Horse Canyon Ruins • Hike • Arizona • All Triplogs • HikeArizona.COM

login for filter options

Mar 03 2020

GeeEss

Guides 1
Routes 23
Photos 579
Triplogs 45

male

Joined Jan 10 2014
Fountain Hills,

Horse Canyon Ruins

Payson, AZ

Horse Canyon Ruins

Payson, AZ

Hiking		Mar 03 2020
		GeeEss • Triplogs 45

Hiking	3.50 Miles	1,060 AEG

Hiking	3.50 Miles	3 Hrs 35 Mns	1.45 mph
	1,060 ft AEG	1 Hour 10 Mns Break

Linked

none

no linked trail guides

Partners

none

no partners

Really fun spot requires a long drive along rugged roads that are only accessible to those with high clearance 4WD vehicles. Not surprisingly, the road deteriorated markedly the further along I went, and since this is not a long hike, I parked in a nice, safe spot, though I could have driven a little further in. The hike starts along the same road, before heading east off trail and up toward a ridgeline saddle. Terrain is only mildly challenging and the hike continues toward the SE and eventually down a bit, before the ascent toward the top of the next little hill, which is graced by an old Salado pueblo. The ruin has a few nice walls, and plenty of potsherds scattered about. Wonderful, lonely little placed visited by few due to the challenging access road.

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Beehive Cactus Golden Flowered Agave Indian Paintbrush Parry's Agave

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Salado Habitation

_____________________

1 archive

Dec 10 2013

Oregon_Hiker

Guides 9
Routes 473
Photos 8,433
Triplogs 626

79 male

Joined Dec 07 2010
Phoenix, AZ

Exploration into SW Del Shay Basin, AZ

Hiking		Dec 10 2013
		Oregon_Hiker • Triplogs 626

Hiking	4.00 Miles	1,440 AEG

Hiking	4.00 Miles
	1,440 ft AEG

Linked

linked

Horse Canyon Ruins

Partners

partners

Grasshopper

Grasshopper had been researching a route into the south end of Del Shay Basin from HW 188 on the west side across Tonto Basin. He came up with two possible driving routes on FR roads into Rattlesnake Spring. From there it would be a fairly short hike NE over the ridge into Del Shay Basin. He asked me to check it out on Google Earth for a possible assault in my FJ Cruiser. The shorter of the two routes went through a rancher's barnyard - I had my doubts about that one. The other one required 13 miles of dipping in and out of dry washes and climbing some seriously steep hills on what appeared on GE to be little more than washed out ATV tracks. Despite my doubts I agreed to go on this adventure and drive the FJ even though our last outing of this nature ended up putting a fist sized hole in the FJ's skid pan.

We first attempted the shorter driving route which also had the advantage of a dry crossing over Tonto Creek. The war surplus 50 cal machine gun welded on top of the ranch's mail box on the way in was a sure indication of its foolhardiness. Upon reaching the entrance to the ranch's barnyard we found the road blocked by a gate with a Private Property sign. Hank suggested we stop in front of the ranch house and wait for someone to come out and give us permission to cross their land. Getting out of the car to go knock on the door was not an option - the guy had about 4 dogs in his yard. After 2 minutes of waiting I chickened out and high tailed it out of there.

That left the longer route requiring a wet crossing of Tonto Creek which had the possibility of running high because of recent rain and snow. I was more than a little apprehensive of this route after recently reading Hank's triplog on a past ill-fated crossing of the Gila River with ssk44. http://hikearizona.com/photo=178313 The Tonto Creek crossing turned out to be a shallow splash and all was good except for 1.5 hours of slow crawling over very rocky terrain, more than a few loud metallic clangs of rocks against skid pan and a few additions to the numerous AZ pinstripes on the sides of my FJ.

