username
X
password
register
for free!
 help
 Home FAQ Contribute Camp Granada Surveys Shop
 TrailDEX Filter Areas A to Z Easy Hikes in Season Dog Hikes in Season
 MapRoute Editor Route Editor Route CloudRoute Scout Route Scout Foliage DEX Wildflower DEX
Publish a Guide
Trail/Hike Guide
 GPS Route
Recorded Track of a Hike
 Triplog
Review/Journal of a Hike
 Photoset
Photos of a Hike
help
  HAZ Forum
ArticlesGuidesRoutes
 
Photosets
 Recent Photosets
Liked PixelMASTERS
Avatars Tagged Notes
 
 Comments
triplogs   photosets   labels comments more
Little Elephant Head - Santa Rita Mtns - 5 members in 8 triplogs have rated this an average 4.2 ( 1 to 5 best )
8 triplogs
login for filter options
Mar 14 2024
avatar

 Guides 93
 Routes 397
 Photos 4,984
 Triplogs 4,124

49 male
 Joined Jun 20 2003
 Tucson, AZ
Little Elephant Head - Santa Rita MtnsTucson, AZ
Little Elephant Head - Santa Rita Mtns
Tucson, AZ
Hiking avatar Mar 14 2024
fricknaley • Triplogs 4,124
Hiking7.80 Miles 2,028 AEG
Hiking7.80 Miles   3 Hrs   20 Mns   2.84 mph
2,028 ft AEG      35 Mns Break8 LBS Pack
 no routes
1st trip
Linked   linked  
Quantrell Mine Trail
Partners none no partners
I’ve always really liked this area but have never been to Little Elephant Head, only the bigger brother across the canyon so it was nice to finally visit this peak. Took a trip out to the mine afterwards because it’s just a nice trail and there’s a great view from up there.

Lovely day. Road out there is a bit rough at the moment but doable
_____________________
hi
  1 archive
Dec 17 2022
avatar

 Guides 10
 Routes 673
 Photos 7,281
 Triplogs 4,660

67 female
 Joined Nov 17 2008
 phoenix, az
Elephant Head - South ApproachTucson, AZ
Elephant Head - South Approach
Tucson, AZ
Hiking avatar Dec 17 2022
trekkin_gecko • Triplogs 4,660
Hiking8.82 Miles 3,277 AEG
Hiking8.82 Miles   5 Hrs   24 Mns   2.11 mph
3,277 ft AEG   1 Hour   13 Mns Break
 
Linked   linked  
Quantrell Mine Trail
Little Elephant Head - Santa Rita Mtns
Partners partners
chumley
John9L
johnlp
chumley and 9L hadn't hiked elephant head so we needed to fix that
took my car to trailhead
the road is in great condition for a 2wd hc vehicle
did this one five years ago with john and jj and really liked it
set out around 0830 with temps in low 30s
warmed up nicely once we got in the sun
the drop down into chino canyon is steep, but better trail than i remember from last time
a corresponding climb out, then west to the base of the peak
a fun scramble to the top
john led since he's been up there several times
took a break on top and enjoyed a snack and the views
headed down and down
water in chino canyon with a layer of ice on top
kind of a grind back up, but then good trail over to the little elephant head turnoff
a mile of a more moderate ascent to the summit, where we again took in the views and some snacks
mostly downhill from there to the trailhead
not easy, but a really fun hike
pretty sure everyone enjoyed this one
saw just two people all day
stopped for street tacos in tucson
nice to see john9l again
thanks guys - had a great time :)

