McFadden Horse Mountain High Point • Hike • Arizona • All Triplogs • HikeArizona.COM

Globe, AZ

Hiking		Oct 15 2023
		emilystardust • Triplogs 792

Hiking	8.35 Miles	2,362 AEG

Hiking	8.35 Miles	6 Hrs 25 Mns	1.47 mph
	2,362 ft AEG	44 Mns Break

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Cienega Spring Trail #145

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Dragging a bit today after Humphreys yesterday but we got in most of what we set out to do. Arch was definitely highlight as mentioned below. Off trail from scenic lookout to arch was a little better than I thought it’d be. Lone donkey on the road when we started and finished.

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Sep 24 2023

nonot

Guides 107
Routes 249
Photos 2,067
Triplogs 514

male

Joined Nov 18 2005
Phoenix, AZ

Cienega Spring Trail #145

Globe, AZ

Hiking		Sep 24 2023
		nonot • Triplogs 514

Hiking	18.00 Miles	4,000 AEG

Hiking	18.00 Miles
	4,000 ft AEG

no routes

no photosets

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Reynolds Creek Trail #150

Reynolds Creek - Deja View

Center Mountain Trail #142

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Spent an enjoyable weekend in the Sierra Anchas.

Cienega trail is a good warmup before the climb up to McFadden Horse Mountain. I enjoyed the prime pine forest up top and wandered all the way to the overlook. Unfortunately a great deal of fog and low hanging clouds disrupted the scenic view. I spent time wondering whether the Native Americans that lived in the fort had any fear of heights.

Nobody seems to report the number of easily accessible/explorable mines along the Cienega trail. I peeked into a few but they all looked very mazelike, and a few had collapsed areas, so I didn't explore very far.

The McFadden Horse Mountain trail appears to get so little use that there is no discernable trail up top on the forest floor, but the Forest service appears to have constructed hundreds of cairns to try to keep you on track. While I thought at first the cairns were excessive, I still managed to lose the trail several times, usually where fallen trees had covered the cairns, so I appreciated all the effort they had put in.

The next day I headed up Reynold's creek and summited Center mountain and did a good deal of the way down the other side towards Lucky Strike, but turned around due to time concerns before reaching the intersection. I also wandered to the Dry Tank near the top of the mountain, and true to name, it was basically dry except a little mud in the middle.

On the way back I took the "other" Center mountain trail back to the Reynold's Creek trail. Both Center Mountain trail options have drawbacks. The lower trail is significantly overgrown. The upper trail is eroding and has several enormous fallen trees that completely block the trail. I can't recall both limboing while doing a monkey bar traverse before, but that is what it took to get through one section.

More flowers were observed along Reynold's creek trail than others.

Wildflowers Observation Light

	Cienega Spring	Quart per minute	Quart per minute
	Maybe 2 liters per minute. The hose to the tank appears clogged but the tank itself had a bit of water in it, and the entire ground around was soaked. The spring cistern at the source was overflowing.

	Reynolds Creek Falls - Sierra Ancha	Pools to trickle	Pools to trickle
	A trickle flowing over the falls. Below the falls there were a few stagnant pools as the water appeared to go underground.

	The Switchbacks Spring	Quart per minute	Quart per minute
	A slight flow was observed in the creekbed. Maybe a liter per minute.

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1 archive

May 01 2023

LindaAnn

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

45 female

Joined Dec 24 2007
Ahwatukee, AZ

McFadden Duo and Elephant Rock Arch, AZ

Hiking		May 01 2023
		LindaAnn • Triplogs 2,600

Hiking	11.01 Miles	3,101 AEG

Hiking	11.01 Miles	7 Hrs 14 Mns	1.87 mph
	3,101 ft AEG	1 Hour 21 Mns Break

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[ checklist ] Elephant Rock Elephant Rock Arch - Sierra Ancha

McFadden Peak

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The_Eagle

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

Bruce suggested a hike out in the Sierra Ancha. I like that range, so I was game. Got started a little after 0800 and headed up McFadden Horse Trail. The trail obviously doesn’t get much use, and there’s some deadfall, but fairly easy hiking and cairns keep you on track. My legs were tired from the start, which kind of sucked, but I tried to keep the whining to a minimum.

