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| Hiking | 9.65 Miles |
1,190 AEG |
| | Hiking | 9.65 Miles | 4 Hrs 24 Mns | | 2.19 mph |
| 1,190 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Despite its presence in the Sonoran Desert, at only 2,500 ft. elevation, Arnett Canyon is a hidden gem, especially in late Fall. Telegraph Canyon is not bad either. 
My plan was to drive from US-60 down Perlite Rd. to Pinal City, using the ghost town as my trailhead. I drove east on US-60, all the way into Superior, without spotting the Perlite Rd. intersection. I then drove back west on US-60, realizing then that Perlite Rd. was just a culvert. I took the Boyce Thompson Arboretum exit, driving east past the Arboretum to a cul-de-sac. That’s when it dawned on me that not only had US-60 been widened a few years ago, but realigned as well. I was on old US-60, which used to connect to Perlite Rd. Argh! 
(See the attached route for a way to drive to Pinal City.)
I hiked east along Queen Creek looking for ruins -- I found a small bit of foundation -- crossed the creek, the returned headed west along the south bank. I’d had quite a bit of caffeine with my breakfast at Los Hermanos, in Superior, so I stoppped for a  . I was mid-stream when a javelina wandered up within 50 ft. of me. That was quite concerning, especially being as “vulnerable” as I was. Thankfully, the javelina only sniffed in my direction. 
I headed south up Perlite Rd., then west along an unnumbered and rather rough jeep trail. I found an awesome OP overloooking Arnett Canyon, which was peaking. Spectacular!
The head of a small side canyon allowed easy access to Arnett Canyon's floor. There was quite a bit of water in Arnett Creek, but no obvious flow. I soon came upon a gate. I remembered it being made of sticks & barbwire in 2015, but now it was made of square metal tubes of the same type I’ve seen on the Arizona Trail. That seemed odd: Cowboys don’t spend any more time and money building fences than they absolutely have to. Plus, I thought the AZT passed the west side of Picketpost Mountain, rather than the east, where I was. 
Travel on trail along Arnett Creek was much easier than I remembered. Like brush had been cleared. In one spot, it was obvious that the side of the trails had been reinforced with placed rocks. At Finger Rock, and the junction with Telegraph Canyon, there was another square tube metal gate, piles of rebar, and sacks of (hardened) concrete. Someone’s been doing a lot of trail maintenance, but who, and how did they get all that gear in there? I know they didn’t hump it in.
I took the easy exit from Telegraph Canyon, about a ½ mile southwest of Finger Rock. The exit trail had several orange ribbons. Looks like someone is doing trail work there as well. (Speaking of which, I’d seen little metal wire flags, trailside, along Arnett Creek.) At the top, it was easy crosscountry, past White Rock 3012, to FR4.
Just before the gravel pit / Superior ourdoor gun range, I turned south up a small canyon, where I’d previously found the best fall color in the area. Not so this time. The densely cheddar colored grove was gone, with only a few leaves still clinging to the trees.
Back on FR4, I soon dropped back into Arnett Canyon, which is much shallower and easier to access than on the east slope of Picketpost Mountain. The ¾ of a mile north to Finger Rock had another square tube metal gate and had obviously had work done on the trail surface. That section of Arnett also had some very yellow leaves.
Just north of Finger Rock, I exitted Arnett Canyon via Perlite Rd., which is very rugged up to the strip mine on FR 2403. Maybe that’s how they brought in the new gates, and other trail supplies. A helicopter would have been easier. 
Back at the shot up gate, Perlite Rd. improved, allowing me to book back to my trailhead in Pinal City. Good day, wonderful fall color. 
Hike Video: https://vimeo.com/494653878 |
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Autumn Foliage Observation Moderate
Peak color in Arnett Canyon. Pretty darn good, but tending to orange, in Telegraph Canyon. The unnamed canyon off FR4 -- which usually has te best coor -- was down to a few leaves. |
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Wildflowers Observation Light
A fair amount of yellow flowers along the roads, and in other sunny area. Plus some purples along the east side of Apache Tears hill. |
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Arnett Creek |
Light flow |
Light flow |
| | | I could not see obvious flow, but there was lots of water all along the route I hiked. | | _____________________
| http://prestonm.com : Everyone's enjoyment of the outdoors is different and should be equally honored. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
Route 
. I would hear some saws running and ran into Jonathan Patt, the Volunteer Coordinator for 
or at least for this weekend's event of eradicating oleanders and tamarisk. This weekend they're moving brush they've cut and applying the herbicide. It takes a couple applications.
During a moment of incredible beauty I found myself saying "Take that 2020!". I have to say, my phone took some incredible video through here. I really like how well it does with filming. The colors are plenty saturated and crisp and the stabilizer works almost perfectly. 
. I'll follow her just about anywhere else. This particular shore was a bit of a scramble to get back to the main trail too. We would continue these crossings for nearly three miles. It was nice to hear the creek running as we made our way via the cliffs and trees surrounding us. It was such a great day. We were so thrilled with all of this. My video is way long, thus two sections, many parts.
. Had to put my windbreaker jacket on though. Once done with some lunch I did the obligatory 360 before we started our hunt for the rest of the wall. It didn't take long to find it. It is as tall but much longer than the wall we had lunch above. We walked alongside of it but was also checking for a way over it to maybe access what Kelly called a bit of a ramp to get us down. Alas, the wall did its job and there really wasn't a way over it so we went back to the other wall to head back down the way we came. The edges of this hill are steep so your getting down choices are limited.
):
. I was mid-stream when a javelina wandered up within 50 ft. of me. That was quite concerning, especially being as “vulnerable” as I was. Thankfully, the javelina only sniffed in my direction. 
. It was warm enough while we were moving to only need a t-shirt, but anytime we stopped I'd have to add another layer. The creek was pretty even though the colors were minimal. And it was interesting to be walking through a narrow band of sycamores and cottonwoods, with saguaros looming on either side of us. Along Arnett, I could see plenty of mines above the trail that I'd like to go back and check out sometime soon.
silly clumsiness. It was nice to do the "Picket-lode" - hiking the summit bit first and then completing the circumference making for a solid hike. Fall colors were less than we had hopped for in Arnett Creek, but still an enjoyable day with our group.