*using johnlp's stats
_____________________
hazhole
 
Dec 17 2022
avatar

 Guides 1
 Routes 14
 Photos 7,202
 Triplogs 5,208

68 male
 Joined Mar 16 2008
 chandler,az
Elephant Head - South ApproachTucson, AZ
Elephant Head - South Approach
Tucson, AZ
Hiking avatar Dec 17 2022
johnlp • Triplogs 5,208
Hiking8.82 Miles 3,277 AEG
Hiking8.82 Miles   5 Hrs   24 Mns   2.11 mph
3,277 ft AEG   1 Hour   13 Mns Break
 no routes
Linked   linked  
Quantrell Mine Trail
Little Elephant Head - Santa Rita Mtns
Partners partners
chumley
John9L
trekkin_gecko
Got a text invite to hike both Elephant Heads. Responded with one word, "Yes". It's an epic hike for the scenery, fun, and effort. I don't get out with chumley often enough, and I haven't hike with 9L in years. So it was great to catch up with both of them.
30 degree start at the trailhead. Once we got warmed up and into the sun temps felt perfect. There was some ice on the creek in Chino Basin which is a bit of a novelty for us desert dwellers.
The ascent up Elephant Head went well, as we avoided all but a little exposure along the upper portion. We took a nice break on top before descending and working our way over to Little Elephant Head. The views there are as good as Elephant Head IMHO.
Fantastic hike. Great company. Thanks for driving Kelly. :)
wildflower observationwildflower observationwildflower observationwildflower observationwildflower observation
Wildflowers Observation Isolated
_____________________
“Good people drink good beer.” Hunter S Thompson
 
Dec 17 2022
avatar

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

52 male
 Joined Sep 18 2002
 Tempe, AZ
Elephant Head - South ApproachTucson, AZ
Elephant Head - South Approach
Tucson, AZ
Hiking avatar Dec 17 2022
chumley • Triplogs 1,993
Hiking8.51 Miles 3,298 AEG
Hiking8.51 Miles   5 Hrs   24 Mns   1.91 mph
3,298 ft AEG      57 Mns Break
 no routes
1st trip
Linked   linked  
Little Elephant Head - Santa Rita Mtns
Partners partners
John9L
johnlp
trekkin_gecko
Apparently this is considered a climbing route? :-k

I'd never done Elephant Head and 9L has been talking about it for about a decade so when the opportunity presented itself, we decided to tag along with the more experienced route-finders.

9L and I compromised on a slightly later than typical LP/TG quarter-til-oh-dark-thirty start time and arrived at the trailhead in plenty of time to enjoy the subfreezing temperatures before the sun made an appearance.

Nice trail for the most part, steep dropping into Chino Canyon, and somewhat easy to lose the route climbing the north side if you got distracted. The not-really-climbing-at-all scramble up to the summit was fun and the route was straightforward.

Thankfully all the trash has been removed, though I did find one broken glass figurine about 100 feet below the summit that I gladly hauled out. To think I stole somebody's family heirloom!!
](*,)

We headed down to Chino and took another break having some fun with the iced-over creek before heading to Elephant Sister. The views up here are worth the side trip for sure and we enjoyed another snack break.

On the way back to the trailhead we passed our only other people today, a couple of guys who had apparently gone to the mine.

The road was in good enough condition to take a hybrid suv, definitely no problem in a subi. Flooding and future washouts may change that.

Authentic lunch in the old pueblo before the drive home. Excellent recommendation. Fun day. I'd do this again. Great to hike with LP and Trekkin again, and a pleasure to be just a lazy passenger on a drive. Thanks!
 Culture
 Culture [ checklist ]
[ checklist ]  Informational/Interpretive Sign  Trash Hauled Out
_____________________
I'm not sure what my spirit animal is, but I'm confident it has rabies.
  1 archive
Oct 10 2022
avatar

