Gobbler Point Trail • Hike • Arizona • All Triplogs • HikeArizona.COM

Alpine, AZ

Backpack		Jul 26 2025
		agrove731 • Triplogs 4

Backpack	12.00 Miles	2,070 AEG

Backpack	12.00 Miles	3 Days
	2,070 ft AEG		25 LBS Pack

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Morgan and I wanted to backpack in the Bear Wallow—my father spent a lot of time there working for the Forest Service in the 80s. We also were hoping to hike to Pacheta Falls on the reservation since our previous attempt to visit the Falls was unfortunately thwarted by muddy conditions, poor choices in camping buddies, and a low clearance SUV with balding tires.

The drive to the trailhead was a long one from
Phoenix but the road itself was in great conditions for my Subie. We started the hike around 4pm on Saturday and found a place to hang our hammocks at the bottom of the trail. There was not much water flowing in the creek but there was enough to filter.

Sunday we slept in and started out around 11:30 with hopes to reach the Pacheta Falls. The hike was easy, really more of a walk along clear game trails. The poison ivy was intense and some were nearly 4ft tall in places. We were glad to have worn pants but I am still crossing my fingers hoping the itching won’t come. The Black River was flowing nicely!

At about 3pm we decided to turn back as there were likely 3 or so more miles to go till the falls, and we had just brought our day packs. We spent some time at a really nice swimming pool (33.63479, -109.51779) and then ventured back through the forest to the Bear Wallow.

The hike back up Gobbler Point on Monday was pretty brutal in terms of elevation gain and trail conditions, but the weather was incredible and we found a patch of raspberries that hadn’t been touched yet by bears and I enjoyed feeling like a bear in that moment of joy near the end of the hike! We also picked up some plastic water bottles that had been left behind.

We visited the Reno Lookout fire tower on our way out and met Don. He had just celebrated his 84th birthday!! We watched the hummingbirds and he told us about the lightning fires ongoing in the area.

Wildlife List:
- [ ] Skunk (very small, juvenile?)
- [ ] 6 male elk
- [ ] 4 female elk
- [ ] 3 white tailed deer
- [ ] 1 mule deer
- [ ] Many cows
- [ ] Many stellar jays
- [ ] Robins
- [ ] Spotted towhee
- [ ] Orange hummingbird (Rufous hummingbird)
- [ ] 8 turkeys
- [ ] Dark eyed juncoes
- [ ] Brush quail (female Montezuma quail)
- [ ] Grey squirrels
- [ ] Chipmunks
- [ ] Lots of flies, moths, spiders, poison ivy
- [ ] 3 horses
- [ ] White breasted nuthatch
- [ ] Broadtailed hummingbirds
- [ ] 2 ravens

Overall a great trip! I won’t be back for a while though, due to the poison ivy. Maybe I’ll try the Reno trail. The solitude and stargazing was awesome.

Wildflowers Observation Light

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Jun 13 2023

mntncrvr

Routes 9
Photos 9
Triplogs 12

59 female

Joined Feb 22 2019
CHANDLER, AZ

Alpine, AZ

Hiking		Jun 13 2023
		mntncrvr • Triplogs 12

Hiking	2.60 Miles	2,019 AEG

Hiking	2.60 Miles	2 Hrs 31 Mns	1.17 mph
	2,019 ft AEG	18 Mns Break

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

The Bear Wallow Wilderness has been on my radar for quite sometime. As I described in my past trip reports of this area, I combined the Reno Trail, Bear Wallow Trail and Gobblers Point Trail. I also included a walk on FR 8154 and Rte 25 to make a 14 mile loop. I hiked clockwise starting on the Reno Trail to Bear Wallow Trail to Gobblers Point Trail.
At the junction of Bear Wallow and Gobblers Point Trail, marked with cairns only, I proceeded north on the Gobblers Point Trail. Steady incline to the top. Hardly a trail to follow, many blow downs to go over under or around. 80% of this trail was non-existent and became a bushwack. I followed the GPS track as best as possible but definitely had to rely on my own navigation skills to find my way to the top. The switch backs the last half mile where undefined. I came to a wall of New Mexico Locust with thorny branches to go through. The shrubs were so dense I was a bloody mess when I finally came to a clearing and was on trail (100 yrds) to the end. I continued with a road walk on FR 8154 and Rte 25 until I met with my vehicle at the Reno trail on Rte 25. *** If you are planning to do Reno Trail, Bear Wallow Trail and Gobblers Point Trail my advice, bring your A game. I do not recommend any trails in the Bear Wallow Wilderness unless you are extremely fit, self-reliant and have not only a GPS track but smart navigational skills which will definitely come in use. This hike was extremely challenging and it could get ugly fast.