We parked on top of a hill at 4120 ft elevation and started off hiking towards Rattlesnake Spring on the 4X4 road. There were spectacular views of Tonto Basin and Mt Ord to the south west. We passed a cluster of 4 plastic water tanks each about 10 ft in diameter along the way and another tank and water troughs in the bottom of a draw. There was evidence of recent upgrading of the spring feeding the tanks. That and the angus cattle we passed on the drive up indicates this is still an active ranching area. After exploring the drainage up to Rattlesnake Spring we headed NE for the saddle in the ridge line above to get a look into Del Shay Basin. This off trail trek required some careful routing around prickly pear, pushing through some low brush and some scrambling on steep hillsides covered with loose gravel. But overall it wasn't too bad and we were soon crossing over the saddle. I stopped to glass the nearby hilltops for ruins but didn't see any. There were good views of the south end of Del Shay Basin. The Horse Canyon Ruin hilltop was only about a half mile to the east of us but we were far enough below its top that no ruins could be seen. I was tempted to continue on to that hill but we were running out of time and GH was low on water so I didn't suggest it. On the way back we took a detour to check out a possible ruin site but it just turned out to be a natural pile of rock on top of a knob. There's a lot of these in this area. The drive back to HW 188 was uneventful except for more clanging of rocks hitting the skid pan.

This was an interesting area and a good staging point for further explorations into the SW part of Del Shay Basin. I'm sure we will be back.

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Alligator Juniper Chain Fruit Cholla

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Cow

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] HAZ Rides Windmill

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Del Shay Basin Mesa Well Mount Ord Tonto Basin Tonto Creek

_____________________

Dec 10 2013

Grasshopper

Guides 48
Routes 510
Photos 9,555
Triplogs 578

79 male

Joined Dec 28 2006
Scottsdale, AZ

Explore DelShayBasinSW-RattlesnakeSpringArea, AZ

Hiking		Dec 10 2013
		Grasshopper • Triplogs 578

Hiking	4.00 Miles	1,465 AEG

Hiking	4.00 Miles	5 Hrs 12 Mns	1.48 mph
	1,465 ft AEG	2 Hrs 30 Mns Break

Linked

linked

Horse Canyon Ruins

Partners

partners

Oregon_Hiker

This very enjoyable day out to a new (for us) off trail Sierra Ancha Mountains exploration area in from Pumpkin Center off Roosevelt Lake Hwy 188 was actually a Plan "C". We had previously planned a couple of high priority Sierra Ancha Wilderness exploration outings off the north end of Hwy 288 but higher elevations, colder temps, and possible snow-pack at these originally planned TH Start locations required a fallback plan.

Over the past couple of months I had been working on some possible exploratory hikes via our valuable planning tool- HAZ Route Manager to access this area in from the remote "Rattlesnake Spring" area. My hopes were to successfully document a third but less strenuous, shorter off trail hiking route to visit the rewarding and remote HAZ Hike Description- "Horse Canyon Ruins".

Even though this exploratory trip we did not hike all the way to the "Horse Canyon Ruins" Hilltop Site, I feel confident that my posted & edited 12/13/13 GPS Route is a more preferred route out and back. The unfortunate trade-off is that the 13 to 14 mile 4WD only- High Clearance only- LT Rated Tires only- Experienced 4WD Driver only drive-in is a difficult and slow one under dry conditions.

Also expect some moderated to substantial vehicle Arizona pen-striping.

..but this rugged and scenic area has a lot more to offer and we will be back!
http://hikearizona.com/photo=379724

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Chain Fruit Cholla

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] HAZ - Selfie HAZ Gear

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Del Shay Basin Rattlesnake Spring Tonto Basin

	Rattlesnake Spring	Quart per minute	Quart per minute
	Appeared to be a "slow flow" down slick rock area just below Rattlesnake Spring source location.

_____________________

(Outside.. "there is No Place Like It!!")

May 18 2011

CannondaleKid

Guides 44
Routes 162
Photos 24,766
Triplogs 2,411

75 male

Joined May 04 2004
Mesa, AZ

Horse Canyon Ruins

Payson, AZ

Horse Canyon Ruins

Payson, AZ

Hiking		May 18 2011
		CannondaleKid • Triplogs 2,411

Hiking	5.60 Miles	2,203 AEG

Hiking	5.60 Miles	6 Hrs 55 Mns		1.21 mph
	2,203 ft AEG	2 Hrs 18 Mns Break	12 LBS Pack

Linked

none

no linked trail guides

Partners

partners

trixiec

The forecast called for pretty high chance of rain but having planned this to be my first real test of my knee just 12 days after surgery, we weren't to be denied. As it turned out we had perfect timing, although threatened with ominous low clouds throughout, the rain held off until we were on the drive out.

