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| Hiking | 7.50 Miles |
1,785 AEG |
| | Hiking | 7.50 Miles | 5 Hrs 42 Mns | | 1.86 mph |
| 1,785 ft AEG | 1 Hour 40 Mns Break | 10 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | The road to the Goat Springs Trailhead is still very rough. It was fine, but slow going with my 4WD Cherokee. I would not have been happy with just a 2WD high clearance vehicle.
When I arrived at the Goat Springs trailhead around 8:00 AM, my car thermometer said it was 19°. I was dressed for about 10° warmer than that. However, there was no wind, and the sun was out, so it wasn’t bad. The trail register box is still there, but there was no register in it, and part of its support had fallen into disrepair. The forest is an interesting mix. I saw Pinyon Pine, Juniper, Prickly Pear and Century Plant. The trail is in amazingly good shape for such a little used trail.
Overall, the trail is easily followed. At the seeps, you do have to pay attention to the trail making a sharp right and going up, and don’t get misled to follow a way path down the hill.
As reported in the trail guide, the intersection with the Hell Hole Trail is marked with a sign. This area is confusing. The Hell Hole trail actually invisibly takes a sharp right at the sign. If you climb up the hill a little way, you will find the trail. The Goat Springs Trail follows the obvious path forward to the left of the sign and eventually down to the creek crossing.
After the first creek crossing, the trail generally follows a delightful babbling brook back up the hill, crossing it 3 times before getting to the end of the trail. The trail more or less peters out as it climbs onto a V between two streams, which were both dry in December. There are some usable campsites in this area, but it would be a walk back down hill to the running water.
Although there are cross-country routes that climb from here, this is the end of the official trail. At this point, I turned around and went back to hunt for the Hell Hole Trail. It was nice to get back to an area that had not been burned in the recent past. This trip would make a good beginner backpack.
After hiking to Goat Spring Camp, I hiked up the Hell Hole Trail. You can see my guide there for the rest of the story. |
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Goat Camp Spring |
Dry |
Dry |
| | | No water at the camp, but there was running water less than 1/4 mile downstream. | | | |
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