Oct 08 2021

DixieFlyer

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

male

Joined Jan 07 2017
Fountain Hills,

White Mountains Wander II, AZ

Hiking		Oct 08 2021
		DixieFlyer • Triplogs 1,374

Hiking	13.30 Miles	1,719 AEG

Hiking	13.30 Miles
	1,719 ft AEG

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[ checklist ] Black River - Mainstem Escudilla Fire Lookout Escudilla Mountain Gobbler Point P S Knoll P S Knoll Lookout Tower Reno Fire Lookout

Escudilla Trail

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This was day #2 of my 2 days of hiking and driving in the White Mountains. I made it to these peaks and trails:
* Williams Valley Lookout
* P S Knoll
* Reno Lookout
* Gobbler Point
* Escudilla Mountain Trail

Williams Valley Lookout
There was supposedly a "crow's nest" fire lookout here back in the 1920's, but it is long gone.

This was mostly a road walk to get to the former lookout area, but close to the top there was lots of deadfall and some thick vegetation to plow through. There were no views at the top, so as a destination this one is underwhelming. The walk through the woods to get there was pleasant though, and there were a few yellow aspens to see on the way.

P S Knoll
The hike to P S Knoll is a short one on a forest road. I saw 12-15 elk while hiking up the road. There is a cool fire lookout tower on top of the knoll, and I enjoyed this short hike.

Reno Lookout
I could have driven all the way up to this lookout, but I parked down at the Trailhead for Reno Trail #62 and walked up the road. There is a nice lookout tower there, and I enjoyed climbing up it.

Back in 2011 there was concern that the Reno Lookout would be destroyed by the Wallow Fire:

June 1, 2011: "A fire started a few days ago just a couple miles from Reno Fire Lookout (the Wallow Fire) on the A-S National Forest (AZ). It is romping and as of yesterday Reno completely disappeared into the smoke. Awaiting news as to the fate of the tower." (Zeyn O'Leary, Rose Peak Lookout)

June 2, 2011: "The Reno Lookout is safe. A successful burnout operation was done around the tower. Next worry...the town of Alpine. Fire is now 40,000 acres +. It moved 7 miles last night." (Zeyn O'Leary, Rose Peak Lookout)

Gobbler Point
There was supposedly a wooden fire lookout of some sort on Gobbler Point back in the 1930's, but nothing remains of it.

This was a not too exciting road walk -- I could have driven further and on the hike back I wish that I had. There was nothing but brushy vegetation at the high point, and there were no views.

Escudilla Mountain Trail
I did not get here until late in the day, and I was only able to hike up to a little over 10,000 feet due to daylight disappearing. The aspens were awesome on Escudilla, and I am sure glad that I got to see them. I wish that I would have had enough time to hike up to the lookout.

Synopsis
With the aspens being in peak form, the Escudilla Trail was the champion of this hike. I enjoyed going to both the P S Knoll and Reno lookouts. There wasn't much to see atop the Williams Valley Lookout or atop Gobbler Point though.

Distance and elevation gain for these hikes are below. Stats above are the sum of these.

Williams Valley: 5.1 miles with an AEG of 463 feet
P S Knoll: 1.2 miles with an AEG of 226 feet
Reno LO: 1.1 miles with an AEG of 262 feet
Gobbler Point: 4.3 miles with an AEG of 394 feet
Escudilla Trail: 1.6 miles with an AEG of 374 feet

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Elk

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Humor Wooden Dwelling

Named place

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Meteorology

Meteorology [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Autumn - Color Foliage

Autumn Foliage Observation Extreme
The aspens were peaking on Escudilla Mountain and were amAZing. Aspens elsewhere had their moments, but were mostly isolated/moderate.