At the top, we went over to what appeared to be the high point, looked around, and had a snack. Cool temps, and a nice breeze. After that, we headed north along the ridge, which had great views, until we reached the end and had to drop down. This was a bit of an unknown, but we had Joe & Karl’s track from many years ago. After some trial and error, we scrambled down through the top cliff band, making sure not to descend anything we couldn’t climb back up if we had to turn around.

After that, it was a very steep descent down a chute. Lots of loose rock, dried leaves, and dirt. I think that was the longest butt scoot I’ve ever done. Amazingly, my brand new leggings were still intact a couple hundred feet later. It was impossible to avoid sending rocks down the chute, so Bruce would descend until he found a good rock or tree to hide behind, then I would descend to the same point. We did that a few times until we made it down and began traversing across to the arch.

The arch was the highlight of the loop, with amazing geology and views. We had lunch in the shade of the arch and enjoyed the breeze. After that, we headed down and over to the road. All off trail, with some scratchy vegetation in places, but overall straightforward. Bruce stirred up one rattlesnake not long before reaching the road. Lots of old bear scat, saw one deer.

After that, it was a sunny but breezy road walk up to McFadden Peak. Looked around the summit a bit, and then decided to take the road straight back to the car rather than looping around to the west. The idea of having to gain a few hundred feet right at the end of the hike via the planned loop was not appealing to either of us at that moment, and the road seemed like an easy way to finish out the hike. So it was an easy (but dusty) final few miles to the day.

Fun to see some new territory and hike with Bruce. Thanks for driving!

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Benchmark Miscellaneous Survey Marker

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

_____________________

Stop crying and just go do the hike.

May 01 2023

The_Eagle

Guides 41
Routes 1,626
Photos 14,983
Triplogs 2,762

69 male

Joined Jan 20 2009
Far NE Phoenix,

McFadden Duo and Elephant Rock Arch, AZ

Hiking		May 01 2023
		The_Eagle • Triplogs 2,762

Hiking	11.96 Miles	3,180 AEG

Hiking	11.96 Miles	7 Hrs 14 Mns		1.98 mph
	3,180 ft AEG	1 Hour 11 Mns Break	14 LBS Pack

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McFadden Horse Mtn Gully (lower)

McFadden Peak

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LindaAnn

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

Linda was up for an adventure in the Ancha. If this place was not so far from home, I'd spend a lot more time out here. But so would everyone else.

My plans were to do a CCW loop. McFadden Horse Mountain #146 > to the overlook up top > drop down to hit Elephant Rock Arch then off trail it to 288. After this hit McFadden Peak and complete the loop using McFadden Park Trail #55.

We parked in the pullout. All the Maps I've seen, call this Cienega Spring Trail #145. The sign at the TH call this #146 McFadden Horse Trail. Cienega Spring Trail does not join in and split off, until farther up. Not sure which is correct.

Branches and forest litter have been placed across the beginning to keep the Quads off the trail.
This trail gets your heart beating right out of the gate climbing 1900' to the McFadden Horse Mountain Peak. After this it trends slightly down, heading north towards the overlook and out to our drop in point. There's quite a bit of deadfall on this trail that is easily bypassed.

Loaded with a GPS track from @joebartels and @Bifrost, we checked out all our choices to drop in and finally settled on one we were both comfortable with. We found a steep loose chute and let the butt scoot begin.

We ultimately made our way over to the promised highlight of the day, Elephant Rock Arch, and enjoyed a break and some lunch. I never get tired of the geology in the Ancha. The route back over to SR288 is all off trail and can be slow going.

Next, up to the McFadden Lookout. Nobody was home and it was all locked up, so we took a break in the shade and enjoyed a snack.

I still have a bit of a lung funk going on, so Linda agreed that it's be ok to walk the road back in lieu of completing the loop on McFadden Park Trail #55. This cut off a couple of miles and some elevation gain at the end.

Pretty nice weather all day. Breezes kept in descent.

Good times in the Ancha. Good hiking with you again Linda.

