Lengthy Canyon Trail #89 • Hike • Arizona • All Triplogs • HikeArizona.COM

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May 24 2025

ShatteredArm

Guides 12
Routes 192
Photos 863
Triplogs 356

42 male

Joined Nov 30 2015
Phoenix, AZ

Strayhorse - Raspberry, AZ

Backpack		May 24 2025
		ShatteredArm • Triplogs 356

Backpack	20.60 Miles	4,045 AEG

Backpack	20.60 Miles	1 Day 2 Hrs 57 Mns
	4,045 ft AEG

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Lengthy Canyon Trail #89

Raspberry Trail #35

Strayhorse Canyon Trail #20

Blue River Trail #101

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Wanted to get out and do something fun for the holiday weekend, so I texted a friend in Tucson who is usually down for a backpack, and headed out to the Blue Range. We got started at the Lengthy Canyon TH at around 10am IIRC, and started down. I learned from my mistake last time and stayed near the bottom of the drainage below the stream, and that made things much easier. Trail was still a little rough, but not hard to follow.

The lower half of Strayhorse was new to me. Even though the area around the junction with Lengthy is "dry", it has lots of trees and it's really quite pretty. This was also the easiest 2ish miles of the trip. Water started flowing a little before the narrow part, and we stopped for a snack and to fill our emergency water stash. The bypass section offered some nice views, and the next mile or two after that were pleasant. The last couple miles of Strayhorse were hot and dry, and easily my least favorite part of the trip.

Next was the Blue River. Wasn't obvious where the official trail was, but there are cow paths and it's generally easy, flat walking with some shade and flowing water. Poked around the old corral where the trail officially begins. The rest of the Blue River to Raspberry had an obvious trail. The Blue River stretch was quite pleasant, and the creek provided a nice means of keeping cool.

Next was Raspberry. The start was a bit confusing; we initially missed the gate into the corral and had to backtrack, and then had a little trouble finding the canyon exit because my maps had the trail leaving farther to the east. After that, there were no routefinding challenges. By the time we finished the bypass, it was probably 5pm and I was feeling pretty wrecked and ready to set up camp. Raspberry Creek looked drastically different from what I remembered; it's drier overall (despite the fact that my previous trip was in early June) and has been heavily impacted by cattle grazing. Lame. Looked back on my photos from the last trip and it was way lusher.

We ended up setting up camp in one of the good campsites about 5 miles from Strayhorse CG. At this point I found my filter is clogged and basically non-functional, and decided to try out the whole boiling water thing. Super inconvenient, but probably did 2 liters worth and I actually thought it tasted better than using the filter. But I borrowed my friend's filter to top off in the morning.

Slept quite well overall, and woke up nice and sore. Took our time getting going, and started the climb at around 9:30am. Grabbed more emergency water at the spring, and by the time we got to the top of the climb my legs were feeling pretty heavy. Eventually we got to Strayhorse CG, and I really didn't feel like completing the loop via Crabtree Park trail, so my friend volunteered to run down to the car to pick it up - and was amazingly back in like 30 minutes. We might find out in a few days if I didn't boil the water well enough.

	Lengthy Canyon	Pools to trickle	Pools to trickle
	Intermittent trickles here and there.

Lengthy Spring

Dripping

	Raspberry Creek	Light flow	Light flow
	Flow starts a couple hundred yards from Blue River, consistent up to the spring.

	Strayhorse Creek	Light flow	Light flow
	Light flow from Filleman Cabin area and down a mile or two

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1 archive

Sep 09 2023

ShatteredArm

Guides 12
Routes 192
Photos 863
Triplogs 356

42 male

Joined Nov 30 2015
Phoenix, AZ

Lengthy - Strayhorse, AZ

Hiking		Sep 09 2023
		ShatteredArm • Triplogs 356

Hiking	12.80 Miles	3,000 AEG

Hiking	12.80 Miles	5 Hrs 28 Mns	2.58 mph
	3,000 ft AEG	30 Mns Break

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Lengthy Canyon Trail #89

Strayhorse Canyon Trail #20

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Here's one that's high on my list of dumbest ideas ever - decided to try and put together a big loop using Lengthy Canyon, Strayhorse, Trail #15 (no info on here, but it's on the map), and East Eagle. Got to Lengthy TH at around 9am, the trail to the spring is easy to follow. After that, I couldn't find it until about half a mile down the canyon. After that, it was easy to follow, but overgrown. Lots of burned areas, and wasn't scenic enough to justify the effort...