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

Jul 17 2021

MAP

Routes 137
Photos 1
Triplogs 105

44 female

Joined Oct 21 2016
Tempe, AZ

Alpine, AZ

Hiking		Jul 17 2021
		MAP • Triplogs 105

Hiking	10.71 Miles	2,835 AEG

Hiking	10.71 Miles	6 Hrs 21 Mns	1.75 mph
	2,835 ft AEG	14 Mns Break

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Reno Trail #62

North Fork Bear Wallow Creek

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**My FINAL Arizona 20-20 Challenge hike**

and it couldn't have been a more perfect hike! After weeks of fires burning literally on all four sides of this hike and then a week of rainstorms, we enjoyed 6 1/2 hours of perfect temperatures and no visible smoke or really any signs of all the chaos that has been raging this unique area of Arizona.

My friend and I camped at KP Cienega Campground Friday night (She experienced hail & strong winds & a pretty bad storm driving from Phoenix. I left a couple hours after her & only got rain for a bit.) Woke up Saturday to clear skies & crisp temps (50's), and drove to Gobbler Point to drop a vehicle. The road out to Gobbler point was in pretty good shape (FS 8154?). There were some deep puddles but the road is rocky enough that getting stuck didn't seem to be an issue. There weren't any crazy rocks. I'm sure a car could make it if necessary but a truck or 4Runner would be much better choice.

We started from Reno Trail & it was a smooth easy hike down to Bear Wallow. The trail is in great shape. Once we got down to Bear Wallow trail, there were a few sections of overgrowth completely covering the trail but I think the growth may have just happened with all the rain. The trail was still easy to follow, even with all the plant cover. LOTS of raspberries. No wonder bears like to have out down there! LOTS of Aphrodite Fritillary Butterfly (I think this was the type of butterfly) on the Bee Balm blooms. It was pretty magical with all the butterflies surrounding us for much of the hike. Overall the trail was flat for most of the Bear Wallow portion and was nice dirt and easy to find. Water was flowing in Bear Wallow Creek the entire way with some deeper pools here and there. Toward the end (boundary of the White Mountain Apache Reservation) more and more poison ivy appeared along the trail and it was difficult for my friend with shorts on to avoid coming in contact with it. We did see the dead bear the previous triplog mentioned! They were very much in the decomposition process at this point. Their jaws were intact and part of their face around their jaws were covered in hair. Their was also a paw covered in hair that was still intact. It was a strange sight for sure. I can't imagine how this bear died but they didn't appear to be very big. It's hard to tell by a mostly decomposed body though.

We took the Gobbler Point trail up and it helped us work up a good sweat very quickly. I think the high was around 70 but definitely started to feel the humidity in this portion. Gobbler Point trail is not challenging to follow most of the way. There are a handful of areas with dead trees blocking the trail but it is easy enough to go over or around most of them. We saw a dead elk (I think) along this trail that looked more newly deceased then the bear. The elk's body parts were strewn along the trail. Lots of dead bodies along this hike! Also, a lot more visibly abundant life in the area so I guess the two go hand-in-hand. We lost Gobbler Point trail just before the final set of switchbacks. Looking at a satellite map now, I think that portion of the trail is visible but it is not in the same location the route shows. The trail seems to have been re-routed at some point. We only struggled for a few hundred feet though before finding the trail again. After such an easy day of hiking, Gobbler Point gave us just enough "up" & just enough struggle to feel like a true Arizona 20-20 hike. ;)

Wildflowers Observation Substantial

Medium flow

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Jun 06 2020

ShatteredArm

Guides 12
Routes 192
Photos 863
Triplogs 356

42 male

Joined Nov 30 2015
Phoenix, AZ

Bear Wallow Wilderness, AZ

Hiking		Jun 06 2020
		ShatteredArm • Triplogs 356

Hiking	10.27 Miles	2,017 AEG

Hiking	10.27 Miles	4 Hrs 1 Min	2.56 mph
	2,017 ft AEG

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Reno Trail #62

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Headed up to the White Mountains very early Saturday to do some car camping/adventuring with the usual suspects. Didn't have much of a plan, but I had scouted out a few places I was interested in, one of which was Bear Wallow. Someone mentioned it as a possibility (I didn't know how far they wanted to go from the Big Lake-ish campsite), so I of course said I'd been wanting to check it out.

The original plan was to go down Reno, down Bear Wallow, and then up Gobbler Point, and complete the loop using forest roads. Time was an obvious concern, as we didn't start until after 1pm. A couple of folks camping with us were only going to do a short hike down Reno, so they offered to move the car up to the Gobbler Point junction to eliminate running on FR25.

