Skull Mesa Trail #248 • Hike • Arizona • All Triplogs • HikeArizona.COM

Phoenix, AZ

Hiking		Feb 09 2025
		Vashti • Triplogs 276

Hiking	14.96 Miles	3,143 AEG

Hiking	14.96 Miles	10 Hrs 15 Mns	1.76 mph
	3,143 ft AEG	1 Hour 45 Mns Break

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Cottonwood Creek

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DesertNymph

Route Recorded on Route Scout | Pop | Map | Popup | MapDEX

Headed out at 6a for a 7a start. It was nice and cool with a bit of wind. After paying our $3, we were off! We saw the Rangers just getting things set up.

We opted to take the shortcut to shave off a mile. Not sure if this area is closed? The posted sign seems to point to yes, but if you took the shortcut going towards the parking lot, you would never see the closed sign, only a cairn marking the start of the trail from Cottonwood trail 247. From the Spur Cross trail/road, you turn right following the signage for mariposa hill.

The shortcut follows the park boundary fence line for quite a while. There are good views of the mansion houses and their roads during the climb up the ridge. The trail is mainly well defined with only a few sections that are faint. After the shortcut lets out onto Cottonwood trail 247, it is not too far until the gate and junction with skull mesa 248. At the beginning, there seems to be multiple trails, but after a while they all merge, and up to the Mesa you steeply go. The trail is good, but I was definitely happy to be heading onto the flat ground of skull mesa. We had a quick snack break and headed off across the mesa through dry grass, rocks, and prickly pear. The game trails are much appreciated. I was thinking how fast and pleasant this trip would be on an actual trail, ha! Of course then there might be hordes of people. We made it across the Mesa without incident and started over to the ruins. Everything was relatively uneventful except for a 15 ft long section of exposure which I didn't love while passing the last mound on the left (southeast) side before the ruins. This appeared the best way to go, but 5-inch wide trails plus dropoffs are not my fave. After the sketchy section, we enjoyed the ruins.

I was hoping for us to do a loop with Cave Creek trail 4 after coming down from the ruins. Well. A lot of triplogs go up/down by the ruins. These people are part mountain goat and FAR more fearless than me. I was studying the way down based on the route I downloaded. And any way I looked at it, it looked frightening and steep! Apparently, I am not part mountain goat!

It just looked like a scary cliff to me. We decided to head back the way we came. I had really wanted to make that loop, but we just couldn't find a way down that we were comfortable traversing. I was looking forward to being on trail after the scary down, but instead it was back across skull mesa and down down down back to the car. We passed very few hikers all day. We saw no one during most of the day, only a few people within a quarter mile of the parking lot plus one solo hiker headed up to the top of skull mesa as we headed down.

I was mighty disappointed not to have seen a single Petroglyph on skull mesa. I kept looking to no avail!! I will have to research more for next time.

It was an adventure on a new trail! A beautiful day to be out exploring!

Cottonwood Creek

Dry

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3 archives

Feb 19 2023

LindaAnn

Guides 110
Routes 2,246
Photos 8,982
Triplogs 2,600

45 female

Joined Dec 24 2007
Ahwatukee, AZ

Phoenix, AZ

Hiking		Feb 19 2023
		LindaAnn • Triplogs 2,600

Hiking	14.12 Miles	3,137 AEG

Hiking	14.12 Miles	8 Hrs 2 Mns	2.11 mph
	3,137 ft AEG	1 Hour 20 Mns Break

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RedChrisB

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I had met Chris at the summit of 5057 a few weeks ago, and we had coordinated a hike for today. Got started around 0700 and took the shortcut over to Cottonwood trail. Kind of humid on the ascent up to Skull Mesa. Fairly easy walking across the top, mostly just dodging prickly pear. Wandered around the ruins, then retraced our steps back down. Only saw two other hikers all day, until the final half-mile, then we saw about a dozen. Good day, although a littke warm, and good to hike with Chris.

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Saguaro - Crested

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Stop crying and just go do the hike.

Jan 22 2023

ShatteredArm

Guides 12
Routes 192
Photos 863
Triplogs 356

42 male

Joined Nov 30 2015
Phoenix, AZ

Phoenix, AZ

Run/Jog		Jan 22 2023
		ShatteredArm • Triplogs 356

Run/Jog	16.19 Miles	3,577 AEG

Run/Jog	16.19 Miles	5 Hrs 4 Mns	3.34 mph
	3,577 ft AEG	13 Mns Break

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Cottonwood Spring Loop - Cave Creek

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One of my friends has been wanting to check out Skull Mesa, and since I hadn't been up there in at least 5 years, I figured it'd be a good time to revisit it. I had done this same exact loop ~7 years ago. Cave Creek was flowing nicely, and temps were brisk in the AM. Once on Cottonwood Trail, it struck me how nice the condition of the trail is these days. They've also added 2-3 switchbacks since the last time I passed through.

The trail up Skull Mesa was still nice and rough. Passed a group of hikers coming down. At the viewpoint, my friends expressed their willingness to continue the loop, despite my warnings about the probably lack of a defined trail the next few miles.

Crossing Skull Mesa was rough as expected, with some mud, lots of hidden cactus, and hard-to-spot cairns. Lost the track the last little bit, but I knew roughly where the trail should drop off - and there was an impressively tall cairn to mark the location.

The next few miles were really a surprise - someone has cleared the Skull Mesa trail from the east rim all the way down to Cottonwood Trail. Some of the smoothest trail we encountered out there, and this section used to be a real route finding challenge (especially just east of the Qien Sabe junction). It's like a highway now.