Once down to Strayhorse, the going was a little easier, but in most areas it was very uncertain where the actual trail is due to the various cow paths. The lower half or so was pretty, but it's easiest to just follow the creek or cow paths, rather than worrying about where the trail is. Maybe 3-4 miles from the TH, the trail becomes really obvious, but this is also where it's severely burned. Guessing they cleaned it up when they used it as a fire break a few years back.

Maybe a mile before Strayhorse Spring, the burn scar ends, and it gets nice and pretty. It also started raining around here. Ran out of water just before the spring, but it was hard to collect any good water there, so went back down a couple hundred yards. Thunder started occurring about a half mile before the TH.

At the TH, I figured I probably needed to bail on the whole loop, as there was a ton of uncertainty around Trail 15, and even if it was passable, I'd probably run out of daylight before getting back to the car. So I decided to run the road back - as far as running on highways is concerned, 191 is really as good as it gets, and it was mostly downhill. The major concern was lightning. Right before rounding the first big bend, it started raining harder, and I saw a lightning bold straight ahead of me that I would describe as "too close for comfort". This was probably the worst stretch from a lightning-exposure standpoint, but I still resolved to accept a ride if offered... Which fortunately occurred not long after.

	Lengthy Canyon	Pools to trickle	Pools to trickle
	Some light flow in the upper half. Lower section dry.

Lengthy Spring

Dripping

	Strayhorse Creek	Light flow	Light flow
	Intermittent flow between Lengthy Canyon and Strayhorse Spring.

	Strayhorse Spring	Dripping	Dripping
	Trickle at the spring area. Water in the box, along with a few dead rodents...

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May 30 2022

FOTG

Guides 37
Routes 556
Photos 10,872
Triplogs 1,052

43 male

Joined Jan 21 2013
AZ

Lengthy Canyon Trail #89

Alpine, AZ

Lengthy Canyon Trail #89

Alpine, AZ

Hiking		May 30 2022
		FOTG • Triplogs 1,052

Hiking	4.32 Miles	1,244 AEG

Hiking	4.32 Miles	2 Hrs 49 Mns	1.68 mph
	1,244 ft AEG	15 Mns Break

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

I had driven by this trail many times over the years, but it was never on the todo list and it always looked warm and rugged the few times I stopped to check out the trailhead, especially, after the Bringham Fire. However, when scanning the FS trail clearing map last year, I noticed the trail had been cleared and my interest was piqued. We decided to finally give the trail with little information available on a try. We had the old man with us, so we decided we would go down two miles and turn around, assuming the trail was in good enough shape to get that far.

The top of the trail was burnt, but the tread was good and a few pines remained, so we started off at 6:45 a.m., in anticipation of a warmer return for the dogs. We hit the first spring of the day shortly into the hike. The area around the spring was burnt, however, a few trees remained in the immediate vicinity of the spring and the drainage was green and highlighted by some robust groups of yellow columbine. From there, the trail skirted Lengthy Canyon for a short time before dropping to the floor of the narrow canyon. We encountered several springs along the hike with robust seeps and accompanying columbine lined micro-streams. The tread of the trail through Lengthy Canyon was prominent and easy to follow for most of our hike. There were only a few deadfall obstacles along with some light overgrowth and a couple of brief higher intensity burn areas to hike through. The rest of the trail was rather pleasant and passed under a nice canopy of mixed hardwoods, alders and ponderosa for several longer stretches, although the shade was noticeably thinned in spots from the recent fire. We turned around at just over two miles and then returned the way we hiked in.

This trail really exceeded my expectations and I am glad I finally committed to hiking it. The trail was a hit for us and we enjoyed the short hike. I now know why the forest service cleared this seemingly obscure trail in the Blue Range. Its a worthy little trail with a modest destination and linking potential for more. I am eager to get back here for something more ambitious.

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Yellow Columbine

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Ring-necked Snake

Wildflowers Observation Isolated
Some nice patches of columbine along the way.

Lengthy Spring

Dripping

Lengthy Spring

Dripping

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4 archives

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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