Pinal Creek Canyon • Hike • Arizona • All Triplogs • HikeArizona.COM

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Apr 14 2021

chumley

Guides 94
Routes 842
Photos 22,068
Triplogs 1,994

52 male

Joined Sep 18 2002
Tempe, AZ

Pinal Shute Springs Loop, AZ

Hiking		Apr 14 2021
		chumley • Triplogs 1,994

Hiking	6.21 Miles	1,375 AEG

Hiking	6.21 Miles	4 Hrs 34 Mns	1.53 mph
	1,375 ft AEG	30 Mns Break

no routes

Linked

linked

Salt River at Shute Springs Creek

Shute Springs Ridgeline

Pinal Creek Canyon

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partners

KatClaw

I got a mid-morning text from Kat and with little on my plate for the day decided to tag along. There was zero time to plan or research, so I just downloaded some area maps and hopped in the car.

Once we got started we managed to cross the river at about waist deep before pushing through the forest at the mouth and heading upstream in the mud. Upon looking at photos and reading triplogs once I returned, I realized this is far more overgrown than it was a decade ago. Apparently a good flood had occurred back then and nature has since regained control of the area.

It was a fight to get upstream. The deep pools were avoidable but the brush on the banks was thick. We ran into a few spots with some of the lowest growing poison ivy I've seen in Arizona. Fantastic!

After a couple of hours fighting the canyon upstream, I decided I wanted to swing over to Schute for the return. It seemed like a good plan at the time.

Kathleen opted to return the way we came with the guaranteed water for the dogs while I made my way overland to the parallel desert canyon. I knew nothing about this except what the topo map showed. As I headed north, the desert canyon narrowed and I began to wonder if it might cliff out before the river like Chalk does not far up from here.

A few scenic dryfalls were easily descended and I continued on to the relief from the hot sun at the cool water of the river. From here it should be an easy hike downstream back to meet up with Kathleen. But ... no.

Maybe I should do more research before I make such excursions in the future?

After fighting a couple of river crossings I reached a boxed in stretch that would require river travel. Kathleen is often a fan of a swim hike, so before I left the house, I threw a little inflatable pink donut pool float in my pack. Never did it cross my mind that I would need it to run the river! Unprepared with no dry bag or any other equipment one might want for an adventure such as this, I hopped in my little pool float and hoped it would survive long enough to limit the amount I would have to swim.

I survived! After floating around the next bend I heard the welcome barks of Chewy and Blazer who came running to greet me. We lounged on the beach for a relief beer before heading back down river to the car and the drive home.

Still some other stuff it would be fun to explore in the area. Next time I'll do a little more research first!

_____________________

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

1 archive

Jan 01 2020

AZTay

Routes 16
Photos 11
Triplogs 16

38 male

Joined Dec 09 2019
Phoenix, AZ

Pinal Creek Canyon

Globe, AZ

Pinal Creek Canyon

Globe, AZ

Hiking		Jan 01 2020
		AZTay • Triplogs 16

Hiking	9.00 Miles	2,000 AEG

Hiking	9.00 Miles	5 Hrs 1 Min	1.90 mph
	2,000 ft AEG	17 Mns Break

no photosets

Linked

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no linked trail guides

Partners

none

no partners

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

This trail was a lot of fun. I used one of the previous routes as a guide. Hiked down to the salt river - it was gorgeous! No defined trail, so requires some bushwhacking but wasn’t too bad. The dirt road in wasn’t terrible but I would probably advise at least high clearance when dry, 4x4 if muddy. I didn’t see a single person all day.

Mar 01 2019

Oregon_Hiker

Guides 9
Routes 473
Photos 8,433
Triplogs 626

79 male

Joined Dec 07 2010
Phoenix, AZ

Pinal Creek Canyon

Globe, AZ

Pinal Creek Canyon

Globe, AZ

Hiking		Mar 01 2019
		Oregon_Hiker • Triplogs 626

Hiking	6.10 Miles	1,419 AEG

Hiking	6.10 Miles	7 Hrs 20 Mns		0.83 mph
	1,419 ft AEG		15 LBS Pack

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Grasshopper

This hike retraced most of the route taken by Grasshopper and ssk44 back in April 2009. The plan was to visit a cave near the bottom of Pinal Creek Canyon they had discovered on that hike that had evidence of recent habitation. Due to a menacing bee hive in the cave and the prospect of encountering unfriendly inhabitants they only briefly stopped at the cave before exploring up the bottom of the canyon.

