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| Hiking | 3.70 Miles |
1,970 AEG |
| | Hiking | 3.70 Miles | | | |
| 1,970 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Other than a brief birding sojourn up Huachuca Canyon, Blacktail Canyon is the only area I have explored on the Fort Huachuca Military Reservation. When I first moved to this area I assumed the Fort was off limits to civilians, so I didn't even bother to research trails or the mountains "on post". Turns out that as long as you have a valid driver's license, passport, or other official ID you can enter the fort and access the mountains. As I've mentioned, I hiked a bit up Huachuca Canyon when I found out I wasn't restricted from the area and found it absolutely incredible. I imagined these mountain canyons the victims of military scenario trainings and - I don't know - weapons testing. Not so. Sure, there's the ubiquitous mining damage and spotty UDA trash that one finds here and there throughout the entire range, but I was surprised to find these mountains very well preserved.
A friend had mentioned Blacktail Canyon recently and we planned to hike it together. He had hiked it years ago and was eager to go back explaining that it was quite remote and untraveled. This was very much the case. Very few people make it back into this canyon. However, from all the tracks and scat we saw quite a few animals do.
The trail follows an old two-track up to the crest of the range. Recent flooding has carved a few gullies bisecting the path making the road impassable by most, if not all, vehicles. This makes it nice for the foot traveler. While not the most ideal trail - an old, steep, eroding two-track jeep trail - the canyon is beautiful. Many areas in the Huachucas have succumbed to fire damage over the past few years and while fire definitely has an important place in the ecology of the range, it is nice to travel through an area that hasn't burned in a while. The geology and plant diversity is spectacular and although we didn't see any critters I'm certain one would if one spent enough time here due to all the evidence of animals in the canyon: black bear, coati, ringtail, deer, and raccoon tracks and scat were abundant. |
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Autumn Foliage Observation Substantial
Bigtooth maple, Arizona walnut, sycamore, Virginia creeper, and many more. |
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