Florida Peak • Hike • Arizona • All Triplogs • HikeArizona.COM

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

It was going to be a hot one, so I figured the best antidote to that was a little elevation. I hadn’t done East Sawmill in the Ritas before, so why not Florida Peak?

I wasn’t super confident my trail vehicle would be up for the road to the East Sawmill trailhead; it would probably make it but I didn’t have a buddy to help deal with the chance it wouldn’t, so I made for Greaterville trailhead instead. That road was a bit bumpier than I expected but no trouble at all. I wouldn’t recommend it for vehicles with particularly low clearance but most passenger cars would be fine.

Greaterville trail starts off with a steep climb punctuated by stretches of loose rock not unlike marbles, which made the descent at the end of the day exciting. The trail levels off toward the spine of a series of hills, and makes for a pleasant saddle with nice oak trees and a lovely view. It then makes a gradual descent to the East Sawmill trail.

The junction is not where the HAZ route indicates. It’s about a quarter mile past it. As I would discover, the East Sawmill trail deviates considerably from the HAZ route.

From the junction, East Sawmill is a steady climb toward Florida Peak. At first it climbs well above the canyon bottom through oak scrub, but eventually joins the more densely wooded canyon floor that rises to meet the trail. I saw deer everywhere in this stretch, though the vegetation and their spry movement prevented any photos. There were a few decent pools in the drainage, too. It was much easier to photograph those.

The trail then climbed above the drainage again, switching back repeatedly and crossing a muddy seep. It passes a nice campsite, which was an ideal place to have a snack and short rest before the contour lines got tighter.

After the campsite the trail got brushy and tread quality declined for a stretch. I passed Sawmill Spring, which is developed and has plenty of water. I didn’t draw any though.

Shortly after the spring the trail conditions improve markedly, and there are long switchbacks through very, very dense young pine. It’s pleasant walking but one can’t help but imagine the place would get catastrophically torched if another fire sweeps through.

Halfway through this stretch I saw a long-dead fallen tree, probably a juniper, that was absolutely huge and must have been ancient. The trunk was maybe twelve feet in diameter. The trunk had been hollowed out by fire and somehow a big boulder was in the middle of it, making a nice place to sit (I passed on the opportunity).

Proceeding up, the burn area continued but got less thick. The pines were fewer but bigger, and the trail brushier. It was evident there hadn’t been much maintenance in years. The brush, often catclaw, was thick enough to challenge anyone’s commitment to shorts. I was very thankful I was wearing pants.

As the trees thinned I started getting some nice views and a lot more wind. It was a warm day but breezy and overcast, so it was actually quite pleasant.

Finally I reached the high point, just below Florida Peak. I made for the peak sort of following the HAZ route, but mostly just picking the easiest path I could make out. As far as off trail ascents go, it’s pretty easy.

The peak does afford some great views of the Crest. It was very windy so I just signed the log, took a couple pictures, and left.

I made my way down to Florida Saddle for a late lunch. The route traverses a few severe burn areas in various stages of recovery. Florida Saddle was sunny and hot, so I didn’t stay longer than was necessary to scarf my Mediterranean orzo pasta salad.

There’s great cell service there, and it’s a good thing too as I got a text from Wifey to remind me I had a 6pm meeting in midtown. It was 2pm when I got that, so I did the math and… holy crap I’d have to hike 20-minute miles to make it on time.

I did my best but while the tread is generally in great shape, the brushy overgrowth and frequent steep declines of loose rock were not conducive to 20-minute miles. On the latter half of the descent my feet decided they weren’t fans of the idea either.

I made it back to the car at 4:25, got home at 5:52, showered and grabbed takeout before arriving at the meeting at 6:28. I didn’t miss anything critical, so it all worked out. It made for a long day though.

Wildflowers Observation Isolated
A few columbines where there were pools.

	Sawmill Spring	Quart per minute	Quart per minute
	Nice catchment basin built to hold plenty of water. You can hear it trickling down the drainage a fair distance below.