The unpaved section of road on the 13.4 mile drive from HW188 to the Shute Springs trailhead was in good conditions and shows signs of fairly recent grading. The last 5 mile section on FR223 had a couple of partial washouts that could be driven around on the left edge of the road. So for now, 2 wheel drive moderate clearance vehicles could make this drive when the road is dry. That could change if the washouts get worse.

There are great views of Black Mesa, the Sierra Ancha Mountains and Redmond Mountain at the trailhead and on the way down the trail to Shute Springs Creek. The trail is steep with loose rock in places and is starting to get overgrown. It makes for a steep tiring climb on the way back at the end of the hike. Once you reach the Shute Springs Creek Wash it's easy hiking on a flat sandy wash bottom with a sandy bypass channel on the east side in the one brushy area and minimal boulder hoping in the boulder strewn narrows. The hike up the west side of the wash to the top of the ridge overlooking Pinal Creek Canyon meanders through small openings between the forest of bushes and small desert trees. Reaching the top of the ridge we did some searching for a safe route down to Pinal Creek and the cave which was our destination. There were a couple old wooden utility poles on the ridge top and one very rusty steel pole. It appears there was a line running north to south along this ridge top at one time. The single wood cross members had rotted to pieces and fallen to the ground. There was no trace of wire insulators (perhaps a collectors item) or the wires. The Salt River Wilderness wasn't created until 1984 so perhaps this line provided power and/or communication with a mine at one time.

We found a steep break between cliffs and started the hike down to the creek. We were lucky to find a short path down the steepest and most treacherous part of the descent. It appeared to be man made. We cautiously approached the cave due to the presence of a bee hive hanging from the ceiling. Fortunately it was not being used at this time but was in the same location as the one seen by GH and ssk44 back in 2009. Maybe the bees had abandoned the nest long ago after getting a dose of the Wasp and Hornet spray from the now empty can laying on the floor of the cave. After examining the contents of the cave we decided to start the trek back to the trail head due to time and energy constraints. We did not descend the short distance to the creek but could see it was high and running muddy. We took a short break for lunch in a grassy spot outside the cave and then started the mostly uphill backtrack to the trail head.

The remainder of this triplog describes stuff we found in and outside the cave and some theorizing on what had brought people to this remote hide away.

The cave was only about 20 feet deep and was more of an alcove than a cave. A rock fire ring was located at the mouth of the cave. The floor of the cave was littered with stuff from modern day camping covered with a layer of dust so it had not been used for quite some time. There were two wood framed screen sifting boxes which perhaps had been used to sift the dirt from the cave floor for ancient Indian artifacts. The floor of the cave looked like it had been dug up. However the presence of a stream sluice box indicated the inhabitants had been involved in gold prospecting. Perhaps they had been doing both activities. Or, maybe the screen boxes have some use in gold prospecting that I'm not aware of or maybe two different groups with different purposes had been here. A pile of discarded stuff in one corner included a cloth bag with a US flag pattern on the outside. That item had been there when GH and ssk44 were there in 2009. There were a half dozen or more breathing masks with filters for dust. The floor of the cave was covered with a thick layer of dust so any digging would have raised a cloud of dust.

Two inexpensive sleeping bags as well as numerous plastic water bottles and empty Coleman propane canisters littered the area. Nearby was an english language paperback novel,"One False Move" by Alex Kova, first released in Aug 2004 and a plastic bucket with a lid contained various food items and small boxes of tobacco. There were a couple cans of albacore tuna, a small can of ham and a roll of Ritz crackers in an empty Pringles tube. The use-by date on one of the tuna cans was 2012. Recently purchased similar cans of tuna in our kitchen have 3 year use-by dates. So those cans could have been in the cave when GH and ssk44 were there in 2009. A plastic hard hat was hanging from one end of the sluice box where it leaned against the cave wall. The hat had decals for ASARCO Ray Operations. They run a large open pit copper mine south of Superior off of HW177.

