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| Hiking | 7.60 Miles |
2,294 AEG |
| | Hiking | 7.60 Miles | 5 Hrs 35 Mns | | 2.05 mph |
| 2,294 ft AEG | 1 Hour 53 Mns Break | 18 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | My original encounter with the Brown Canyon area comes from years ago while mountain biking about the Baja Arizona. The Ramsey Canyon Rd. access gives both biking & hiking this area bordering Ft. Huachuca several options for access and route altering. Its proximity to Sierra Vista makes it high on the local home range return trip checklist for certain. The Brown Canyon Ranch house operated by the USDA Forest Service, provides a secondary parking option if you'd like to shorten your outing and such... The main TH for Brown Canyon Trail #115 is clearly marked and located just off Ramsey Canyon Rd. with abundant shadeless parking. You can take the cut-off as documented in my GPS route and avoid the ranch all together as well.
I headed-out in the early afternoon - hoping for a seasonally predictable Chubasco overcast to mute the ultra-violet - and got exactly what I'd hoped for! An auspiciously timed, most excellent cloud bank filtered the solar intensity and adding so much to the day's aesthetic (not so great for cell phone camera photos). The rumbling thunder went on-and-on for hours with just a bit of rain here and there - the world stopped for an unknown quantity of time - it was just the deer and I in afternoon twilight, along with the intervalic reverberation of the atmosphere echoing off the range now and then. I made my way up past a couple of grave sites that helped add to the aura of the spellbound hike that the day had brought. I had not thought much about this route as a hike, and was pleasantly surprised over and over again. Two-and-a-half miles in from the trailhead, I found the Pomona Mine Trail #116. This was the spur route I'd sought and the spell was broken as a true double-track mining route (reminded me somewhat of mining roads in the Dragoons) and the 1,000+ FPM elevation gain now began. This was an enjoyable contrast as it brought the surrounding area into full panoramic viewing quickly. I made my way up a mile to just before the Tungsten tailing pile, and rested for a while before the journey back down. Evidence of Bears on Pomona Mine Trail is obvious, but not overwhelming. Slowly is how one descends Pomona Mine Trail. I was pleased that I managed to stay upright the entire way down. Upon reconnoitering Brown Canyon Trail, I literally flew back down the canyon so I might to poke about the area of the ranch house on my way out...
Brown Canyon Ranch was built a century ago by a local pioneer family and includes their ranch house, storeroom, corrals, water system, and a pond that is the habitat of an endangered frog species. The property in Brown Canyon was first permanently occupied by John Thomas Brown and his family who settled there around 1800. It passed through the hands of other users during the latter part of the 19th century until the house was built by James and Tom Haverty between 1905 and 1907. James and his wife, Lessie, homesteaded the ranch in 1912 and owned the property until 1921, when they sold it to William and Margaret Carmichael. The Carmichaels were major land owners and significant philanthropists in early Sierra Vista. During their ownership, Harvey James, the owner of several mining claims up Brown Canyon, and who lived way up in the canyon in the summer, sometimes rented the house in the winter. He and his wife would often invite friends to the ranch for a social potluck and dance in the living room. Also during the time of the Carmichaels, a Yaqui Indian named Chico Romero lived there with his wife and daughters. In 1946, the Carmichaels sold the ranch to Roy and Stella Rambo, who operated it as a cattle ranch. They in turn sold the property to Samuel and Cecile Barchas in 1957, together with their additional ranch holdings across South Highway 92 (OY Ranch). The Barchas family did not live at Brown Canyon, but in a stone house at OY Ranch. Sarah Barchas obtained Brown Canyon Ranch through gift deeds from her parents in 1960 and 1961 and she owned the site until 1997. Brown Canyon Ranch is also known as the Barchas Ranch and was acquired by the USDA Forest Service in a land exchange in 1998. The Ranch is currently under renovation, but is open to walk around the property. Source: Friends of the Brown Canyon Ranch
MTB Notes: Going clockwise from the trail head up Ramsey Canyon Road for a steep technical climb and a gradual downhill, or go counterclockwise for a gradual rocky climb and a very fast downhill taking you back to Brown Canyon Rd. Trail ranges from wide trail to tight single track throughout. Beware of the loose rock on a lot of the trail and some soft sand near the TH - about the best in Sierra Vista. Definitely not for beginners...
AEG 2294'- FPM 302' - Grade 12.6% GPS Route Available |
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Interesting history and structures at above mine. Old forest service heli-pad also at saddle above mine. Steep grade all the way. Nice overlook at top. Watch where you roam, Ft. Huachuca boundry just North and West of mine. Seeing the cable trolly and old house at the top are excellent. I Entered differant directions on how to get to the trailhead, but they did not post. Lower portion of Brown Canyon is very popular for walking, this would be quite a step up. 
