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| Hiking | 9.20 Miles |
1,957 AEG |
| | Hiking | 9.20 Miles | 4 Hrs 27 Mns | | 2.19 mph |
| 1,957 ft AEG | 15 Mns Break | 15 LBS Pack | | |
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| partners | | BEWARE... there's a lot to cover here, so grab a coffee, a soda or a beer and prepare for the novel to follow.
I'd been following the progress (mostly lack thereof) of the creation of this park since the first Master Plan was first released in 2015 but had practically given up on ever seeing it completed.
Then after a hike in March 2022 to Tule Canyon from the State Trust Land as we took a different route to drive back out, we ended up driving through the middle of the construction that had commenced shortly before. So of course now there was hope the park would actually be completed in my lifetime.
Fast forward to 2023 and we eagerly awaited the opening, yet let it slip from mind until driving by Peralta Road on the US 60 on Feb 2nd when I absent-mindedly wondered, hmmm, is it open yet?
And once back home I checked the Pinal County site and found we'd already missed the opening week. Oh well, we'll pick a weekday (you know... avoid the Ren-Fest madness) and see if we can hike/map every trail in the park in one full day of hiking.
It turns out we picked the perfect sunny and calm day, which allowed us to hike pretty much everything but for a few connectors and the Backpack & Lazy Daisy Trails, which are for backpackers & campers so we saw no need to hike them.
First up is a warning for the directionally challenged...
While there are plenty of Trail signs, NONE of them denote a named trail and of course no trails are numbered. This is already a well-known complaint to park personnel, but who knows if/when they will remedy that situation. Rather than large trail name signs (which may quickly be stolen, particularly something named 'Desperado Trail') I'd propose numbering the trails so only a single digit (or two) need to be added to each Carsonite sign. But no matter, just bring a trail map... 'cuz they have none at the park. (I printed mine before leaving home)
Another semi-warning...
Basically this is a Self-Serve park with no permanent buildings for park personnel (the exception being the waterless-toilets) and of course NO park employees to provide you with any information. While there is a Park Host but good luck with that... they were 'not available' when we passed by their RV. And who knows it there will be any during the hot months. So, again, it's Self-Serve, but being quite self-sufficient we had a great time.
Ok, time to get hiking...
We began from the main parking area and headed for the combination Serenity/Interpretive TH. Since we wanted to map out the real hiking trails we decided to save the Interpretive Trail for later.
We went from the Serenity Trail over to the Desperado Trail (which begins at the horse staging parking lot) and followed it counter-clockwise all the way around to the North Star Trail.
Having been up 2546 three times in the past from the other side, I was curious to see how we will get to the summit. But alas, the Scenic Overlook terminus of the trail did NOT reach the summit as it is NOT within the park confines. Even if one would attempt to continue, there really is NO reasonable route to the summit from this side.
Ok, done with the North Star Trail, we're back on the last part of the Desperado Trail, which ends at the start of the Saguaro Loop Trail. With an East and a West part of the Saguaro Trail to choose from, we decided to continue our 'counter-clockwise' motion which meant taking the 'upper' East part and returning on the 'lower' Western part.
A short distance along the Saguaro Loop 'East' is the Hole-in-the-Rock which is a good-sized circular arch. When hiking the direction we were it is not nearly as noticeable as it will be clockwise, where you will see 'daylight' through it. (This may be different in the summer when the sun will be farther north.)
As we neared the end of the 'West' Saguaro Loop we passed by an old mine (closed & fenced off) and immediately after we took the connector trail over to the tail end of the Serenity Loop Trail. About halfway across we stopped for a quick lunch break under one of the ramadas before continuing onto the Serenity Trail and onto the Interpretive Trail, which turned out to be the only trail we will hike clockwise on the day.
With the Interpretive Trail done we headed through the parking lot to the Stargazing Trail, with a quick stop at the large kiosk which features an Iron Ranger should you not have purchased a pass online, or use the QR codes posted. (We're not into using that method so I suffered through the online process before leaving home.
Feel free to skip the next two paragraphs past the rant...
I said suffered through because it was a real pain! One must create an account with Pinal County, the be redirected to another site where I had to create another account. (Probably caused by a glitch in the system because it showed I was logged in, yet it demanded I create an account before logging in.) But then I'm redirected to a separate site again where the process is completed.
Funny, (actually not so funny) because once I finally got the receipt and printed out the pass, I was asked to give feedback on how well (really?!) the process worked. They will probably wish they never asked me, because as a former software/website test engineer I let them have it. And as I told them, if I had ever let something so unintuitive be released I would have been fired.
Who knows, maybe they will fix it? Good luck with that!
And now, back to the rest of the hikes...
Now onto the Stargazing Trail and a quick stop at the Stargazing Node before continuing around to hit the Oro Vista Loop. Which brought us to a dilemma... to hit up both the complete Oro Vista Loop and the Wanderer Trail (which splits the difference between the East & West part of Oro Vista) we'd have to duplicate at least one leg. We decided to start heading North on the Wanderer Trail and head back South along the West part of Oro Vista. By time we made it back to the South end of Oro Vista Loop we decided, ENOUGH! and headed back to the car.
Curious item of note...
When we arrived we parked at the far end (from the entrance) of the parking lot which very likely will fit 50 cars, and halfway through the day as we looked down from the top end of the North Star Trail what did we see but two other vehicles parked right next to us. Really looked funny... this monstrous lot totally empty but for three vehicles parked together. By time we had done 2/3's of the hikes our 4Runner was sitting there all by its lonesome.
All that said...
We really enjoyed the park, awesome scenery all around, especially the East leg of Desperado where one can really feel the solitude... no other part of the park is visible, no buildings, no ramadas, no vehicles, just scenic greenery... at least right now, being the greenest I'd ever seen the area in a decade.
Oh wait! There is an Easter Egg of sorts that I left out... if you follow the Desperado Trail CCW, as you are heading East along the Southern fence line, take a look up at the peak to your right. You will see something that may be interesting, but it definitely is NOT legal on State Trust Land.
Here's the challenge, hit up the Desperado Trail sometime and let the rest of HAZ know what you find. (Who knows, I just 'may' post a photo of it sooner or later) |
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, that we would head to the Saguaro Loop.