4 archives

May 25 2024

ScaredyCat

Guides 2
Routes 207
Photos 93
Triplogs 204

male

Joined Aug 08 2020
Phx az

Tucson, AZ

Hiking		May 25 2024
		ScaredyCat • Triplogs 204

Hiking	10.29 Miles	3,340 AEG

Hiking	10.29 Miles	6 Hrs 3 Mns	2.00 mph
	3,340 ft AEG	54 Mns Break

no photosets

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Florida Canyon Trail #145

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

This adventure began before the hike. The directions need some bonus text. This is very much a remote TH. Over an hour off pavement=4 hour drive for me when expecting 3. FR 165 is for HC vehicles.

Needless to say, it was just us at the TH & saw noone else on these trails. This trail is rather chill but does make you work some on your way back out. Sawmill Canyon is steeper and eventually caused half our group to bow out.

Me + 1 pushed through 15 more switchbacks before leaving the trail for FL Peak. I knew I'd see @Jim_H on that registry. That peak had been on my wishlist for over 2 years. Sweet Tomatoes in Tucson afterward.

May 29 2021

Jim

Guides 73
Routes 176
Photos 10,174
Triplogs 2,324

46 male

Joined Sep 08 2006

Florida Canyon Trail #145

Tucson, AZ

Hiking		May 29 2021
		Jim • Triplogs 2,324

Hiking	10.00 Miles	3,933 AEG

Hiking	10.00 Miles	6 Hrs 15 Mns		1.82 mph
	3,933 ft AEG	45 Mns Break	10 LBS Pack

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Link Trail - Santa Rita Mtns

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Went to Florida Peak from Florida Canyon. The upper parts are nice, the lower not so nice. No one is over here, so that was nice. Warm going up, hot coming down. Trail and everything is super dry. The only water I saw was the pipe dripping 1/3 of the way up. I placed a rock to impound some water for wildlife.

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Apache Pine

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May 16 2020

LindaAnn

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

45 female

Joined Dec 24 2007
Ahwatukee, AZ

Wrightson - Florida, AZ

Hiking		May 16 2020
		LindaAnn • Triplogs 2,600

Hiking	14.36 Miles	4,577 AEG

Hiking	14.36 Miles	8 Hrs 52 Mns	1.83 mph
	4,577 ft AEG	1 Hour 2 Mns Break

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8 linked trail guides

Gardner Canyon Trail #143

Super Trail #134

Old Baldy Trail #372 to Wrightson Summit

[ checklist ] Sonoran Mud Turtle Western Tent Caterpillar

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danielac

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

Parked at the end of Gardner Canyon Rd. The road is in very good shape, only two short rocky spots and one spot of water.

Headed up Link Trail, then up Gardner Canyon trail. I like Gardner Canyon, the pine trees are nice. The trail is generally in good shape, although the upper half is steep and not much shade. The other bonus is that it doesn't seem to get much use.

Once we reached Super Trail, we headed north and made our way up to Baldy Saddle, where we took a short break. After that, we headed up to Wrightson. The mile or so from the saddle to the summit was very crowded with other hikers, as expected. Out of the entire day, this was the only section where we saw anyone else. Quick stop at the summit to take a few pic, but it was very buggy (as was the majority of the day) so we kept moving.

Another break at the saddle, then we continued north on Crest Trail. Again, the sections with pines are very pleasant. Some spots of the trail are brushy and I was glad I wore pants instead of shorts. At Florida Saddle, we got onto East Sawmill and headed over towards Florida Peak. Sawmill is very overgrown, and is kind of a hassle to hike. The short offtrail up to Florida was actually a relief, although we didn't hang around on the summit since it was buzzing with insects.

Once back at Florida Saddle, we headed down Cave Canyon trail. Once again, I really liked Cave Canyon. The trail is steep in the upper half, but in nice shape, and not overgrown. There was a good amount of water flowing in the lower half. Very pleasant hiking, although not much breeze so it felt warm.

I wasn't feeling all that great, so the hike was more of a grind than it should have been, but it was still enjoyable. Within the first mile of the hike, I'd actually had the thought that I would have turned around if I hadn't just driven nearly three hours for this. That was really the only reason I went through with the hike. The heat and insects were also two negatives of the day. Still, it was good to get out there, and even better to only have to deal with other hikers for less than two miles of the entire loop. I think next time, I'll skip the Florida Peak part, and make the loop a little shorter. We each went through just under 4 liters of water.

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Claret Cup Cactus

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

Baldy Spring

Dry

	Gardner Canyon - Santa Ritas	Pools to trickle	Pools to trickle
	A couple of pools. Didn't look great.