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Benchmark Miscellaneous Survey Marker

Pools to trickle

_____________________

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

2 archives

Jun 11 2022

John10s

Guides 25
Routes 376
Photos 5,897
Triplogs 346

40 male

Joined Mar 01 2018
Chandler, AZ

Globe, AZ

Hiking		Jun 11 2022
		John10s • Triplogs 346

Hiking	8.64 Miles	2,329 AEG

Hiking	8.64 Miles	5 Hrs 30 Mns	2.11 mph
	2,329 ft AEG	1 Hour 24 Mns Break

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[ checklist ] Salado Structure - Unknown Function

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TboneKathy

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

With record heat at the lower elevations, we headed for higher elevations again this weekend. We hiked Hell's Hole two weeks ago and went a little farther north along Highway 288 this time to check out McFadden Horse Trail and Elephant Rock. The first two miles were a consistent uphill climb, a combination of jeep road and then a switchbacking trail beyond the intersection with Cienega Trail #145.

It was a humid morning with very still air, and the flies were relentless, which made the early part of the hike a little less enjoyable. The views got better and better as we gained elevation, but it was hard to fully appreciate the surroundings with the swarming bugs...the soundtrack of the hike was a concert of buzzing at different volumes and pitches from the various sizes and types of flies constantly in our faces. Luckily, things got a little better once the trail leveled off on top of McFadden Horse Mountain...fewer flies, and there was more shade among the ponderosas once we were out of the burn area.

We took a short detour over to the McFadden Horse high point at 7,510'. It was only 500 feet off the trail but is a fairly anticlimactic "peak"...it essentially a gentle ridge that was barely discernable as the high point, though it did offer a nice view of Four Peaks between the trees. Back on the trail, the stretch along the east rim of the mountain offered the best views of the day, overlooking the Cherry Creek area with the classic Sierra Ancha red cliffs and the gray spires and formations below. Some scattered thunderheads in the distance added a nice touch to the landscape.

Elephant Rock Fortress is an impressive overlook with incredible views, and the ruins on the island of white rock are intriguing. I couldn't see any land bridge connecting the ridge and the island...either something has eroded since the natives built structures there, or they were very courageous and skilled climbers. Given the location, it was probably a Salado lookout...I can't help but wonder how long it's been since someone has set foot set foot on top of that rock and gotten a close look at the structures.

[ youtube video ]

After some scrambling around on the rocks and a short break at the overlook, we started back, and the flies got more aggressive on the way out. On the flat stretches among the pine trees, the swarms were worse than ever and the flies were starting to bite...for a mile or two, it seemed like I had 5-10 around my face most of the time. Fortunately, they let up a little once we got out of the forest and started descending the last two miles. Near the Cienega #145 intersection, we noticed a lot of nice examples of stromatolites that we'd missed on the way in.

We didn't see anyone during the hike, and it was a warm but comfortable day aside from the morning humidity...and very enjoyable other than the aggressive flies. We had a little extra time after McFadden and drove further up 288 and hiked part of the Elephant Rock Arch route but didn't have time to get all the way there, so we'll have to come back and finish that one off another day.

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Prickly Pear

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Grasshopper

Geology

Geology [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Stromatolites

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Elephant Rock Four Peaks McFadden Horse Mountain McFadden Peak McFadden Peak Fire Lookout McFadden Peak Lookout Sierra Ancha Wilderness

Jun 11 2022

TboneKathy

Routes 18
Photos 79
Triplogs 23

female

Joined Apr 28 2018
Chandler, AZ

Globe, AZ

Hiking		Jun 11 2022
		TboneKathy • Triplogs 23

Hiking	8.64 Miles	2,329 AEG

Hiking	8.64 Miles	5 Hrs 42 Mns	1.81 mph
	2,329 ft AEG	55 Mns Break

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John10s

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

McFadden Horse Trail was indeed steep. The first part of the trail was an old jeep road, so I figured steep would have limits. It did: upper limits! And where the eroded gullies left sloped road edges, there were horizontal slopes in addition to the vertical slope! Views were good, however, and I’m not saying that the difficulty rating was in error.

Reaching the top, the ponderosa pine forest was a great reward, and after a quick side trip to the high point, views got really spectacular with cliffs and Elephant Rock.