At Cottonwood Spring, we took the shortcut back to Spur Cross, which by now seems well on its way to being reclaimed by nature. We did see a pair of hikers here, surprisingly enough. Eventually we arrived at the "Area Closed" sign at the end of Mariposa Hill trail (in my defense, there was no sign at the other end); felt nice to be back on a nice smooth path.

	Cottonwood Creek	Light flow	Light flow
	Intermittent flow near Cottonwood Trail

Cottonwood Spring

Quart per minute

Cottonwood Spring

Quart per minute

Dirt Trough Creek

Pools to trickle

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May 07 2022

Andrewrdc

Routes 39
Photos 64
Triplogs 42

58 male

Joined Mar 29 2015
Chandler, AZ

skull mesa hike May '22, AZ

Hiking		May 07 2022
		Andrewrdc • Triplogs 42

Hiking	12.83 Miles	2,970 AEG

Hiking	12.83 Miles	6 Hrs 7 Mns		2.27 mph
	2,970 ft AEG	28 Mns Break	10 LBS Pack

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Great solo hike up to Skull Mesa! This was my first time hiking in this area just north of Cave Creek. First thing to know is that in order to access this area from the south, the trailhead begins at the Spur Cross Ranch Conservation. This gives you an additional 2-mile hike along an old jeep trail before reaching the Cottonwood trail or the Cave Creek #4 trailheads. At this entrance, there is a $3 fee (cash only!) paid via envelopes and an honor system but the fee is well worth it as the rangers do an amazing job managing the trails and park area! OK... lets get to the hike: I started hike at about 7:15am on a Saturday... as mentioned the first 2-miles or so is along Spur Cross trail... about half way along, you will leave the conservancy land and enter National Forest. This is an old Jeep trail that quickly becomes a nice, easy and well maintained trail. Once you get to the Cottonwood trail, the fun begins. Over the next 3 miles, total AEG is only about 700', and the trail is easy to follow, though its definitely rocky and undulating. This was, for me, a very enjoyable trail... great hiking with total solitude. At about the 5 mile mark, you get to a fence (see pic) and your opportunity to head north (and UP) along Skull Mesa Trail (#248) to ascend to the top of Skull Mesa. I must admit, I stood there for a few minutes contemplating my options. The mesa is high and intimidating... 1,000' up over a single mile This is where your training and cardio will kick in. During my contemplation, along came the first other hiker I had seen all morning... Mark and I chatted for a few minutes and (maybe out of shame) I made my decision and started up Skull Mesa trail. This trail is not quite as clear but easy enough to follow if you pay attention. Yes, it is a tough assent, but elevation was gained quickly so it was actually not as difficult as it looked. Reaching the top of Skull Mesa is well worth it... amazing views in almost any direction and I even found a little shade to sit and have lunch (pic). After about :30 min of R&R and realizing that it was going to be approaching 100 degrees by the time I got back to my car... I started my descent.

Unfortunately, all the creeks and marked water sources were bone dry except for one area (ironically, unmarked) along cave creek just before Cottowood trailhead where there was still a large shallow accumulation of water in the wash (pic)... unfortunately, I dont expect anything will be left in a week or two.

All in all, this is a hike well worth doing but, at 12 miles, definitely requires a level of physical fitness. Plus, during the entire hike, I only ran into two other hikers. While this gave me the solitude I was looking for, I do not recommend for anything but a seasoned hiker that knows their limitations and (if solo) brings some sort of emergency beacon... just in case.

Andrew

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] HAZ - Selfie

	Dirt Trough Creek	Dry	Dry

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3 archives

Jan 30 2022

trekkin_gecko

Guides 10
Routes 673
Photos 7,281
Triplogs 4,660

67 female

Joined Nov 17 2008
phoenix, az

Skull Mesa from Cave Creek TH, AZ

Hiking		Jan 30 2022
		trekkin_gecko • Triplogs 4,660

Hiking	20.04 Miles	4,132 AEG

Hiking	20.04 Miles	10 Hrs 42 Mns	2.04 mph
	4,132 ft AEG	53 Mns Break

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Skunk Tank Trail #246

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LindaAnn

got an invite from linda to hike to skull mesa ruins
i was up on skull mesa in 2015 from spur cross so this route and destination would be new territory
we got started around 0700
a little cool for me, but no wind, a dry creek crossing and some elevation gain took care of that
revisited much of the route to quien sabe peak; i remember very little about that hike

past the turnoff to the peak, the rest of quien sabe trail was new to me, as was the skull mesa trail on the east side
we did actually find the trail for the switchbacks up to the mesa - followed it better on the way down
hit the high point once up top, then set out for the little peninsula to the northwest
there are traces of skull mesa trail, but we couldn't stay on it for long
a drop and a couple of hills to get to the peninsula
we explored some of the lower ruins and found plenty of pot sherds
made our way to the upper set of ruins
great views from up there
pretty amazing location
we had lunch and took photos then headed back
found a use trail that skipped the first hill
tried to stay on skull mesa trail again, but ended up going way north on our return
probably a half mile out of our way, but on such a nice day it didn't really matter
dropped off skull mesa, and got to regain the 700 feet up quien sabe trail

i may have mentioned to linda a few times that i needed the elevation gain for the month
the rest was mostly downhill on the old roadbeds
another successful creek crossing and we finished before sunset
thanks for including me in this one, linda
i loved the ruins, and that little point is a spectacular place
enjoyed the cave creek approach and seeing how the more obscure trails tie together
even got a high point
nice long day in perfect weather
all that and a bag of chips

_____________________

hazhole

Jan 30 2022

LindaAnn

Guides 110
Routes 2,246
Photos 8,982
Triplogs 2,600

45 female

Joined Dec 24 2007
Ahwatukee, AZ

Skull Mesa from Cave Creek TH, AZ

Hiking		Jan 30 2022
		LindaAnn • Triplogs 2,600

Hiking	20.04 Miles	4,132 AEG

Hiking	20.04 Miles	10 Hrs 42 Mns	2.04 mph
	4,132 ft AEG	53 Mns Break

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Skunk Tank Trail #246

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trekkin_gecko

Route Recorded on Route Scout | Pop | Map | Popup | MapDEX

I’ve had this hike on my radar since December, but kept getting distracted from actually getting it done, so I invited Kelly along so I couldn’t back out of it on yet another weekend.