After the short recon last week and some further research I drew out a route north of the ridge that we were on last week. By driving just a little farther we could take a straight shot to a ravine that runs 3/4 the way to the ruins. Stepping out of the car we were greeted by high winds and temps in the upper 40's, so we bundled up in preparation for cold and rainy weather. Not knowing whether the route down the ravine would be thick with brush or not was a gamble but it sure paid off. Although we had to climb down (up on the return trip) some large boulders here and there, in general it went pretty smoothly.

We left the ravine when we got to the point to head straight for the ruins and climbed up a few hundred feet to traverse along but well below the ridge line. We stuck to game trails as much as possible but a few times the Manzanita closed in enough to detour slightly. (For a first-timer the Manzanita might seem bad, but take my word for it, it was NOTHING like where I had searched for GPS Joe.) By paying attention to the elevation, after a while I realized the Manzanita thinned out below the 5100' mark and the thicker thorny brush was just a bit below the edge of the Manzanita. We filed that knowledge away for the return route.

Everything opened up almost the moment we first caught glimpse of the peak that was our destination. Instead of following Hank & Eric's route up the south side, we found it quite easy coming up from the NE. Once at the summit we took some random shots, found some pottery shards, matched up a few for photos and a quick energy bar break. Then I started what turned out to be a 30-photo clockwise "tour" of the ruins summit. I took a few videos to document the cold gale-force winds shooting across the peak.

In too short an amount of time it was time to head back. On the way down the peak we came across a large number of Century Plants broken off about 3-4' off the ground. Initially we thought it was from straight-line winds but upon closer inspection we believe elk had been biting them off and most likely eating them because there was no evidence of the tops anywhere in sight. Ok, that mystery solved we set out in earnest. Sticking to the 5060-5080' elevation range along the return traverse the going was much easier. Once our path came back to the ravine we simply retraced our previous route although the last 1/4 mile to the car was much straighter. All in all a great day for a hike. Three falls, one hitting my left knee right over an incision and two to my right knee (making sure to stay away from another left knee hit) but no worries, now a day later I have no bruises on either knee and I feel great. Kudo's to the orthopedic surgeon!

Well over a hundred photos so it will take a few days to select the best to upload to HAZ, but for now you can view them here:
http://www.changephoenix.com/11/2011-05-18HorseCanyonRuins.html
Videos and GPS route also to follow soon.

_____________________

CannondaleKid

May 11 2011

CannondaleKid

Guides 44
Routes 162
Photos 24,766
Triplogs 2,411

75 male

Joined May 04 2004
Mesa, AZ

Horse Canyon Ruins

Payson, AZ

Horse Canyon Ruins

Payson, AZ

Hiking		May 11 2011
		CannondaleKid • Triplogs 2,411

Hiking	2.90 Miles	746 AEG

Hiking	2.90 Miles	2 Hrs 55 Mns	1.66 mph
	746 ft AEG	1 Hour 10 Mns Break

Linked

none

no linked trail guides

Partners

partners

trixiec

Since I just had my knee surgery on Friday we set out to do some four-wheeling while checking out some new remote areas. Reading about Hank's hike of the Horse Canyon Indian ruins we thought that would be a good destination. Now that my Samurai was all done we decided to take it out there to see just how rough the road was. We got a late start leaving at 8:00 AM but the weather was so cool it didn't seem to make any difference.

It was about 9:30 AM when we hit FR 609 and started to climb up to the trailhead. Near the top just as we were getting into a rough area I was about to engage the air locker when it blew an air line. It turns out the air line expanded in the heat so although it had been tight it popped off. But no matter, we just pulled off the side I pulled out some plastic ties, re-secured it and we were off again. It wasn't a few minutes later when we came to the trailhead where Hank & Eric started their hike. It appeared the road kept going farther so we continued driving until the trees closed in on us. All in all, the road was in great shape all the way up and we probably could have made it in a two-wheel drive car with just a little care.