Reno trail was nice, actually very easy to follow. It seems like they're actually working these trails. The Bear Wallow junction is bearly (sorry) signed, and I think I was the only one who actually realized we changed trails. Super lush down there, lots of green vegetation, random seeps, etc. Was impressed.

Got to a really burned area near where the south fork comes in. I think this may be where the Wallow Fire started, from what I can ascertain. The rest of the canyon was mostly unharmed.

We got off trail at one point near a bad washout; I think where the trail exited on the opposite side got completely erased. So we were in the creek making slow progress for a half mile or so. Got a little worried we wouldn't make it out before dusk at that rate, but after a half hour or so of nonsense, we stumbled on the trail again. Easygoing after that.

Topped off the water at what looked like some old dam. Not sure what it was for, but it's not doing much good now. The water was deep and very enticing below it, though.

Gobbler Point junction would be next to impossible to find without GPS or topo map skills. Once on the trail, though, it's pretty easy to follow until you get to the burn area a half mile or so before the top. It seemed to just disappear at that point, so we just went straight up, and found the trail again a hundred feet or so up. This burned area provided the best views of the day, but the thorny crap that grows in the burned areas could really use a trim.

When we got to Gobbler Point, we found that the car had been dropped off all the way at the trailhead, saving us another 3-4 miles of road. Everybody was absolutely thrilled about this development.

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Jul 21 2018

DarthStiller

Guides 27
Routes 669
Photos 12,096
Triplogs 856

56 male

Joined Jul 05 2006
Mesa, AZ

Alpine, AZ

Hiking		Jul 21 2018
		DarthStiller • Triplogs 856

Hiking	17.20 Miles	2,789 AEG

Hiking	17.20 Miles	10 Hrs 11 Mns	1.76 mph
	2,789 ft AEG	25 Mns Break

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wallyfrack

The trail conditions on this weren't nearly as bad as I was afraid they might be. It was actually very pleasant at the start, but a slog by the end, mainly due to fatigue.

We started at the Bear Wally TH and headed down in. The trail as the start is very faint and barely there, but you can find it. As we headed down, the treefall wasn't too bad, mainly because we were going downhill. After our off trail excursions the day before, this was a cakewalk. The section a mile or more just before the junction of the Reno Trail was one of the best parts. Where the trail faded away, it was possible to find it easily if you followed the track, which is very accurate. Wally didn't download any track, so a few times he got off the trail and kept wanting to head right down into the stream. At one point I stopped, and after checking the GPS, spotted the trail way above the stream. I called to Wally but he couldn't hear me. I assumed he was way downstream already and I wasn't about to chase him down that rabbit hole. Turns out he was just around the bend and didn't hear me because of the sound of the water (his story).

About halfway down we saw a black bear. Wally spotted him and waited for me to catch up. I got the one pic, but a branch was in the way and my camera focused on that. By the time I moved to get a clear shot, he spotted up and took off. First bear I saw in AZ, in Bear Wallow of all places.

It took a solid 5 hours to get to the boundary of the reservation, which is where we stopped and had lunch. Even going downhill I had drank nearly 3 liters of water. The time spent in the heat was taking a toll.

We planned to go up Gobbler Point Trail and walk the road back to the Bear Wallow TH. We each drove our own vehicles to Alpine the day before since I was headed directly to Flagstaff on Sunday for a work conference. For some reason, the common sense idea of utilizing our 2 vehicles to do a shuttle hike only dawned on my as the very bottom of the Gobbler Point Trail as we started our slog of an ascent

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Gobbler Point Trail wasn't so bad at the start. There is some tree fall to deal with in spots. At the very end it seems like it won't end. The trail fades away a lot at the top and also gets steeper. I found Wally taking a quick nap at the top. His first words as I arrived were, "Well, that was wonderful."

The hike back on the roads was a slog, even though it felt like it shouldn't be. We saved probably close to a mile by bypassing the hairpin switchbacks on FR8154 just before it junctions with FR25. The bushwhack up to FR25 really isn't bad. It was very much worth it to do that. The last mile before the Bear Wallow TH was the worst. My feet were burning and I was just drained, especially after the hike the day before. There was no trouble sleeping that night, although getting up out of bed had its challenges.