Got to the Cave Creek TH just after 0700 and got started. Some cloud cover to start, but unfortunately it didn’t last too long. Got to the creek pretty quickly, and the water was low enough to cross easily.

Once on the other side, we headed up to Skunk Tank trail and headed west. Generally easy walking on the old road, although it is rocky in places.

At the junction with Quien Sabe trail, we headed south on Quien Sabe, again on a good trail/old road. After a steady uphill, we started dropping down and the road turned to just an old trail and faded somewhat after a while. It got easy to spot again as we continued heading downhill, but was once again rocky. After crossing a dry wash, the trail immediately headed back uphill, still vague in places.

We reached the junction with Skull Mesa Trail and took the south, then west. Again, a vague trail, but we had an idea of where we wanted to be and headed that direction, eventually finding the trail again and it steeply climbed the east slope up to Skull Mesa. Having at least an old trail bed to follow was a big help. Once atop the mesa, we headed over to the highpoint, then meandered off in the direction of the ruins. We weren’t too concerned with finding a trail, avoiding prickly pear was the main objective and as long as we were heading in generally the right direction, we were good.

As we got onto the peninsula leading to the ruins, we followed the obvious track. One scramble through the rocks, and a steep climb over the last little hill before the ruins. Some catclaw, but most easily avoided. We looked around the lower ruins, then headed up to the ruins at the top, where we had lunch. There were three other hikers up top, the only people we saw all day.

After we looked around and took plenty of pics, we headed back the way we came. At the little steep hill, Kelly spotted a trail leading around the southwest side of the hill. It completely avoided the steep climb up and over, so that is my new favorite detour.

Again a meander across Skull Mesa as we headed back east. We tried to follow cairns at times, but it turned into more of a scenic walk, which was fun to look around as we made our way over to where we drop off the mesa. After that, we retraced our steps all the way back to the trailhead, finishing up around sunset.

Great day, and a fun hike. While heading to the ruins from Spur Cross is certainly easier, this was a nice way to do something a little different. As always, good to hike with Kelly again.

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] HAZ Rides

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Jan 04 2022

The_Eagle

Guides 41
Routes 1,626
Photos 14,983
Triplogs 2,760

69 male

Joined Jan 20 2009
Far NE Phoenix,

Phoenix, AZ

Hiking		Jan 04 2022
		The_Eagle • Triplogs 2,760

Hiking	12.29 Miles	2,974 AEG

Hiking	12.29 Miles	5 Hrs 6 Mns		2.74 mph
	2,974 ft AEG	37 Mns Break	12 LBS Pack

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Cave Creek TH to Spur Cross TH Shuttle

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Bobzilla

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Rob had never been to the top of Skull Mesa and we were looking for a bit of a workout, nearby.

Perfect weather for the climb up. We sook the short cut trail on the way up and Cottonwood #247 to Cave Creek Trail #4 on the way back. I like this selection, because the shortcut trail gives you a steady climb, where the Cottonwood Trail does more roller coasting. The views on the Cottonwood trail are better IMHO. So going down, you get to enjoy them more.

We passed a few hikers on the way up, including Beatrice from Switzerland. She was looking for some help finding her way to the #248 trail to the top. Up top, we had some lunch and chatted with her for awhile. She and her husband have been traveling the USA to determine where they want to retire. They've settled on the valley. She's an avid hiker.

All trails were in great shape and easy to follow. With a little work, we were able to keep our feet dry on all Cave Creek crossings on the return trip.

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Point

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There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
Dave Barry

1 archive

Dec 27 2021

John10s

Guides 25
Routes 376
Photos 5,897
Triplogs 346

40 male

Joined Mar 01 2018
Chandler, AZ

Phoenix, AZ

Hiking		Dec 27 2021
		John10s • Triplogs 346

Hiking	14.64 Miles	2,983 AEG

Hiking	14.64 Miles	10 Hrs 21 Mns	1.77 mph
	2,983 ft AEG	2 Hrs 5 Mns Break

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[ checklist ] Cave Creek Skull Mesa Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area Weavers Needle

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TboneKathy

We hiked to Skull Mesa earlier this month, and our goal today was to reach the ruins on the north end. We started at Spur Cross Ranch again, but this time took the 247A/247B shortcut (thank you to @LosDosSloFolks for the tip

), which takes a more direct approach to the south end of Skull Mesa and cuts ~1.5 miles off the route each way. We ignored the "Area Closed" sign this time, and the trail quickly leaves the county park and is easy to follow until it connects with Cottonwood Trail.

Up on top of the mesa, we took a slightly different route this time as we headed toward the north side, an we ended up coming across a small ruin with quite a few pot sherds, which was a nice surprise [ youtube video ] . We also passed a few random areas with pot sherds scattered around further north on the mesa. After getting within a mile of the main ruins site, I realized I no longer had the DSLR camera that I'd been carrying earlier...I'd stopped briefly somewhere along the mesa to put a sweatshirt on and must have forgotten to pick the camera up again.