	Middle Cave Creek - Santa Ritas	Pools to trickle	Pools to trickle
	Plenty of water in the pools and for the first 1.5 miles of Cave Canyon trail.

Upper Cave Creek - Santa Ritas

Dry

_____________________

Stop crying and just go do the hike.

May 10 2020

jrousoshammond

Routes 30
Triplogs 186

37 male

Joined May 15 2015
Tucson

Tucson, AZ

Hiking		May 10 2020
		jrousoshammond • Triplogs 186

Hiking	9.40 Miles	3,030 AEG

Hiking	9.40 Miles	4 Hrs 26 Mns	2.14 mph
	3,030 ft AEG	3 Mns Break

no photosets

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Florida Canyon Trail #145

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At first I parked before the creek crossing, but after over a mile of pleasant road and several more miles to go, I decided to walk back to my car and just try to make it to the TH. It worked out fine- as long as the water isn't too deep, a small car does the job.

The actual trail up to Florida Saddle is great. The Sawmill trail over to Florida Peak is a lot better than I expected, so much so that I followed it too far down to the right expecting it to lead to a pleasant route up the peak. In reality it's best to just stay on top of the ridge and just head straight up. I also went over to the northern summit just in case, since my GPS seemed to think that it was the actual summit...

The plan was to loop with Gardner and possibly hit Wrightson, but I got hailed on pretty good not long after I got on the Crest trail. I heard two big thunders after I called it quits and was heading back down Cave Canyon. The storm headed north so I probably would've been fine, but the Crest trail isn't the ideal place to screw around with lightning.

Definitely a worthwhile trip.

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May 09 2020

ShatteredArm

Guides 12
Routes 192
Photos 863
Triplogs 356

42 male

Joined Nov 30 2015
Phoenix, AZ

Florida Saddle lollipop, AZ

Run/Jog		May 09 2020
		ShatteredArm • Triplogs 356

Run/Jog	22.64 Miles	6,558 AEG

Run/Jog	22.64 Miles	7 Hrs 47 Mns	2.95 mph
	6,558 ft AEG	6 Mns Break

no photosets

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Gardner Canyon Trail #143

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Headed down to the Santa Ritas to check out a couple more trails. We started off at Florida Canyon TH in order to shorten the drive (although adding on Florida Canyon trail clearly adds to the overall time and effort). It felt pretty warm early on, but that may be because of the exertion it takes to get up to that saddle. I was doubting at that point whether it would be a good idea to do the full route.

We headed onto Sawmill trail, and I suggested that while we're up there, we might as well bag Florida Peak. So we did, and the view was worth it. We tried to reconnect with Sawmill by sticking to the east side of the ridge, but that turned out not to be a time saver.

The descent down Sawmill had lots of variety; some really scratchy shrubs up high, nice mature ponderosa pine forests, and a dense thicket of young pines that will probably have to be thinned out at some point. The spring was flowing, with a nice clear pool, so I mixed up more electrolyte drink and grabbed an extra bag of water just in case. Below the spring, Sawmill Canyon had water off and on all the way down to the road.

The forest road section (which happens to be part of the Old Pueblo 50 course) was a little miserable. Cloud cover was increasing, and it alternated between hot and exposed, and nice and cool, based on whether there was a cloud overhead. When we got down to the main road, the crossing at Cave Creek was dry, so grabbing extra water at the spring turned out to be a good decision. A couple miles up the road, the creek had water.

Cave Creek trail was fairly enjoyable, with the lower section along the creek being at a very reasonable grade. We stopped for one last water fill about a quarter mile before the wilderness boundary - and at the wilderness boundary the creek had dried up again.

Around this time, we heard the first thunder, with one flash of lightning being probably within a mile. The rest of the way up to Florida Saddle there was occasional thunder - nothing close, but enough to motivate me to get up and over as fast as possible. In retrospect, the storm clouds provided some much needed coolth and even saved me up to half an hour!

The run back down to the TH was a nice cruise; either I had some adrenaline left from the lightning, or actually taking in enough electrolytes had an impact... Managed to get down from Florida Saddle in about 55 minutes.

Good day overall, but I don't know if I'd do this loop again, just because of the forest road section...

	Aliso Spring	Gallon per minute	Gallon per minute
	Plenty of water in the creek at the end of the Jeep road.