 Guides 104
 Routes 256
 Photos 16,118
 Triplogs 528

53 male
 Joined Dec 30 2005
 Tucson, AZ
Little Elephant Head - Santa Rita MtnsTucson, AZ
Little Elephant Head - Santa Rita Mtns
Tucson, AZ
Hiking avatar Oct 10 2022
Mike_W • Triplogs 528
Hiking3.91 Miles 1,103 AEG
Hiking3.91 Miles   2 Hrs   20 Mns   1.68 mph
1,103 ft AEG
 no routes
1st trip
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
Did this hike with Chris M. on the first non-rainy day in a long time. Congrats to Chris for accomplishing this hike after not being able to hike for at least one year and after a successful back surgery roughly one year ago. There was a faint trail leading up from the main elephant head trail. The trail was overgrown quite a bit and we got off the trail a few times. It really did feel like a shorter easier version of the "big" Elephant head. We saw a the largest horned lizard I've ever seen which appeared to be as big as my hand. Then we saw several very large a colorful grasshoppers that were at least 5 inches long. These grasshoppers had a green upper body, black head with yellow stripes, white/gray underbody, black legs, and orange antennas.

We didn't start the hike until after 2 pm, planned on hiking Yoas mountain the same day but didn't want to finish the hike in darkness. We'll save Yoas mountain for another day.
_____________________
Michael Williams
IT Professional
Rocky Point Vacation Rentals
Ocean Front Condo in Rocky Point, Sonora, Mexico
www.beachfrontmexico.us
Image
 
Jan 29 2022
avatar

 Guides 12
 Routes 192
 Photos 863
 Triplogs 356

42 male
 Joined Nov 30 2015
 Phoenix, AZ
Elephant Head - South ApproachTucson, AZ
Elephant Head - South Approach
Tucson, AZ
Run/Jog avatar Jan 29 2022
ShatteredArm • Triplogs 356
Run/Jog10.59 Miles 3,501 AEG
Run/Jog10.59 Miles   4 Hrs   40 Mns   2.42 mph
3,501 ft AEG      17 Mns Break
 
no photosets
1st trip
Linked   linked  
Little Elephant Head - Santa Rita Mtns
Quantrell Mine Trail
Partners none no partners
Original plan was to do another AZT passage today, but a friend in Tucson hit me up about doing Elephant Head, and I was immediately sold. Had been wanting to do this one for awhile.

Started late in the morning, and started off with Little Elephant as a sort-of entree. It didn't look like much from the saddle, but it turned out to be longer and more interesting than I expected. Even better, there was trail the whole way, and nothing too scratchy.

After Little Elephant, we continued up Quantrell Mine Trail, which is smooth as butter and one of the most well-maintained trails in all of the Santa Rita Mountains. It's a good thing they put so much time and effort into improving this well-used and beneficial-to-the-community trail. The mine at the end of the trail was kinda alright, I guess...

Backtracked to the Elephant Head turn-off for the main course. I didn't like how far we had to drop just to climb back up again, it seems like it would've been smarter to contour around the other side of the canyon from the mine, but what do I know... But I'm over it. At least there were a couple pools of water at the bottom that provided a nice spot to take a break on the hike back.

I was wigging myself out a little bit over the actual ridge climb up Elephant Head, since I'm not an experienced climber and I don't like heights and whatnot, but it turned out to really be a piece of cake. When I got to the summit, I had the same thought as I did when I saw the Papago Wall, which is... that's it? I feel a little let down that I didn't have to fear for my life even once. Battleship Mountain, Nankoweap Trail, Tapeats Cave, Deer Creek Narrows, etc. etc., all more frightening. Old Baldy Trail after freezing fog with no traction device was way more frightening.

Overall a great outing, I'd definitely climb Elephant Head again.
_____________________
 
Jan 16 2021
avatar

 Guides 99
 Routes 1,484
 Photos 16,072
 Triplogs 1,374

male
 Joined Jan 07 2017
 Fountain Hills,
Two Heads are better than One, AZ 
Two Heads are better than One, AZ
 
Hiking avatar Jan 16 2021
DixieFlyer • Triplogs 1,374
Hiking8.60 Miles 3,491 AEG
Hiking8.60 Miles
3,491 ft AEG
 
1st trip
Linked   linked  
Elephant Head - South Approach
Quantrell Mine Trail
Little Elephant Head - Santa Rita Mtns
Partners partners
SecretMtnLover
SkyIslandHiker
You have one head for thinking,
One head for having fun.
I believe in that old saying,
Two heads are better than one.