As soon as I realized it was missing, I left all my stuff with @TBoneKathy and started running back to the south, retracing our route with the GPS. I ran back about a half mile and didn't find it, then gave up and turned around again, thinking we'd end up wasting the afternoon searching for it. Fortunately, I did end up finding it on my way back, though I ended up running around for an extra mile thanks to that mistake (not included in the mileage here). The GPS really saved us...without that, finding the camera would have been an impossible needle-in-a-haystack search with the lack of distinctive landmarks on the mesa.

That cost us some time, but we got moving again and made our way along the narrow ridge toward the main ruins site. Last time we were in the area, I hadn't noticed that there were also some low walls on the hill just south of saddle below the lookout ruin [ youtube video ] . We made our way around the left side of that hill and over to the main ruins complex. There was an impressive number of rooms along the edge and in the middle of that narrow section of the mesa [ youtube video ] , and a lot of pottery scattered around.

I made the short scramble up to the lookout and was pleasantly surprised by how much was up there--from below, we could only see one main wall, but there were quite a few rooms, and a large portion of the top of the ridge was enclosed by walls, similar to some of the other Hokokam sites in the area.

[ youtube video ]
[ youtube video ]

When I climbed back down to the saddle, we spent a little more time exploring the lower pueblos and found a lot of pottery, including some large, palm-sized pieces. In some areas there were so many pot sherds on the ground that it was almost impossible not to step on them...I hadn't seen concentrations of pottery like that outside of Agua Fria.

It was cool and windy as we returned across the mesa, and we came across a fairly fresh javelina carcass, with quite a bit of fur and most of the teeth still intact. We stopped for lunch at the small ruin we'd found on the way in and explored that site a little more, this time finding even more pottery than we'd first seen, including some larger pieces. I stopped at the overlook on the south end of the mesa before heading down the switchbacks [ youtube video ] , and the clouds really started to gather and get darker as we made our way down. A lot of the peaks off in the distance had been shrouded in low clouds all day, and eventually the clouds ended up enveloping Skull Mesa as well.

Over the last half mile, we had a spectacular show as the sun dropped below the clouds in the west, which not only made for a nice sunset but also lit up the base of Skull Mesa while the top was still in the clouds. It was a great way to finish off the hike, and with this being our final hike of 2021, also a fantastic finish to the year. The ruins exceeded expectations, we saw a few other interesting things we'd hadn't expected, and the clouds and sunset created a unique atmosphere...and finding the camera without wasting the whole afternoon was a nice bonus

.

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Fauna [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Javelina

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

Meteorology

Meteorology [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Sunset

2 archives

Dec 04 2021

John10s

Guides 25
Routes 376
Photos 5,897
Triplogs 346

40 male

Joined Mar 01 2018
Chandler, AZ

Phoenix, AZ

Hiking		Dec 04 2021
		John10s • Triplogs 346

Hiking	16.59 Miles	3,162 AEG

Hiking	16.59 Miles	10 Hrs 3 Mns	1.97 mph
	3,162 ft AEG	1 Hour 38 Mns Break

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TboneKathy

This was my first time hiking from Spur Cross Ranch, and we started on Spur Cross Trail just after sunrise. We planned on hiking up to Skull Mesa and tried to take the shortcut from DixieFlyer's 2/8/20 triplog, turning right on Mariposa Hill Trail about a mile into the hike. But we quickly reached an "Area Closed" sign, so we backtracked to Spur Cross Trail, the shortcut having turned into a slight longcut. In hindsight, we should have just ignored the sign...when I took a closer look at the triplog later, I saw that DixieFlyer had a photo of the same sign and continued through that area anyway

.

We followed Cottonwood Trail to Skull Mesa Trail and headed up the switchbacks to the top. It's a very scenic hike, with a lot of large saguaros, nice canyons, and great views to the south on the way up. There was a lot of haze/smog over Phoenix today, but that created a nice effect with the more distant peaks visible above the low layer of clouds.

I'd marked a few points of interest on top of Skull Mesa that we wanted to check out, including some petroglyphs, grinding holes, and a metate. We didn't have time to do too much exploring and didn't find any of those sites right away, but there were a few areas with higher concentrations of pottery, and we found one faint petroglyph panel with a few scattered drawings. We hiked pretty far north along the mesa, and I was close to the ruins and could see some of the walls on top, but we didn't quite make it over there before we needed to head back, so that'll be a destination for another day.

Before hiking down off the mesa, we stopped at the overlook at the south end and enjoyed the spectacular views, including Weaver's Needle and the Superstitions to the southeast. On our way down Skull Mesa Trail, I noticed a large rock with a symmetrical spiral carved into it...the shadows were just right such that it caught my eye, and that was a nice find.

We only saw two groups of hikers all day--and only one other group up on the mesa--until we were back within a mile or two of Spur Cross Ranch and started to see more runners/hikers/horseback riders. The weather was perfect today, and it was a nice intro to Spur Cross Ranch...the ruins will be the focus on my next visit.