I don’t remember flies and gnats during this part of the hike. Maybe the views were just that good. Or maybe I’m getting used to flies this time of year, especially on this hike when they seemed more attracted to @john10s for a change. At least on the first half of the hike...

It was great to linger at the point and ponder the many unanswered questions Elephant Rock brings to mind. But we eventually began retracing our steps with our next goal being Elephant Rock Arch.

The farther we ventured back into the ponderosa pine forest, the worse the flies became. These weren’t just any flies. I didn’t spend much time looking at them intentionally, but they were probably at least four times as big as houseflies and had a dull green face. When they started biting (only me), I couldn’t ignore them any longer. They were oddly intent on biting just one of my upper arms. Close to being driven to distraction, and with plenty of forest left, I stopped to dig out and don my long-sleeved shirt and gloves. Relief. Until one painfully bit through a glove. Luckily it happened only once.

My best guess is that we’d encountered some type of horsefly. Sorry, entomologists, but I wasn’t honoring them with photos.

Out of the forest and down the switchbacks, the flies let up. We could enjoy the algal stromatolites when we got to that area, and even linger long enough for my search image to develop. Then I could spot them even embedded in the road with only their top surface exposed, with telltale concentric rings.

We drove to the trailhead for Elephant Rock Arch. With the lack of trail and just enough undergrowth, it soon became apparent that we wouldn’t have enough time to reach Elephant Rock Arch. I cast my vote for stopping at the steep valley. I found some information online about that valley. It has slopes of even 24%. I could have sworn it rivaled Half Dome’s 45%!

Geology

Geology [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Stromatolites

May 07 2022

Nat_DesertRat

Routes 22
Photos 15
Triplogs 27

49 female

Joined Mar 28 2018

Globe, AZ

Hiking		May 07 2022
		Nat_DesertRat • Triplogs 27

Hiking	9.10 Miles	2,300 AEG

Hiking	9.10 Miles	5 Hrs 46 Mns	1.84 mph
	2,300 ft AEG	50 Mns Break

no photosets

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Excellent hike to an amazing view into Cherry Creek. Didn't see another person out there, other than the two people I was hiking with. First 1.9 miles are steep and will get the blood flowing.
Once on top it is an easy hike to the end of the mesa. Just one more down into a small ravine and back up.

2 archives

Nov 19 2021

eru

Guides 8
Routes 10
Photos 1,028
Triplogs 40

44 male

Joined Jun 14 2019
nomadic

McFadden Horse Mtn Elephant Rock Arch loop, AZ

Hiking		Nov 19 2021
		eru • Triplogs 40

Hiking	9.00 Miles

Hiking	9.00 Miles	9 Hrs 30 Mns	0.95 mph

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Elephant Rock Arch McFadden Horse Tl Connector

[ checklist ] Elephant Rock Elephant Rock Arch - Sierra Ancha McFadden Horse Mountain

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A nice all day hike (to be able to soak the cool spots in), and much better counterclockwise than clockwise IMO.

Parking area is easy to find, and the jeep road leading up from it was well graded with some nice views. More tire tracks on it than boot prints. A faded sign is at the junction of the horse trail, which I found easier to follow than anticipated. It gets a bit steep and a little loose in places, and had one significant deadfall we had to route around. I was able to clear about 2/3 to 3/4 of the deadfall impacting the trail on the way up due to the lack of density in them, which was kind of fun. It gradually more forested as you climb, and the cairns increase in frequency.

The plateau of the peak itself I really enjoyed - a really nice mix of agave, grass, and scattered trees gave it a fascinating ambience. Very few cacti. The trail does become a bit hard to follow once you're past the "peak" (we hopped over to find a USGS marker or register and were unsuccessful) but gains clarity once you're on the ridge where the terrain is obviously constrained. Other than that brief section the cairns were more an affirmation I was on the right route vs something I was searching for in order to navigate. Didn't see any boot prints, but some hooves have been on the trail recently, and we saw both cow and deer up on the plateau.

The scenic point at the end of the trail was a great place to stop for lunch, and well worth exploring. A few minutes before it there's some pillars off to the east visible from trail, and an obvious break in foliage to drop down and see them - well worth visiting.

