Peoples Canyon Loop • Hike • Arizona • All Triplogs • HikeArizona.COM

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Mar 13 2023

GrangerGuy

Guides 34
Routes 138
Photos 931
Triplogs 111

68 male

Joined Dec 26 2018
Phoenix, AZ

South Peoples Spring

Northwest, AZ

South Peoples Spring

Northwest, AZ

Hiking		Mar 13 2023
		GrangerGuy • Triplogs 111

Hiking	8.52 Miles	1,295 AEG

Hiking	8.52 Miles	6 Hrs 7 Mns		1.83 mph
	1,295 ft AEG	1 Hour 28 Mns Break	10 LBS Pack

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Peoples Canyon Loop

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I had been holding off going to the South Peeples (not Peoples) Spring area of the Arrastra Mountain Wilderness until the weather looked promising, and I got permission to visit the private inholding. The address for the landowner found in public records was no longer in use, but I got a phone number from the BLM and spoke to Tina Barnes and got verbal permission, along with a request to take out any trash I found. I am very grateful to Tina Barnes for the authorization.

I headed up the dirt road toward the wilderness from near US-93 and AZ-97. Where the road follows the wash, it exceeded the capability of my Jeep Cherokee. There were some really big boulders in the wash requiring a super high clearance vehicle, so I turned around and parked in a campsite just short of the wash (displaying my state lands permit!), and walked the rest of the way.

The walk in to South Peeples Spring is easily followed along old two-track. Interestingly, the faint track is much easier to spot in the early morning light than the noon-day sun. I was glad I had a GPS track on the way out! The flowers were not quite out, so this trek was a little desolate. The last half mile of the hike down to South Peeples Spring is steep and washed out in places. In order to get to the water itself, you have to thread your way through some deadfall and brush. The spring is beautiful, and I enjoyed my lunch sitting on some rocks.

A good sized bear had recently visited the spring, and I saw a couple of bucks on the hillside near the trailhead on my way out. That is more big wildlife than I usually experience, so it was a worthwhile trip.

If you are thinking about going in here, absolutely get permission from the landowner first. If you do some homework on the area first, what you see when you get there will have a lot more meaning. Search “Peeples Canyon Arrastra Wilderness Dispute”.

Before 1980, a gasoline-powered pump drew water from the spring and drove it up the side of the canyon, over the top, and down to a stock tank. The pump is long gone, but the pipe is still there. While walking along it, I wondered how plastic pipe could handle the pressure of the 450’ rise, but apparently it is doable with schedule 80 PVC pipe.

Birds spotted or heard: Northern Cardinal, Verdin, Gambel’s Quail, Black-throated Sparrow, Gila Woodbecker, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Northern Flicker, Curve-billed Thrasher, Cactus Wren, Bewick’s Wren, White-crowned Sparrow.

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Redstem stork's bill

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] South Peoples Spring

Wildflowers Observation Isolated

	South Peoples Spring	Gallon + per minute	Gallon + per minute
	Water pouring out and beautiful.

May 06 2014

santamaria

Triplogs 1

33 female

Joined May 06 2014
Santa Maria Ranc

Peoples Canyon Loop

Northwest, AZ

Peoples Canyon Loop

Northwest, AZ

Hiking		May 06 2014
		santamaria • Triplogs 1

Hiking	9.56 Miles	1,305 AEG

Hiking	9.56 Miles
	1,305 ft AEG

no routes

no photosets

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Peoples Canyon

South Peoples Spring

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PSA from the granddaughter of Tina & Erik Barnes who own the Santa Maria Ranch and the 40 acre parcel that is Peeple's Canyon. While this is indeed a gorgeous hike, there seems to be some confusion about what is and is not private property. Entering through state grazing leases and the wilderness area from Hwy 93, you don't actually hit "private property" until you near the canyon itself. Tina & Erik have been generous to give permission to enter to most of the people who inquire about hiking to the canyon, because they too believe it is a special place and should be shared with those who will pass through it responsibly. They do ask [after you've received their permission] that you not camp in the canyon itself and not go with a group of more than 7 or 8 people. Thank you for your understanding.

_____________________

Nov 16 2013

chumley

Guides 94
Routes 840
Photos 22,055
Triplogs 1,993

52 male

Joined Sep 18 2002
Tempe, AZ

Peoples Canyon Loop

Northwest, AZ

Peoples Canyon Loop

Northwest, AZ

Hiking		Nov 16 2013
		chumley • Triplogs 1,993

Hiking	14.18 Miles	4,687 AEG

Hiking	14.18 Miles	1 Hour 14 Mns	11.50 mph
	4,687 ft AEG

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Peoples Canyon

South Peoples Spring

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JoelHazelton

I've wanted to explore this area for over a year now, and after the JBLP trio were there during a flood last winter my interest was piqued even more. But their visit did little to appease my curiosity since I knew that the conditions during their visit were extremely rare.