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Saguaro

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Tarantula

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Skull Mesa Weavers Needle

	Dirt Trough Creek	Dry	Dry

	Metate Pond	Dry	Dry

Nov 07 2021

Zort

Guides 1
Routes 24
Photos 94
Triplogs 19

56 male

Joined Aug 12 2004
Phoenix, AZ

Skunk Creek-Quien Sabe-Skull Mesa-Cottonwood, AZ

Mtn Biking		Nov 07 2021
		Zort • Triplogs 19

Mtn Biking	23.01 Miles	4,536 AEG

Mtn Biking	23.01 Miles	11 Hrs 32 Mns		2.11 mph
	4,536 ft AEG	39 Mns Break	5 LBS Pack

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Skunk Tank Trail #246

Bronco Trail #245

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Oh man, I just saw that this triplog was Hidden. There - now it's not. I'm sure the dry conditions haven't changed over the past week or so since I put myself through this, so be careful out there. And do a little rain dance while you're at it.

I wanted to throw out a quick trip report about this fairly mental mountain bike ride mostly to point out to folks that the creeks, seeps and springs in the Cottonwood area are VERY DRY right now. I made the really stupid mistake of thinking I'd find water in at least some of them, but found it in nearly none of them. It made for a very long, hard day.

Also, Skull Mesa is a disaster of knee-high grass gone to straw. I ended up throwing my socks away rather than try to clean out all the burrs, etc.

Water sources:
- Cave Creek, but I left that immediately to get onto Skunk Creek Trail
- Matty's Fork - There is a small muddy pool in the creek the cattle use some ways down from the trail crossing. This water settled out clear.
- Cottonwood - I couldn't find anything more than wet soil and maybe a trickle - didn't attempt to collect it.
- East Fork Bronco Creek - I've never wanted to pull water from the earthen cattle tank mud hole at the head of the East Fork of Bronco Creek, but I was sure glad find that rank bog still had some juice in it. Filtered through a beanie and then treated with Aqua Mira this cow pee and silt solution was bright green, but it saved my bacon. Any port in a storm...

On a positive note, Skunk Creek "Trail" was in very good shape. There were tracks from a side-by-side most of the way out to Quien Sabe trail. Quien Sabe is the same as it's been since that area was left to recover after the fire some 20 years ago. I did a bit of work to cut back prickly pear and (my arch-nemesis) catclaw from Quien Sabe, but there's PLENTY of work to be done out there. Plenty! The "trails" up and down Skull Mesa are the perfect trails to avoid, unless you insist on getting up on top of the Mesa. Using GPS to find the Skull Mesa trail would have been smart, but instead I carried my bike randomly across the mesa hopping over prickly pear every other step. Good times up there. No one else in sight!

Even Cottonwood is overrun with catclaw. Lots of work to do this winter to return the Maricopa Trail to an enjoyable state in that area. I was out of time, water and energy by the time I got there, so I just pushed my way through getting raked and scratched all the way.

Nearly 12 hours in the wilds, and I finally clawed my way out to the Bronco Trailhead. It was awful. It was awesome. I'd do it again! I'd bring a lot more water.

Apologies for not being able to add the two water sources I used, but I couldn't figure out how to do it - using Firefox 94.0.1 (64-bit).

Autumn Foliage Observation Isolated
The cottonwoods were yellowing

	Cottonwood Spring	Dry	Dry
	I found only trickles

_____________________

Zort
http://instagram.com/zort_the_beholder

4 archives

Feb 13 2021

The_Eagle

Guides 41
Routes 1,626
Photos 14,983
Triplogs 2,760

69 male

Joined Jan 20 2009
Far NE Phoenix,

Skull Mesa - Mattys Fork Loop, AZ

Hiking		Feb 13 2021
		The_Eagle • Triplogs 2,760

Hiking	19.53 Miles	3,133 AEG

Hiking	19.53 Miles	10 Hrs 2 Mns		2.17 mph
	3,133 ft AEG	1 Hour 1 Min Break	14 LBS Pack

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Metate Trail - Spur Cross

Towhee Trail - Spur Cross

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joebartels

Route Recorded on Route Scout | Pop | Map | Popup | MapDEX

There was a smattering of vehicles at the Spur Cross TH when we started at 7:40. It was cool and breezy which was good, because the first 7 miles trends upward. 1.5 miles of it, steeply.

I enjoy the non-official #247A and #247B over hiking Spur Cross/FR 48 to #247. It's a bit shorter and more scenic IMO.

Once on Skull Mesa #248, the track becomes steeper. Good views to the south start to open up. Up top, #248 becomes thinner the farther east you go. Just keep an eye out for cairns. Bovine trails make it easy to get off the actual trail. Heading down the east side Joe spotted a bear in the distance. I told him that just because recreational cannabis was legal, he didn't need to be mixing this with the assortment of other toxins he puts in his system. (ie. Diet Sprite). The cow didn't seem to care we were in the area.

Mattys was easier to get into than our previous trip. The "Bears" in the area had beat down some of the heavier brush. Water was trickling in quite a few areas and the geology does not disappoint.

The cabin is on it's last legs and will not be standing much longer. For more info, @Oregon_Hiker did his normal excellent historical sleuthing to determine the background back in 2015. [ photoset ] .

Leaving the area, heading north we followed the obvious old path they used to get here, until it was no longer... obvious.

After some head scratching and more importantly leg scratching, we dumped back into Mattys for the remainder of the trek to Cave Creek #4. This is not my most favorite of trails out here, but it got us to the unmarked/named spur to get us down to the running Cave Creek.

3 miles from the Spur Cross TH, we saw our first people since the start of the hike.
Perfect temps and good times.