Once we got out of the car it looked like there was an opening for a good view so we thought we would just walk a couple hundred feet from the car, take a few pictures then do some more four-wheeling. As soon as Tracey got out of the car, she realized it was pretty chilly. We weren't dressed for hiking just for driving in the car so didn't even have a windbreaker along. But by being a little creative Tracey used an old T-shirt (really a rag) as well as making use of the seat-cover/blanket as a serape and found a reasonable amount of comfort. Then we set out for the photo opportunity. However as usually happens, there was no great view so we continued to walk a little farther, just a little farther and pretty soon we were within a half mile of the ruins. From memory I couldn't remember if Hank & Eric's followed the ridge on their first or second and successful attempt to reach the ruins, but since this was only 5 days since my knee surgery following the relatively flat terrain of the ridge would be better. But as I found out once I got home and looked at their routes, we pretty much got cliffed out so decided to call it a day and head back to the car. Besides, only intending to walk a few hundred feet from the car, we had no food or water and had been hiking for almost two hours. But now that we got so close to the ruins we'll soon be back for another attempt.

Between the two of us we took almost a hundred photos and a number of videos, including a half-dozen with the camera was mounted on the dashboard while we were driving.

Although the terrain where we hiked was uneven and rocky, surprisingly my knee felt great and I had no issues at all so we continued on. In actuality it was better on my knee than standing for 6 hours at work. Even now a day later it feels and looks much better. So I think I'll intersperse my work days with short hikes to help keep the healing going, it can't happen soon enough. I'm hoping the knee allows me to get in a few solid hikes before my next issue to deal with, a CT-guided needle biopsy of a 1" round mass in my upper left lung. Since I've tested positive for valley fever antibodies, I'm hoping the mass is a result of that and not something more ominous. We'll soon see as the biopsy is scheduled on May 24th.

I only had time today to upload the whole batch to my own website:
http://www.changephoenix.com/11/2011-05-11HorseCanyon.html

I'll pick out a few dozen of the best to upload here on HAZ tomorrow. It'll probably be Sunday or Monday before I have videos posted

_____________________

CannondaleKid

Mar 26 2011

Grasshopper

Guides 48
Routes 510
Photos 9,555
Triplogs 578

79 male

Joined Dec 28 2006
Scottsdale, AZ

Horse Canyon Ruins

Payson, AZ

Horse Canyon Ruins

Payson, AZ

Hiking		Mar 26 2011
		Grasshopper • Triplogs 578

Hiking	5.30 Miles	1,525 AEG

Hiking	5.30 Miles	7 Hrs 50 Mns	0.88 mph
	1,525 ft AEG	1 Hour 50 Mns Break

Linked

none

no linked trail guides

Partners

partners

ssk44

Located in the Sierra Ancha Mountains within the Del Shay Basin area NE of Pumpkin Center,AZ, the middle of Jan'11 on our "1st attempt" we made it to within .40 miles http://hikearizona.com/photo.php?ZIP=175102 of this remote, difficult access, and seldom visited ancient Indian Ruins Hilltop Site at 5246ft.

The moon, stars, other planets, needed pre-planning, with good weather luck and a high tolerance for bushwhacking and route finding must all be lined up correctly for one to successfully pull-off this rugged out and back day hike. All was lined-up correctly for our "2nd attempt" this day to reach the site which ended in success and for me, a high degree of self satisfaction

. For me it is always a humbling experience to visit an ancient Indian Ruins site like this and especially so knowing that few others to date have done so.

This hike description is now correctly documented with a driving GPS track, default GPS hiking track, and photo sets to help aid all qualified who would like to visit this remote and rewarding site.

Some of the issues to consider before and during:
..From the PHX area(east valley) to TH Start is a recommended 4WD-high clearance vehicle driving time of ~2hrs 45min for a 2.7 mile one way totally off-trail, route finding hike;
..The topo maps do not correctly represent the true ruggedness of this hiking area;
..At Pumpkin Center, one need to crossover flowing Tonto Creek coming and going, so water flow level and rate should be monitored closely prior-to Pumpkin Center arrival;
..Determining a "best day" to do this day hike outing can be somewhat of a lucky guess as Pumpkin Center is around 2375ft elevation and the TH elevation is at 5890ft (so in winter and spring can be snow, ice, slush, and/or mud at 5890' and dry at 2375'; In summer and fall can be very hot with the snakes out, and hiking exposure to bad monsoon weather conditions;
.. I personally don't think that one proficient in only map and compass can correctly do this out and back hike without a lot of lost time roaming the countryside; I would highly recommend having GPS knowledge and being able to download the posted driving route and default GPS track for this hike and following those two tracks out and back;
..This is a very rugged off-trail hike with brutal varieties of cactus to stick you on every turn;
..This is also a very scenic and very rewarding ruins hike once successfully completed!