So Joel and I headed up early Saturday morning for a planned overnight in the canyon and I thoroughly enjoyed the landscape here. It's remote and rarely visited. The elevation is a bit lower than the Supes, so there is not nearly as much vegetation to fight, especially up away from the canyon bottoms. Sparsely spaced cactus and desert shrub made travel fairly quick and pain free. In the canyon bottom, travel was surprisingly easy going, except for in the spring areas where growth made for some serious bushwhacking. Still, willows, reeds, ferns, and riparian grasses don't cause nearly as much pain as catclaw and manzanita!

The drive to the trailhead is 90% nice dirt road. The other 10% is mandatory 4x4 high clearance. Just a couple of short stretches, but not the kind of road a Rav-4 or CRV is gonna enjoy. A real truck is definitely in order. Once done with the 5-mile dirt road to the trailhead, we made it down canyon in pretty good time. We took a nice break in the narrow canyon area at Sycamore Spring, followed by changing terrain along a couple of dry miles before reaching South Peoples.

At this point, we found the only flat ground possible and managed to squeeze our two tents on what might be considered a gravelly beach adjacent to the creek. Joel set out to find some photographic opportunities, and I headed out to explore some areas around the canyon. Had I had more daylight I would have liked to check out the cliff-lined ridge on the west side of the canyon, but I only managed to get about half way up before deciding that daylight wasn't on my side. The views from above the canyon were still spectacular and I would love to come back and spend more time exploring here. I did find what turned out to be a concrete trough -- something I had seen on a satellite photo and decided to seek out.

I went up one side drainage, crossed over a ridge, and descended a parallel drainage. Both were really neat. Narrow little slots with sandy bottoms. Often not more than 3 feet wide, but only 5-20 feet high. In a few places there were small dry falls that I had to bypass, but nothing was ever a real challenge.

Downstream of South Peoples, the vegetation is very thick and travel is significantly more difficult than any part of the canyon above it. I managed to get about half a mile in about an hour's time which is about where the water heads underground and the canyon dries up and becomes easier to travel in again. I'll have to get back here sometime to finish the last few miles to the Santa Maria.

So after a couple of evening beverages, we enjoyed perfect weather for sleeping and awoke to sun on the cliffs above. The hike out to the road was uneventful, and the 2-miles of road hiking back to the the car seemed neverending but still scenic. I surprised a few head of cattle that had adopted a friend in one of nature's paradoxes that just doesn't seem real. I've had several days of emails and photo exchanges with a biologist at AZGFD about it and they are sending a team out to check it out.

Didn't see another vehicle or person all weekend, though there were some obvious man-made boot prints in the sand from time to time, so it's not like nobody has ever been here. Then again, who knows when the last time it rained there?

I posted a few more photos than I normally would just because there's not much information out there on this one. I also try to keep my videos under 3-minutes, but this is a new area for me and most who visit this site, so I went over a little bit. Hope you don't fall asleep...

http://youtu.be/GXHC7123Ew4

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Bighorn Sheep Cow

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Cag Shot Camp-fire Campsite Informational/Interpretive Sign Snoozing Home

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Arrastra Mountain Wilderness Cottonwood Canyon Dumpy Grayback Mountains Peoples Canyon South Peoples Spring Sycamore Spring

Autumn Foliage Observation Moderate

	South Peoples Spring	Gallon + per minute	Gallon + per minute
	Spring source is not evident, but plenty of surface water appears, eventually turning into a running stream with deep pools of cool clear water.

	Sycamore Spring	Gallon + per minute	Gallon + per minute
	Plenty of water. No visible spring source, but deep clear pools for filtering.

_____________________

I'm not sure what my spirit animal is, but I'm confident it has rabies.

Jan 26 2013

The_Eagle

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

69 male

Joined Jan 20 2009
Far NE Phoenix,

Peoples Canyon Loop, AZ

Hiking		Jan 26 2013
		The_Eagle • Triplogs 2,760

Hiking	16.31 Miles	2,920 AEG

Hiking	16.31 Miles	8 Hrs 53 Mns		2.07 mph
	2,920 ft AEG	1 Hour Break	16 LBS Pack

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Peoples Canyon

Peoples Canyon Loop

South Peoples Spring

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joebartels

johnlp

Johnlp 365!

An Excellent Adventure into a little traveled area.

4 days of rain, and rain all day, made this Epic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75KztZx3-ok&list=UUcAm2CHlpbDrwYRrjYvcHUA&index=1

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Teva

Meteorology

Meteorology [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Flash Flood

	South Peoples Spring	Gallon per minute	Gallon per minute
	Hard to tell with a river running through it.

	Sycamore Spring	Gallon per minute	Gallon per minute
	Hard to tell with a river running through it.

_____________________

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

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.

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