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Saguaro

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Gila Petroglyph Style (Zoomorphic) Wooden Dwelling

Meteorology

Meteorology [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Crepuscular rays

_____________________

There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
Dave Barry

Feb 13 2021

joebartels

Guides 264
Routes 2,797
Photos 14,494
Triplogs 5,894

55 male

Joined Nov 20 1996

Skull Mesa - Mattys Fork Loop, AZ

Hiking		Feb 13 2021
		joebartels • Triplogs 5,894

Hiking	19.06 Miles	3,156 AEG

Hiking	19.06 Miles	10 Hrs 1 Min	2.18 mph
	3,156 ft AEG	1 Hour 16 Mns Break

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Metate Trail - Spur Cross

Towhee Trail - Spur Cross

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The_Eagle

Route Recorded on Route Scout | Pop | Map | Popup | MapDEX

I picked a loop Bruce had us on six years ago. More so for a step up in recent efforts to miles/aeg with some off-trail. In hindsight, it's crystal clear why Bruce chose the loop weeks after legend HAZ'r Oregon_Hiker toured with FOTG. Semi surprised Bruce was game as it would be pushing the envelope of time with my lackluster options of getting to-fro. I just made damn sure I was ready for a full day, right down to bringing a rare notable size lunch.

Went from sweating, shedding layers getting to the event to layers back on for a borderline cold start. Bruce paid our dues at the hut. I took advantage of the porta-potty station with nicer facilities than Oscar Taylor's at the Biltmore, where I bussed famous folks tables cringing when they asked "where is the restroom", and we were underway.

Off the road(cough trail), we encountered a nice looking welcome(?) sign neither of us could read without specs and continued up Inspiration Ridge to #247. #248 obviously needs a much better Official Route on HAZ for the lower portion alone. Midway up, I had to get rid of a layer before unnecessary sweat took hold. #248 ascends Skull Mesa, crosses, and then descends down to meet up with #247 again. #1 copout from 5-15 yr noncontributing HAZ members trying to weasel by without contributing squat back... all the good stuff is taken. God forbid exploring included the thousands of rarely-used unpublished Guide pages on HAZ that are nice at sunset, blah blah blah. #248 is still available, and it's far from the exception. Off rant. Unlikely... somebody has to fill in for CDK!

The route of #248 across Skull Mesa is highly questionable. I've been here twice at least, and that's the best I can offer. We went off-trail down the origin of Mattys Creek. With nice weather, scattered clouds, relatively easy progress, and a couple of cool areas of rock then trees... this might be the nearest slice of paradise to home.

We had lunch in Mattys Creek, played around with styrofoam light chalk, limestone, or something white.

Bruce was excited about the cabin. It was a gander. Then we opted to try and avoid Mattys Creek taking a trace of a pack trail out. Glad we took a stab, maybe another in the future. That said, the creek is much easier and less painful in shorts.

I was a touch concerned Bruce wanted to skip #4 out for an adventure. This area is not crystal clear to me, and I was in good hands. It was fab, and we even got a stroll in on Metate and Towhee. Super easy, but fond memories make 'em a winner.

After seeing nary a soul since the first quarter-mile, we saw quite a few horses, a couple of hikers, and one mtn biker that appeared to be heading out to bike-camp.

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Black Mesa Elephant Mountain Sugarloaf Mountain

_____________________

- joe

Jan 29 2021

toddak

Guides 13
Routes 38
Photos 1,651
Triplogs 577

60 male

Joined Nov 15 2005
Jackson, CA

Phoenix, AZ

Hiking		Jan 29 2021
		toddak • Triplogs 577

Hiking	17.10 Miles	3,500 AEG

Hiking	17.10 Miles	7 Hrs 30 Mns	2.28 mph
	3,500 ft AEG

no routes

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Nice day with good trail conditions, a bit of snow up on the mesa but not too muddy. A few very small pools of clear water along CT247.

Cottonwood Spring

Dripping

_____________________

Jan 11 2021

DixieFlyer

Guides 99
Routes 1,484
Photos 16,072
Triplogs 1,374

male

Joined Jan 07 2017
Fountain Hills,

Phoenix, AZ

Hiking		Jan 11 2021
		DixieFlyer • Triplogs 1,374

Hiking	14.10 Miles	3,396 AEG

Hiking	14.10 Miles	8 Hrs 8 Mns	2.24 mph
	3,396 ft AEG	1 Hour 50 Mns Break

Linked

linked

[ checklist ] Geocache Mano and Metate (Unknown Culture)

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no partners

After hiking Sugarloaf Mountain on New Years Day, I decided to head back out to Spur Cross and hike up to Skull Mesa this time. U have been up on the Mesa several times before, and I like to do it at least once every winter.

I took Trail 247A both inbound and outbound, which shaved some distance and elevation gain off of the hike. Once on the mesa, I took a break at the overlook, and then went off-trail over to the highpoint of the mesa. It was a fairly easy off-trail, and I was careful to dodge the plethora of low-growing prickly pear cactus that is lurking underneath the knee high grass on the mesa.

I took another break at the high point, and then traversed to the middle of the mesa to check out some metates and petroglyphs that I had seen on previous Skull Mesa hikes. At least one of the petroglyphs was x-rated, providing a glimpse into 13th century ****.

I thought about continuing to the fort ruins on the north end of the mesa, but I have been there several times and decided that the hike would be as long as I wanted without going to the fort ruins.

It was a good day to be out on a hike. I did not see anyone all day until I got within a mile or so back to the TH. It was breezy in the morning, and with the wind it was a bit chilly. It was a sunny day, and it was too warm for me on the way back even though the temperature was in the mid 60's.