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Gooding's Verbena

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Elk

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Balloon Gila Plain Tonto Plain Trash Hauled Out

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Del Shay Basin

Wildflowers Observation Isolated

_____________________

(Outside.. "there is No Place Like It!!")

Mar 26 2011

ssk44

Guides 20
Routes 12
Photos 2,343
Triplogs 298

51 male

Joined Mar 31 2008
Gilbert, AZ

Horse Canyon Ruins

Payson, AZ

Horse Canyon Ruins

Payson, AZ

Hiking		Mar 26 2011
		ssk44 • Triplogs 298

Hiking	5.30 Miles	1,525 AEG

Hiking	5.30 Miles	8 Hrs	0.66 mph
	1,525 ft AEG

no routes

Linked

none

no linked trail guides

Partners

partners

Grasshopper

Victory! This is a special hilltop ruin site and likely the crown jewel of Del Shay Basin. The pottery pieces are very large and in pristine condition. This site sees very little visitors. A great adventure!

:GB:

_____________________

MATTHEW 11:28-30 / PSALM 84:1-2

1 archive

Jan 15 2011

Grasshopper

Guides 48
Routes 510
Photos 9,555
Triplogs 578

79 male

Joined Dec 28 2006
Scottsdale, AZ

Horse Canyon Ruins

Payson, AZ

Horse Canyon Ruins

Payson, AZ

Hiking		Jan 15 2011
		Grasshopper • Triplogs 578

Hiking	4.30 Miles	865 AEG

Hiking	4.30 Miles	5 Hrs 18 Mns	0.81 mph
	865 ft AEG

Linked

none

no linked trail guides

Partners

partners

ssk44

Doing his Google Earth fly overs and reviewing his old topo maps in a general area he calls hiking heaven, ssk44 found yet another remote and seldom visited area in our Sierra Ancha Mountains (between Hwy 188 and Hwy288) where an ancient Indian Ruins would exist.

Leaving for a day hike when I need to leave, it took us a while to reach the TH/Parking location 13.7 remote miles in from Pumpkin Center off 4x4 FR1938. We began hiking at 9:50am at an altitude of 5890ft with patchy snow.. a beautiful area with the largest concentration of alligator juniper trees that I have ever hiked among.

This would be a first time try for the two of us to reach these little know, seldom seen, and less visited ruins just west of the scenic and remote Del Shay Basin area. We had no idea what to expect regarding the difficulty of our prior-planned and completely "off trail" route. The difficulty did not disappoint :sweat:

. At 12:40pm we were still a time consuming ~.40 miles (as the crow fly's) from our ruins site destination which we could only zoom-in on and wish we had more daylight. We will return another day with both more daylight and a perfected off-trail route. A very

area indeed!

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Del Shay Basin Tonto Basin

_____________________

(Outside.. "there is No Place Like It!!")

Jan 15 2011

ssk44

Guides 20
Routes 12
Photos 2,343
Triplogs 298

51 male

Joined Mar 31 2008
Gilbert, AZ

Horse Canyon Ruins

Payson, AZ

Horse Canyon Ruins

Payson, AZ

Hiking		Jan 15 2011
		ssk44 • Triplogs 298

Hiking	4.30 Miles	865 AEG

Hiking	4.30 Miles	5 Hrs	0.86 mph
	865 ft AEG

no routes

Linked

none

no linked trail guides

Partners

partners

Grasshopper

Failed ridgeline attempt. ](*,)

_____________________

MATTHEW 11:28-30 / PSALM 84:1-2

2 archives

WARNING! Hiking and outdoor related sports can be dangerous. Be responsible and prepare for the trip. Study the area you are entering and plan accordingly. Dress for the current and unexpected weather changes. Take plenty of water. Never go alone. Make an itinerary with your plan(s), route(s), destination(s) and expected return time. Give your itinerary to trusted family and/or friends.

username		X
password		X