Outside the cave we found two interesting items. The first was the remains of an old wire fence which had spanned the width of the small bench above the creek. The 5 strings of barbless wire were each single strand, about 3/16 inch diameter and rusty. The supporting posts had rotted away but appeared to have been made from tree limbs. My theory is that this wire had been re-purposed from the old utility line on top of the ridge but don't know why anyone would go to that much effort. Perhaps it had been hastily erected to keep browsing animals out of someone's creek side garden.

The second item of interest was a stack of plant nursery type plastic seedling trays which were located about 20 yards from the cave. It seems someone was gardening near the cave. These containers would have held a large number of seedlings. A weathered and rusty pruning sheers lay in the grass nearby. This would appear to be evidence of a marijuana grow site although other usual evidence such as black plastic drip tubing, empty plastic fertilizer bags, etc were not evident. Also the half dozen or so wilderness grow sites I've been to were littered with small empty yellow cans of El Pato Hot Tomato Sauce and other similar food packaging indicating the gardening had been done by immigrants from south of the border. That was not the case at this site. So either the tuna snacking prospectors from the cave had diversified purposes for being in this remote location or it had been inhabited by two different groups at different times.

While doing some research on this area I learned that several drainages into Pinal Creek came from an older copper mining area along HW188 near Globe and Miami. The entire drainage downstream from the mines all the way down Pinal Creek to the Salt River was a WQARF (Water Quality Assurance Revolving Fund) site for many years due to some very bad stuff leaching out of the mines and into the streams and ground water. Cleanup activities started after an area-wide investigation of groundwater and surface water contamination was conducted in 1979-1981. Surface water in Pinal Creek has apparently been cleaned up by these activities but ground water reclamation is still continuing. Could these cleanup activites be related to stuff we found in the cave and nearby? Maybe the seedlings were part of plant life restoration on the banks of Pinal Creek and not related to marijuana growing.

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Mining Equipment

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Armer Mountain Black Mesa Pinal Creek Redmond Mountain Shute Springs Shute Springs Creek Sierra Ancha Wilderness

_____________________

Mar 01 2019

Grasshopper

Guides 48
Routes 510
Photos 9,555
Triplogs 578

79 male

Joined Dec 28 2006
Scottsdale, AZ

PinalCrkCyn-ShuteSprCrk2ProspectorCAVE, AZ

Hiking		Mar 01 2019
		Grasshopper • Triplogs 578

Hiking	5.80 Miles	1,352 AEG

Hiking	5.80 Miles	7 Hrs 18 Mns	0.97 mph
	1,352 ft AEG	1 Hour 18 Mns Break

Linked

linked

Pinal Creek Canyon

Salt River at Shute Springs Creek

Partners

partners

Oregon_Hiker

It had been almost ten years (April'09) since I first visited this scenic, remote, and interesting off-trail area with HAZ- Eric (ssk44).

I was looking forward to a return trip and HAZ- Larry (Oregon_Hiker) was interested in joining me. This second trip was planned so we cound spend more time exploring a hidden cave area (actually a large alcove) at Pinal Creek Canyon that Eric and I stumbled onto when he and I first visited in April'09. On the short first visit, we visually determined that the cave may be used by still active inhabitant(s) as a location for a possible gold prospector to work/live out of and to store their personal and prospeting equipment. On this first visit, there was a very active bee hive on the roof of the cave so Eric and I could only view the cave inside from a distance. At this point, we then continued our enyoyable bushwhack

hiking day exploring up and back down rugged and scenic perennial Pinal Canyon Creek.

This March'19 visit is best described by Larry's HAZ triplog-

https://hikearizona.com/x.php?x=163769 , photoset, and my well captioned with tag notes, and geocoded photoset referenced herein. My also referenced and edited GPS Hiking Route with all "key" waypoints included is available and would be a good reference for download to follow.

Try it .. you will .. like it!

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Armer Mountain Asbestos Point Aztec Peak Black Mesa Pinal Creek Redmond Mountain Shute Springs Shute Springs Creek Sierra Ancha Wilderness

_____________________

(Outside.. "there is No Place Like It!!")