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] White Tailed Deer

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Black Mesa Elephant Mountain Four Peaks New River Mesa Skull Mesa Sugarloaf Mountain

_____________________

Civilization is a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there

Nov 12 2020

LJW

Routes 154
Photos 1,505
Triplogs 266

31 male

Joined Jun 02 2019
Phoenix, AZ

Phoenix, AZ

Hiking		Nov 12 2020
		LJW • Triplogs 266

Hiking	21.18 Miles	3,920 AEG

Hiking	21.18 Miles	8 Hrs 44 Mns	2.57 mph
	3,920 ft AEG	30 Mns Break

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Route Recorded on Route Scout | Pop | Map | Popup | MapDEX

Last year I did a loop with Skull Mesa and Quien Sabe from Spur Cross, and this year I tried to come up with a truer loop. Ended up with this route from Seven Springs to the Skull Mesa Ruins and Quien Sabe Peak that is shorter and has less elevation gain.

Started at sunrise, which was probably too early. Freezing cold and the sun wasn't high enough to light the yellow trees of Cave Creek or the canyon below Cramm Mountain. Water running the whole way down CC4. Too many cows have made waste of the middle stretch of the trail north of Skull Mesa.

Climbed up the side of the mesa to the higher ruins first then down to the lower. Mostly enjoy the ruins area for the views. Spent the next leg of the trip walking the entire length of the Mesa. Didn't bother to look for the trail. Tall cairns are around, but there's more or less no trail from the top of the Mesa to Quien Sabe Trail. There's a short switchback portion descending into the Matty's Fork drainage, but it's in rough shape and doesn't last long.

Quien Sabe Trail to east of Skunk Ridge. Up to Quien Sabe Peak where I saw the only people on the day. They had binoculars looking south, but we just exchanged waves, and I never got to ask what they were looking for. Descended south from Quien Sabe toward Skull Mesa Trail. Again didn't trouble with the trail that isn't there and climbed down to where it reappears on the ridge toward Cottonwood.

Took Cottonwood east from Skull Mesa. That half of the trail is much less scenic than the western half. Lots of cows. If I were to do this again I would skip this corner of Cottonwood and come down the ridge that leads away from Sabe to the northeast. Makes for an easier, shorter, more scenic hike.

Autumn Foliage Observation Isolated
Cave and Bronco Creeks within a mile of Seven Springs

Wildflowers Observation Isolated

5 archives

Feb 08 2020

DixieFlyer

Guides 99
Routes 1,484
Photos 16,072
Triplogs 1,374

male

Joined Jan 07 2017
Fountain Hills,

Phoenix, AZ

Hiking		Feb 08 2020
		DixieFlyer • Triplogs 1,374

Hiking	15.90 Miles	3,812 AEG

Hiking	15.90 Miles	7 Hrs 49 Mns	2.50 mph
	3,812 ft AEG	1 Hour 28 Mns Break

Linked

linked

[ checklist ] Geocache Hohokam Mano and Metate Hohokam Surface Structure Informational/Interpretive Sign

Partners

none

no partners

I decided to make my annual trek to the Skull Mesa Ruins today. We went up to the Mesa via the "conventional" route -- Spur Cross Trail to Cave Creek Trail #4 to Cottonwood Trail #247 to Skull Mesa Trail #248. Then we went off-trail across the mesa to the ruins. We returned the same way except this time we took Trail 247A (or is it 247B?) off of the Cottonwood Trail and connected to the Mariposa Hill Trail in the Spur Cross Park. This shortcut saved almost 1.5 miles on the way back.

This is a fun hike that is a good workout. Up on the mesa we found some petroglyphs that I have been trying to find for a couple of years -- some say that the glyphs are X-rated, but I am not so sure about that.

Walking up on the mesa did not seem as bad as it has in the past, maybe because I managed to avoid the prickly pear this time. Going down Trail #248 reminded me why it is one of my least favorite trails.

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Black Mesa New River Mesa Skull Mesa The Flatiron Weavers Needle

Meteorology

Meteorology [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Inversion Layer

_____________________

Civilization is a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there

1 archive

Jan 01 2020

Yoder

Guides 8
Routes 70
Photos 3,208
Triplogs 273

59 male

Joined Oct 07 2017
Chandler, AZ

Phoenix, AZ

Hiking		Jan 01 2020
		Yoder • Triplogs 273

Hiking	14.40 Miles	3,375 AEG

Hiking	14.40 Miles	8 Hrs 14 Mns		2.13 mph
	3,375 ft AEG	1 Hour 29 Mns Break	10 LBS Pack

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[ checklist ] Black-Throated Sparrow Cactus Wren Gila Woodpecker Red-tailed Hawk White-Crowned Sparrow

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A couple of weeks ago we did the lower part of this hike to the Cottonwood Trail(#247) intersection via the illegal Mariposa Hill leg and made a loop, using TR 252 on the way back for a 8 mile loop.

The section up to 247 was very reasonable, so we decided to give this a try.

I wanted to also check out the Petroglyphs and Ruins
Started 7am. hike up to Skull mesa was good at about 4 miles in the grade picks up a bit and stays constant until just about peaking out at 5.1 miles. Views were great. We decided to check out the Petroglyphs (N33.93240° W111.92012°). There is no actual trail to the Petrogyphs or Ruins that we could find. It was a general direction wondering, and the ground was quite muddy. We made our way to the Petrogyphs and got some photos, and continued another mile in the direction of the Ruins, (Only about 0.6 miles to go) and decided to turn back..... Wife isn't big on hiking where there are no clear trails, and she was not a happy camper. I decided I wouldn't drag her any further.