	Florida Spring	Quart per minute	Quart per minute
	Hard to tell how much the actual spring has; flow could be heard in the creek from the trail. There is a pipe crossing the trail that is dripping.

	Middle Cave Creek - Santa Ritas	Medium flow	Medium flow
	Good water about a mile before the end of the road. Couple of dry stretches along the trail, but mostly flowing almost to the wilderness boundary.

	Sawmill Spring	Quart per minute	Quart per minute
	Decent flow, nice clear water in the pool.

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Nov 17 2019

Mountain_Rat

Guides 11
Routes 123
Photos 818
Triplogs 257

62 male

Joined Jul 14 2011
Tucson, AZ

Gardner n Cave Canyons, AZ

Hiking		Nov 17 2019
		Mountain_Rat • Triplogs 257

Hiking	15.00 Miles	4,700 AEG

Hiking	15.00 Miles	8 Hrs 16 Mns		2.10 mph
	4,700 ft AEG	1 Hour 7 Mns Break	12 LBS Pack

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6 linked trail guides

Link Trail - Santa Rita Mtns

Link Trail - Santa Rita Mtns

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LindaAnn

A few weeks back I tossed the idea to Linda to do this little loop, which would knock a few trails and peaks off of both of our lists and she liked the idea, so we set it up. I've wanted to get over to this side of the Santa Ritas for quite a long while, but even for a Tucsonan, it's a drive, so I really was happy that Linda was willing to make the trip down.

We got an early start, but ended up stuck behind a Wide Load on the Sonoita Hwy, so that kinda washed out, but we ended up starting about 07:45.

We headed up the Gardner trail, getting the sunny section out of the way early, so that Linda didn't have to use the 'H' word. This seems to have been a good choice, as we made good time and were topping out at Wrightson before we knew it (or at least it seemed like it). From there, we could see the rest of our elevation gain just across Baldy Saddle, and were not intimidated by it in the least, so we headed off to confront it. The trip across the Crest was beautiful and I spent some time to really orient myself as opposed to just charging through. I must say, there's a lot to take in. We got off track a little when trying to tag Mt Ian (or so we think), but eventually got our act together and headed on. Next stop, Florida Peak, this time with no trouble, except for the ladybug infestation during our break at the summit. From here it would all be downhill, and that's obviously what the bear thought too. Oh, did I mention that we saw a bear on the Sawmill Trail? Well we did. While Linda may have nailed a pic of it, mine turned out looking like the Loch Ness Monster dancing with Bigfoot. Moving along, we finished out the best section of the hike heading down the Cave Canyon. This section is as nicely groomed as any in southern AZ, easy to follow and with little dead fall (we had expected much worse). The canopy has a nice balance of tree to sky, while having a very open feel to it. The canyon bottom is wide compared to most canyon trails I'm used to. It had sort of a meadowy effect, and actually offered a number of level camp spots and a meandering stream bed. As you might expect, the nicest section came to an end too quickly. Really, the whole trip ended too quickly. The drive considered, this was a great hike with diverse terrain, and Linda is a blast to hike with, so it could have gone on longer as far as I'm concerned (but I didn't have to drive back to Phoenix).

Another great loop, over a few new trails = another great day outside.

Thanks for driving down Linda!

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Black Bear

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3 archives

Nov 17 2019

LindaAnn

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

45 female

Joined Dec 24 2007
Ahwatukee, AZ

Wrightson-Florida Peak loop, AZ

Hiking		Nov 17 2019
		LindaAnn • Triplogs 2,600

Hiking	15.00 Miles	4,700 AEG

Hiking	15.00 Miles	8 Hrs 18 Mns	2.08 mph
	4,700 ft AEG	1 Hour 5 Mns Break

Linked

9 linked trail guides

Gardner Canyon Trail #143

Super Trail #134

Old Baldy Trail #372 to Wrightson Summit

Mount Ian

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Mountain_Rat

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

Matt suggested an alternate route to Wrightson, and it was mostly new territory for me, so I was interested. The road in was not too bad, lots of washboard, but generally in good shape. We got started on the Link Trail by around 0745 and quickly started gaining elevation. After about a half mile of Link, we got onto Gardner Canyon Trail and continued the climb. The trail is mostly in decent shape, and easy to follow, but overgrown in some places. Not much shade, but we were early enough in the morning to where it wasn't hot yet.