We backtracked and looked for a way to connect to elephant rock arch - a direct route failed, but topo looked friendlier at a nearby gully/canyon and we found a cow path that took us to an easy if slow traverse across the side of the plateau we were on top of earlier. Some really cool multi-colored scooped out rocks that probably haven't been seen by too many people recently near the arch.

We ended up above the arch, looking down on the top of it hah. A really neat spot, we lingered there, dropped around the eastern side of the arch and onto where most people probably go, then wandered around there onto the little point north of it.

The hike back to 288 was pretty straightforward off-trail, we hit the road 10 minutes before sunset and had a simple hike down the road to our vehicle at the #146 TH with amazing views of the sunset (whilst snacking on BBQ chips). The puffies we wore in the morning came in handy on that walk down.

More detailed route info on the arch & connector guides as they were written from this trip. :p

Geology

Geology [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Troy Quartzite

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Camp-fire HAZ Food

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

Meteorology

Meteorology [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Sunset

Autumn Foliage Observation Isolated

Wildflowers Observation Isolated

	McFadden Horse Mtn Gully	Pools to trickle	Pools to trickle
	Single murky pool.

	McFadden Horse Mtn Gully (lower)	Pools to trickle	Pools to trickle
	Multiple murky pools, much bovine interaction.

3 archives

Apr 24 2021

DixieFlyer

Guides 99
Routes 1,485
Photos 16,072
Triplogs 1,375

male

Joined Jan 07 2017
Fountain Hills,

Horsing Around in the Sierra Ancha, AZ

Hiking		Apr 24 2021
		DixieFlyer • Triplogs 1,375

Hiking	10.20 Miles	2,897 AEG

Hiking	10.20 Miles
	2,897 ft AEG

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Cienega Spring Trail #145

Aztec Peak via Abbey's Way 151 Loop

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I decided to go horsing around in the Sierra Ancha Wilderness yesterday, and what better place to horse around than McFadden Horse Mountain!

I first did an out-and-back hike by taking the McFadden Horse Mountain Trail all the way to its end at a scenic overlook. Along the way I went off trail for a short distance to the McFadden Horse Mountain Highpoint.

There had been some trail maintenance done since I was out there a year ago -- there is no more deadfall on the trail from the TH to the McFadden Horse Trail-Cienega Spring Trail Junction. There were 3-4 downed trees on the trail as I headed up the mountain, but the fallen trees were small ones that were very easy to step over. The trail is easy to follow and there are lots of large cairns along the trail.

Once on the top of the mountain, the trail is very delightful to hike on as there are hardly any rocks and you are walking on soft pine needles for the most part. Views at the summit are obstructed so there is not much to see. I do not believe that there is a benchmark disk at the summit.

The best part of the hike is from the summit to the overlook. There is some nice geology and great views at the overlook. I thought about trying to go from the overlook to Elephant Rock Arch, but decided against it as I wasn't sure how far I would have to descend to make my way over to the arch. I may go to the Arch from the other direction on a future hike, and explore getting from the arch to the overlook.

The descent down the mountain was nice because there were nice views of the Mazzies in front of you all the way down.

I enjoyed this hike and I will have to do it again.

On the way back to Phoenix we turned on FR 487 and hiked up to Aztec Peak. I started to drive all the way to the top, but decided to park a half mile or so before getting to the summit, and at least make a little bit of a hike out of it. It was a nice day and we enjoyed the views at the summit.

Mileage and elevation gain for the 2 hikes is below.
McFadden Horse Mountain: 8.7 miles; AEG of 2,602 feet
Aztec Peak: 1.5 miles; AEG of 295 feet

Stats above are the sum of the two

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Fire Lookout Structures

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Aztec Peak Aztec Peak Fire Lookout Four Peaks Mount Ord

_____________________

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

Apr 06 2020

DixieFlyer

Guides 99
Routes 1,485
Photos 16,072
Triplogs 1,375

male

Joined Jan 07 2017
Fountain Hills,

Horsing Around in the Sierra Ancha, AZ

Hiking		Apr 06 2020
		DixieFlyer • Triplogs 1,375

Hiking	12.00 Miles	2,785 AEG

Hiking	12.00 Miles
	2,785 ft AEG

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