We headed back, was planing on retracing our way in, but some how I got off track on cottonwood (247). I still don't know how I managed that, it is clear as day. My wife was trailing me a bit, and she noticed it, but assumed I intentionally picked this way. That added another 0.5 miles and is a bit more of a bumpy hike to Cave Creek, not to mention that you have to cross the creek multiple times. Finally got back to the car at 3:11pm.

It's a nice hike, but tuckered me out!

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Saguaro - Crested

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

_____________________

J. Yoder

Dec 21 2019

Crzy4AZ

Guides 31
Routes 135
Photos 2,699
Triplogs 615

52 female

Joined Apr 02 2007
Scottsdale, AZ

Phoenix, AZ

Hiking		Dec 21 2019
		Crzy4AZ • Triplogs 615

Hiking	14.21 Miles	3,022 AEG

Hiking	14.21 Miles	8 Hrs 21 Mns	1.87 mph
	3,022 ft AEG	44 Mns Break

no routes

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LindaAnn

My work and kid life schedule is always overbooked and rarely open - - but Linda is a planner - and we set this Saturday to hike somewhere together way back several months ago. I thought I needed to be back home by mid-afternoon to get ready for a holiday party - so we started early at 7 with good bit of wind and we both had ear coverage and light layers on. Linda is a curator of cool gear/outerwear, and I always leave a hike with a shopping list after a hike with her. Loving her wool (bien sur) arm sleeves that allowed her to wear short sleeve shirt and not have to shed a heavy layer couple hours later. Side note: I would make Linda "Wool-kopelli" if I was in charge of such things.

The time-saver route (barely breaking any rules to go 200 ft past sign into Tonto Forest) avoided some AEG - which was fine by me especially on the way back when my toes and knees were ready to be done. We had cloud cover for first hours - then beautiful blue sky. Temperature mid-day was lovely - although I don't have pants that serve as catclaw/cactus protectors AND are lightweight. Drank more water than I expected from being over-layered and used some of Linda's extra stash in the last mile.

Was quite the surprise to pick up the two stray hikers who did not find the ruins. Of course I have sympathy for the disappointment they were feeling before we invited them to follow us. I tried to find the ruins 11 years ago

triplog. I see why people would camp and then spend a separate day at the ruins - so much to pour over up there - although camping on the edge of Skull Mesa seems like a windy rough spot.

I saw way more petroglyphs in 2008 than I did yesterday (can I add pics to a photoset from 2008?

) but that's probably b/c I was so focused on my own feet and not twisting something or making toes hurt worse. WTH with my toes hurting? Same boots - good socks - same body weight - as usual hiking. Maybe just so much twisty/torque of scrambling or downhill for so long? I wanted a toe-transplant by the last mile. No blisters - and this morning they are fine. Maybe I'm just old and the toes are the canary in the coal mine.

It was a great day outside - super fun as always with Linda - 11 yr closure on ruin finding - and then I ended the day in my jetted tub with AZW beer I picked up (3 yr anniversary cans). Merry Christmas to all! (I swear there was a Christmas tree emjoi smile we used to be able to add???? Reindeer one - what happened to it?)

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Intrepid Back Shot

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Cave Creek - SPRCA Skull Mesa

_____________________

Dec 21 2019

LindaAnn

Guides 110
Routes 2,246
Photos 8,982
Triplogs 2,600

45 female

Joined Dec 24 2007
Ahwatukee, AZ

Phoenix, AZ

Hiking		Dec 21 2019
		LindaAnn • Triplogs 2,600

Hiking	14.21 Miles	3,022 AEG

Hiking	14.21 Miles	8 Hrs 21 Mns	1.87 mph
	3,022 ft AEG	44 Mns Break

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linked

Partners

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Crzy4AZ

Route Recorded on Route Scout | Pop | Map | Popup | MapDEX

Met Laurie at Spur Cross at 0700, and we got started a few minutes later. At Mariposa Hill, we went past the Area Closed sign and took 247A up to Cottonwood, then east on Cottonwood. Saw one deer bounding north not far from the gate.

On the way up to Skull Mesa, I commented to Laurie that I always see campers up top, but that I couldn’t figure out how anyone could camp comfortably in all the rocks and cactus on the mesa. Sure enough, we topped out and saw two tents.

We headed north northwest across the mesa towards the ruins. After a short distance we ran across two guys who weren’t sure of the exact route to take to the ruins, so they ended up joining us on the hike across the mesa. Turns out, they were the campers whose tents we had seen. Lots of tall grass along the top, which obscured a lot of the prickly pear, so it was slow going in a few places.

Once at the ruins, we looked around and took a break, then headed back. Plenty of good conversation to fill the time during our tedious cactus avoidance endeavor. Saw another group of four hikers on our way back across the top. Once back across, we exchanged contact info with the guys before parting ways, then Laurie and I headed back downhill.

Saw group of five hikers on the way back down. Slow through the steep part, plus it was getting warm. Once back down, it was an easy hike retracing our steps back to the trailhead, finishing up a little before 1530. Nice to see Laurie again and good weather for this hike today. Definitely a cooler weather hike; the lack of shade and risk of snakes hidden in the grass up top makes this a hike I would never attempt in warmer weather.

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Saguaro - Crested

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Skull Mesa

_____________________

Stop crying and just go do the hike.

Oct 23 2019

LJW

Routes 154
Photos 1,505
Triplogs 266

31 male

Joined Jun 02 2019
Phoenix, AZ

Phoenix, AZ

Hiking		Oct 23 2019
		LJW • Triplogs 266

Hiking	25.02 Miles	5,005 AEG

Hiking	25.02 Miles	9 Hrs 39 Mns	2.98 mph
	5,005 ft AEG	1 Hour 15 Mns Break

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