Once at Super Trail, we headed north and took a short break before heading up to Baldy Saddle. From there, we headed up to Wrightson. We saw 6 hikers between the saddle and summit--the only people we saw all day. Windy at the summit, so we only stayed for a few minutes. High clouds were moving in from the south, offering some welcome shade.

Once back down at the saddle, we continued north on the Crest Trail. Side to Mt Ian, or something near Mt Ian, as I am not sure we made it to the true summit. There seemed to be 3 high points, and we went to the 2 southern ones, but I have a feeling the high point to the north may have been the real summit. Close enough in this case. Continuing north on Crest, it was nice walking through the pines for short stretches.

At Florida Saddle, we headed east on Sawmill towards Florida Peak. The trail is very overgrown and brushy. As we neared the peak, we left the trail and headed up the west side of the peak. Fairly easy off trail hiking, mostly a matter of avoiding manzanita. Views from the summit were limited, but there were rocks to sit on for a snack break. Lots of ladybugs up there. On the way back down, we spotted a bear below us, but my attempt at a picture was a blurry mess. It sauntered off into the trees, not to be seen again.

Once back down at the saddle, we headed down Cave Canyon Trail, which is a gem of a trail. Narrow, but easy to follow, and pleasant scenery the entire way. The creek had water in the lower sections. Parts of this trail reminded me of Miller Canyon in the Huachucas. If I lived in this area, I'd probably spend a lot of time on this trail. Good way to finish out the hike.

Great loop on some lesser used trails. Good to hike with Matt again, and good conversation. Perfect weather for the entire day. It's about a 3 hour drive from Ahwatukee, but well worth it for this loop. Stats are averaged between my Route Scout, my Garmin, and Matt's watch.

Autumn Foliage Observation None
A couple of weeks past prime, but Cave Canyon trail was probably very colorful a few weeks ago.

_____________________

Stop crying and just go do the hike.

Apr 20 2019

Pivo

Guides 2
Routes 512
Photos 5,579
Triplogs 4,277

69 male

Joined Mar 01 2009
Aztec, NM

Tucson, AZ

Hiking		Apr 20 2019
		Pivo • Triplogs 4,277

Hiking	10.13 Miles	3,187 AEG

Hiking	10.13 Miles	5 Hrs 5 Mns		2.14 mph
	3,187 ft AEG	21 Mns Break	22 LBS Pack

no photosets

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RedwallNHops

Hike up to Florida Peak.

Wildflowers Observation Isolated

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Mar 10 2019

GrottoGirl

Guides 3
Routes 569
Photos 11,976
Triplogs 1,634

50 female

Joined Sep 18 2009
Tucson, AZ

Greaterville and East Sawmill canyon trails, AZ

Hiking		Mar 10 2019
		GrottoGirl • Triplogs 1,634

Hiking	10.48 Miles	3,258 AEG

Hiking	10.48 Miles	4 Hrs 45 Mns	2.22 mph
	3,258 ft AEG	2 Mns Break

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Florida Canyon / Crest Trail

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I loved this hike. The first part was a full of oaks and juniper. Then as I got into East Sawmill canyon, the vegetation added some Pinyons and Ponderosa Pines. The creek was flowing due to the snow above and was peaceful as it traveled downstream. What a wonderful hike! As the day progressed the winds picked up. After Sawmill Spring the burn area was evident. Lots of newer pine growth, downfall, etc. The trail was well maintained until it was wasn't. Then the buckthorn took over the trail and there was downfall across. It still wasn't *that* bad so I continued. Once I hit the Crest the wind nearly took me out. I continued to try to bushwack to Florida Peak but the wind gusts were crazy and after I got to the first little peak I decided it wasn't a good idea to continue because I could see dark clouds over Old Baldy. So I retreated as quickly as I could.

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May 25 2016

AZHiker456

Guides 28
Routes 199
Photos 7,422
Triplogs 188

female

Joined Nov 07 2015

Florida Peak, AZ

Hiking		May 25 2016
		AZHiker456 • Triplogs 188

Hiking	11.70 Miles	3,936 AEG

Hiking	11.70 Miles	4 Hrs 54 Mns	2.62 mph
	3,936 ft AEG	26 Mns Break

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7 linked trail guides