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| Haystack Mountain Whetstones, AZ | |
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| | Haystack Mountain Whetstones, AZ | | | |
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Haystack Mountain Whetstones, AZ
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| Hiking | 9.90 Miles |
1,779 AEG |
| | Hiking | 9.90 Miles | 5 Hrs 15 Mns | | 1.89 mph |
| 1,779 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Note: I hiked this in conjunction with Twin Buttes West.
From my parking spot, it was just over 2 miles to the summit. The roads start off pretty good but gets progressively more rocky as you continue. Along the way, there are 2 primitive gates at the boundaries of the AZ state trust land.
With a good 4x4, you COULD actually drive to the top, but it would be slow going as there are some rough rocky spots on the road. At the summit, there are several radio towers. Near the end of the road, there are cattle trails heading East. The high point is only maybe 30 feet off the trail.
At the summit, I found a registry in a rock pile that I signed. Some of the older pages were in bad condition.
Looking NW I could see Rincon peak. Looking South I could see many other peaks in the Whetstone mountain range. It was a bit difficult to tell what was what.
I had my lunch and then headed East following cattle trails down to a road, where I continued to Twin Buttes West. At the top of Twin Buttes West was the Williams benchmark / US survey marker. Nice to see a benchmark with my last name ;-).
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After summitting Haystack Mtn, I walked 20 feet North to the use trail. I walked East toward an old storage shed. The door was torn off and there wasn't much inside. I continued following cattle trails East, going around another high point. At a certain point, I stepped over a barbed wire fence because the grade was flatter on that side. I kept heading down until I reached a dirt road traveling North/South. It was roughly 3/4 of a mile to get from Haystack mountain to the road.
The road was incredibly good, not very rocky, and I was able to make great time. The road does curve around a bit, but I decided to follow it to get much closer to Twin Buttes West. I followed the road for a little less than 2 miles. Then, I saw a cattle trail heading in the direction of Twin Buttes West. I followed this cattle trail Northeast and then North until I saw a barbed wire fence running East/West along the ridgeline. Near the fence I found some cattle trails heading East toward the summit. I followed these trail nearly to the top where I saw evidence of cattle. The last 10 feet were pretty rocky and it appeared that the cattle didn't go all the way to the top. There were 2 large oak trees at the top. Within about 10 or 20 feet of the trees was a rock pile that contained a registry.
I walked about 60 feet East and found the US survey marker which is called the Williams benchmark. That's my last name, so this benchmark was a little bit more special to me than others. I looked East and saw Twin Buttes East down below. It was about 100 feet lower in elevation and not even listed on Peakbagger, so I felt no good reason to go there. At the summit, I was able to look NW and see Rincon peak, and look South to see many other Whetstone peaks. I believe I could see Cottonwood peak, East peak, and maybe Apache.
The registry was buried well under rocks but contained some older papers that were damaged and some pages torn. I was able to take photos of all of the pages that I could read. I signed the registry, took some photos and a video and then headed back down the way I came. I followed the cattle trails along the barbed wire fence and instead of going back down to the road the way I came, I kept following cattle trails going West down the ridgeline. The cattle trails were so good and seemed to lead me directly toward Haystack mountain. Along the way, I had to cross a few canyons, but there were cattle trails leading down and out in every instance. I hiked a total of 1.75 miles until I reached the North/South road adjacent to Haystack Mtn.
I probably could have hiked around Haystack mountain, but I decided to re-do the roughly 350 foot climb because there was a good road from the summit going down to the West and from that summit it was about 2 miles to where I parked my truck. This time, I stayed right of the barbed wire fence and climbed up a slightly steeper grade. There were several cattle trails heading North/Northeast on the slope. I was able to follow a few trails, but then at times I needed to walk West to get to where I needed to go. I kept finding more cattle trails every 20 feet, which made getting to the top easier. I followed and shifted across about 4 sets of cattle trails, went around the Eastern-most hill and made it back to the summit. I decided to walk the extra 20 feet to the high point since there was a good rock to sit down at. Technically, this was my 2nd summit of Haystack for the day. I took a break here before heading back down the 4x4 road to the place where I parked. There were probably 2 primitive gates along the road at the AZ state trust boundaries. I made it back to my truck well before sunset. My only regret was trying to drive out with the sun beaming at me. At times it was very hard to see on the road. So, it may have been better to wait until dusk or dark on the drive out.
Stats:
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Distance (round trip): 9.9 miles
AEG: 1,779 feet
Strava moving time: 4 hrs 32 mins
Strava elapsed time: 6 hrs 30 mins
**Note: An Empirita ranch permit is needed for this hike. As of April 2025, the permit is free and can be obtained here. Thanks to Amy (AZHiker456 on HikeArizona) for providing info on this.
pima-parks.app.transform.civicplus.com
Driving Directions:
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Take I-10 East out of Tucson toward Benson
Exit at Empirita Road.
At the stop sign, reset your odometer.
Continue South for 0.8 miles to locked gate.
Your permit will have a gate lock combination and instructions.
I tried the code specified on my 10 day permit and the lock did not open.
I double checked and triple checked everything.
It just so happened that there was a way to drive around the gate by driving 100 feet East, then South across a cattle guard, and then it was possible to drive 100 feet West to the road beyond the locked gate.
There is a sign-in box just beyond the locked gate.
You are required to sign in AND have a permit.
Print 2 copies, one for your vehicle and one to carry with you, just in case.
Continue Southwest.
At 1.5 mi you will continue through an unlocked gate.
At 2.0 mi you will make a sharp left and continue through another unlocked gate.
From 2.5 mi onward you will need high clearance and preferably 4x4.
At 2.5 mi you will need to ride up a rocky section exiting a wash. 4x4 highly recommended. Otherwise, you'll need some good tires and some power to get up the hill.
At 4.0 mi you will need to ride up another rocky section exiting yet another wash. 4x4 highly recommended.
At 4.6 mi you will continue through an unlocked primitive gate.
The road is rocky and uphill for the next 2 miles.
I parked at about 6.6 mi (see the start of my route)
If you have 4x4 and more patience than I have, you may decide to drive further, but the road gets worse in some areas going up to Haystack Mtn.
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Note: The 6.6 mile drive took me about 1 hour total. |
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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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