I hiked up to Elephant Head last month, but did not hike to Little Elephant Head. I decided to go back down there and do both Heads this time!

We started from the TH is Agua Caliente Canyon, which is the south approach to Elephant Head. We did Elephant Head first, and then on the way back we hiked up to Little Elephant Head.

It was a fun scramble up to Elephant Head, and the views at the summit were great.

The hike up to Little Elephant Head was tougher than I thought that it would be, although part of that was just having done Elephant Head, and it was a sunny day that was much warmer than normal. There were 3-4 false summits on the way up to Little Elephant Head, so we'd have to gain some elevation, only to give some of it back. The views on Little Elephant Head were just as good as those on Elephant Head, so we enjoyed being at the summit. The air in Tucson seems much cleaner than in Phoenix, and the only place where we saw haze/smog was when looking down to Nogales.

I enjoyed this hike, although it was tougher than I thought that it would be.
 Flora
 Flora [ checklist ]
[ checklist ]  Arizona Rainbow Cactus  Barrel Cactus  Santa Rita Prickly Pear
 Culture
 Culture [ checklist ]
[ checklist ]  HAZ-Tree Hugger  Summit Register Log
 Named place
 Named place [ checklist ]
[ checklist ]  Baboquivari Peak  Kitt Peak  Mica Mountain  Mount Hopkins  Mount Wrightson  Rincon Peak
_____________________
Civilization is a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there
 
May 14 2017
avatar

 Guides 10
 Routes 673
 Photos 7,281
 Triplogs 4,660

67 female
 Joined Nov 17 2008
 phoenix, az
Elephant Head - South ApproachTucson, AZ
Elephant Head - South Approach
Tucson, AZ
Hiking avatar May 14 2017
trekkin_gecko • Triplogs 4,660
Hiking8.50 Miles 3,315 AEG
Hiking8.50 Miles   4 Hrs   13 Mns   2.21 mph
3,315 ft AEG      22 Mns Break
 
Linked   linked  
Quantrell Mine Trail
Little Elephant Head - Santa Rita Mtns
Partners partners
johnlp
JuanJaimeiii
last minute suggestion from johnlp to hike elephant head today
this one has been on my list for a couple years now, and conditions seemed favorable
john invited jj along and we were off
set out a little after 8:00
followed a trail, then an old mining road
the hardest part of the hike was dropping down into chino canyon
it was steep and loose
up the other side was an easier grade with better footing
great views of elephant head at the ridgeline
the ridge leads to the base of the peak
a great scramble up the granite - just pure fun
one class four move toward the top
i didn't feel any exposure, except for the gusty winds blowing me off course occasionally
nice views from the summit of santa rita peaks and baboquivari
a lot of elephant debris within a circle of rocks
not in keeping with leave no trace, but neither is a summit register
kind of fun to look at what people have left
we didn't stay long, as we wanted to hit little elephant head on the return
a couple of downclimbs, but good footing on the descent
a 480 foot grind up from chino canyon, then back on the mining road to the little elephant head cutoff
surprisingly good trail on this one; thought it would be less traveled
an easier hike to the summit, also with good views and more wind gusts
had a quick snack and headed back
temps were fine, helped by a strong breeze and a little cloud cover at times
lp and jj have been up here before, and it was nice of them to be willing to do it again
stopped at bk tacos on the way home - yum
just a great day, and this combo is one i would certainly do again
in fact, at least four southern arizona peaks have now made my top 15 list, including rincon two weeks ago
wrightson and ajo are the other two
really like the sky island terrain
thanks for the hike, guys, and to jj for driving
 Culture
 Culture [ checklist ]
[ checklist ]  Mascot
 Named place
 Named place [ checklist ]
[ checklist ]  Mount Hopkins
_____________________
hazhole
 
average hiking speed 2.18 mph

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.

FAQ
helpcommentissue

end of page marker