canyon and see 2 huge boulders. The trail goes up to the 2 boulders and then makes a right. Look for a branch in this area going UP. There are no signs here but this branch goes up is the unofficial balanced rock trail. It's a pretty direct but steep route to the summit and there's a lot of nice scenery along the way including a huge rock that looks like it is balanced. We started going up and saw a few cairns in this area. As we went up we had some nice views of the balanced rock, which is a strange looking hoodoo that sticks up. We saw 2 decent ways to get up to the rock, but we took the more difficult of those 2 routes that had more exposure. I would recommend that you take the other route to the balanced rock, which means turning left before where we did, when you get close to the balanced rock.
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Stats:
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Distance (round trip): 8.72 miles
AEG: 3,185 feet
Strava moving time: 4 hrs 41 mins
Strava elapsed time: 9 hrs 21 mins
Driving Directions:
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From Phoenix, take US-60 East/Superstition Fwy toward Superior/Globe.
Turn left onto S Kings Range Rd, continue for 2.8 mi.
continue from LOCAL DIRECTIONS
From Tucson, take Oracle Rd (AZ-77) to Oracle junction.
Turn left on AZ-79 going toward Florence.
Stay on AZ-79 for about 58 miles.
Turn left to merge onto US-60 W/Superstition Fwy toward Phoenix, continue for 9.6 mi.
Turn right onto S Kings Ranch Rd, continue for 2.8 mi.
continue from LOCAL DIRECTIONS
LOCAL DIRECTIONS:
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Turn right onto E Baseline Ave, continue for 0.2 mi
Turn left onto S Mohican Rd, continue for 0.4 mi
Turn left at the 3rd cross street onto E Valley View Dr, continue for 0.3 mi
Continue onto S White Tail, continue for 0.3 mi
Turn right onto E Cloudview Ave, continue for 0.5 mi
Park at Lost Goldmine Trailhead
walk to Hieroglyphic Trailhead
Hieroglyphic Trail, Gold Canyon, AZ 85118
Parking situation: Coming from Tucson, we arrived on a Thursday around 9:45 am and the parking lot was probably 1/3 full. I would imagine it's much busier on a weekend. There were 2 outhouses at the trailhead. |
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Michael Williams
IT Professional
Rocky Point Vacation Rentals
Ocean Front Condo in Rocky Point, Sonora, Mexico
www.beachfrontmexico.us
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