2 archives

Dec 10 2010

Leedlin

Photos 1
Triplogs 4

35 male

Joined Dec 10 2010
Phoenix, AZ

Pinal Creek Canyon

Globe, AZ

Pinal Creek Canyon

Globe, AZ

Hiking		Dec 10 2010
		Leedlin • Triplogs 4

Hiking	9.00 Miles	2,000 AEG

Hiking	9.00 Miles
	2,000 ft AEG

no routes

no photosets

Linked

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Went a little out of our way by following shutte springs all the way to the salt river. At the salt, we came to a sandy beach which made a great place for lunch and a cool swim. Made our way back up shuttes and climbed the hill down into a washed out pinal creek canyon. Lots of great scenery and plenty of beaver marking down in the canyon!

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Mar 14 2010

Vaporman

Guides 3
Routes 4
Photos 8,687
Triplogs 931

46 male

Joined Mar 28 2005
Gilbert, AZ

Pinal Creek Canyon

Globe, AZ

Pinal Creek Canyon

Globe, AZ

Canyoneering		Mar 14 2010
		Vaporman • Triplogs 931

Canyoneering	7.50 Miles	2,500 AEG

Canyoneering	7.50 Miles	6 Hrs 45 Mns	1.11 mph
	2,500 ft AEG

Canyon Hiking - Non-technical; no rope; easy scrambling; occasional hand use

A - Dry or little water; shallow or avoidable water; no wet/dry suit

III - Normally requires most of a day

no routes

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Thanks to sk44 for posting this trail writeup and putting this canyon on my radar! Though I just have my car right now, so I had to get a little creative on the approach .

I decided to park alongside AZ288 due west fo Klondike Mt and hike up to the saddle just to the south of that peak. From there I dropped down towards Pinal Creek Canyon with a few route options in front of me... Right canyon, left canyon, far right or far left. :-k

I first choose left canyon and ended up leaving a couple fixed ropes in place at a 40-50ft drop & 20ft drop. I could have done a longer bushwhacking bypass around these drops, but this was an exploratory trip and I wanted to see how this canyon played out. It eventually ended with a 120-150ft drop

down to Pinal Creek and with the 200ft rope back in the car, I figured I'd try one of the other options. I had a decent vantage point from that dropoff to scout the other options out and could see that the right canyon wasn't much better with another big drop. I ascended back up the two ropes and headed south to hit up the far right option. I lucked out and was able to find a not-too-insane spot to scramble down with using any ropes. I was originally planning on do this as an out & back, but now that I was able to get down w/o leaving any gear behind I was thinking I'd try to loop it back via the bridge & AZ288. While hiking downstream, I was now able to scout out the far left option and feel that would have been my best way down.

The hike downstream was fairly pleasant with nothing too difficult to deal with and some nice scenery to soak in and before I knew it I was at the Salt River. The AZ288 bridge was only a half mile away, but walking alongside the bank was not an option with the river right up against a huge 200-300ft cliff. Plan C was to just throw on my shorty wetsuit still in my pack and float down the frigid river, but I figured I'd try plan B first and climb up Klondike Butte up and over the cliff. After I got above the cliff, I was able to scout an easy way down to another side canyon and lucked out and found an old trail that led straight to the bridge. :y:

From there it was a super easy road walk back to my parking spot, esp since hardly anyone uses this 'highway to nowhere'. :lol:

_____________________

Yea, canyoneering is an extreme sport... EXTREMELY dramatic!!! =p

Apr 04 2009

ssk44

Guides 20
Routes 12
Photos 2,343
Triplogs 298

51 male

Joined Mar 31 2008
Gilbert, AZ

Pinal Creek Canyon

Globe, AZ

Pinal Creek Canyon

Globe, AZ

Canyoneering		Apr 04 2009
		ssk44 • Triplogs 298

Canyoneering	9.00 Miles	2,000 AEG

Canyoneering	9.00 Miles	6 Hrs	1.50 mph
	2,000 ft AEG

Canyon Hiking - Non-technical; no rope; easy scrambling; occasional hand use

B - Up to light current; wading/swimming; possible wet/dry suit

no routes

Linked

none

no linked trail guides

Partners

partners

Grasshopper

I really do love the Salt River Canyon Wilderness. My preferred area is everything from Pinal Creek to Horseshoe Bend. So far I have logged over fifty miles of hiking in this area and I still have three locations that I want to explore. For me, this was a very special hike that I have been looking forward to since last fall. I have been patiently waiting for the riparian vegetation to come in. The timing was perfect. Although the hike is only listed at about nine miles total in length, it really feels more like about eleven before you're done. Between the rugged bushwhack boulder hopping and the steep uphill sand wash hiking back up to the trailhead, I definitely felt like I had done something. Seeing the evidence of beaver activity was crazy. I have never known of beavers to set up residence in a low desert area. Were did they come from? It must have been a long and interesting journey.

For this trip I joined up with Hank (Grasshopper) again. I am frankly surprised that he didn't want to kill me before we finally made it out of there. He is a real trooper! To my amazement he actually wants to go hiking with me again. Hank shares my passion for remote backcountry adventure.

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Fremont Cottonwood

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Beaver

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Salt River Canyon Wilderness

_____________________

MATTHEW 11:28-30 / PSALM 84:1-2

1 archive

Apr 04 2009

Grasshopper

Guides 48
Routes 510
Photos 9,555
Triplogs 578

79 male

Joined Dec 28 2006
Scottsdale, AZ

Pinal Creek Canyon

Globe, AZ

Pinal Creek Canyon

Globe, AZ

Hiking		Apr 04 2009
		Grasshopper • Triplogs 578

Hiking	9.50 Miles	2,200 AEG

Hiking	9.50 Miles	9 Hrs	1.06 mph
	2,200 ft AEG

Linked

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no linked trail guides

Partners

partners

ssk44

I have never been one to shy away from a remote and challenging backcountry "bushwhack" hike when there was promise of new adventure with some grand payoffs.

On our last hike together in late January, Eric(ssk44) invited me to tag along to another special area of his in the remote Salt River Canyon Wilderness just north of Globe, AZ. For a number of months Eric had been analyzing arial views and maps of a certain area of Pinal Creek Canyon for a completely "off trail" hiking adventure that had high promise for delivering and it did!

I do believe the best way for me to share my triplog adventure to this very special area is to just simply restate Eric's new hike description OVERVIEW and SUMMARY paragraphs which pretty much confirm my story too:

"Overview: Pinal Creek Canyon is a remote backcountry destination, located in the Salt River Canyon Wilderness within the Tonto National Forest. The topo map name for this area is "Salt River Peak". The Salt River Canyon Wilderness covers about 32,000 acres of wild and remote, rugged desert landscape that rarely sees any visitors. If you appreciate solitude and have a true love for backcountry adventure, this hike will likely satisfy your appetite. Along this hike you will be treated to a broad mix of low desert vegetation, lush riparian areas, rugged geology, and diverse wildlife. This area typically receives consistent rain levels throughout the year contributing to rich and healthy flora.

Summary: Hiking into Pinal Creek Canyon is truly an adventure. The feeling of remote isolation and solitude is unmistakable. Just driving to this remote area is an experience in itself. I have a great personal love for the Salt River Canyon Wilderness. This is a special location that very few people have experienced. The hike is very diverse and has something to offer from start to finish. If you're looking for a unique backcountry hike, you have found it. Count on having it all to yourself if you go."

We have both done our best to document this excellent backcountry destination with our two pic sets(with detailed captions) and we also posted against this new HAZ hike description associated maps with both driving and hiking GPS Routes and all "key" GPS waypoints are noted in Eric's hike description. Like stated above, "If you're looking for a unique backcountry hike, you have found it."

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Dichelostemma capitatum

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Beaver

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Spring Box Windmill

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Black Mesa Redmond Mountain Shute Springs

Wildflowers Observation Isolated

	Shute Springs	Gallon per minute	Gallon per minute
	upper shute springs is gallon per minute with water faucet; lower shute springs is ~quart per minute with some possible contamination due to active cattle area;

_____________________

(Outside.. "there is No Place Like It!!")

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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