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Jul 21 2018

wallyfrack

Routes 93
Photos 7,758
Triplogs 1,691

64 male

Joined Mar 11 2003
AZ

Alpine, AZ

Hiking		Jul 21 2018
		wallyfrack • Triplogs 1,691

Hiking	17.40 Miles	2,789 AEG

Hiking	17.40 Miles	9 Hrs 51 Mns	1.84 mph
	2,789 ft AEG	25 Mns Break

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DarthStiller

The first 1.5 miles is probably the worst but the trees are not large so I was able to step over most of them without much trouble. Farther down the trail there are good sections and bad sections so a GPS is helpful if you want to stay on track. About 4 miles down I spotted a black bear. I waited for Chris to catch up and we slowly proceeded down the trail until we caught sight of the bear. We took a few photos but Chris's view was blocked by a branch. As we started to slowly hike again the bear ran off. About five miles down the trail climbs up on the right. I missed the turn and waited just around the bend. I was wondering what was taking Chris so long so I back tracked and realized my mistake. I found the trail and caught up to Chris. We stopped to eat at the end of Bear Wallow and then hiked back to Gobbler's Point Trail for the ascent to the road. We hiked the road using one short cut suggested by Chris and finished after a long day.

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[ checklist ] Black Bear

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4 archives

Jun 29 2014

toddak

Guides 13
Routes 38
Photos 1,651
Triplogs 577

60 male

Joined Nov 15 2005
Jackson, CA

Alpine, AZ

Hiking		Jun 29 2014
		toddak • Triplogs 577

Hiking	17.50 Miles	3,000 AEG

Hiking	17.50 Miles	8 Hrs 30 Mns	2.06 mph
	3,000 ft AEG

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Reno Trail #62

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Very cool that the main canyon was spared the ravages of the Wallow Fire. Good flow in the creek below the springs, unfortunately there were several cows roaming the canyon, with lots of patties everywhere, so carry lots or carefully purify. Climbed out of the canyon north up Gobbler Point #59 (fairly easy to follow except the top half mile or so which is choked with downed trees), road walked back east a few miles and dropped back down into the canyon on Reno #62, then back up and out to the trailhead. Very nice canyon, except for the hordes of flies and gnats that hover right in front of your face, try to get in your eyes and get sucked into your throat.

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Sep 26 2008

gpsjoe

Guides 16
Routes 123
Photos 2,810
Triplogs 140

83 male

Joined Feb 13 2004
Mesa, AZ

Alpine, AZ

Hiking		Sep 26 2008
		gpsjoe • Triplogs 140

Hiking	23.00 Miles	4,000 AEG

Hiking	23.00 Miles	16 Hrs	1.44 mph
	4,000 ft AEG

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I did the entire Bear Wallow trail in 2 day hikes. Friday September 26, I hiked from the Bear Wallow trailhead for 5.3 miles and on Sunday September 28, I hiked the remaining 3 miles to the Forest Border with the San Carlos Indian Reservation but starting from the Gobbler Point trailhead.

It was my intention to day hike 16 miles roundtrip doing the Bear Wallow trail near Hannagan Meadow. I started early Friday morning from the Bear Wallow trailhead. After 0.9 miles of easy hiking, the deadfall started and never let up. It seems that every 100 or 200 feet of hiking brought another obstacle to get around. That combined with multiple creek crossings wore me out after a little more than 5 miles so I turned around and hiked back out about 3 miles short of my goal which was to hike to the border with the San Carlos Indian reservation.

On Sunday I went back for more. But this time I started from the Gobbler Point trailhead shown on the map shown on the last shot in the picture set.

I thought I might be in for some serious bouts with more deadfall but I was pleasantly surprised. The Gobbler Point trail is very good with great switchbacks to take you down to creek level. After a couple of miles there is some deadfall including a couple of large ones. But they are negotiable and there is far less deadfall than while hiking from the Bear Wallow trailhead. At the end of Gobbler point trail I turned right and hike 0.6 miles to about 0.1 miles onto reservation property. I was looking for a sign and didn't see one but my GPS had the property line on it so I knew I had gone too far. On the way back the Forest Boundary sign appeared nailed to a large pine tree on the side of the tree that you would not see going in unless you turned around. A strange place for it.

Hiking back I went 2.5 extra miles to the place I stopped on Friday so I did manage to hike the entire trail. The 3 miles I did on the Bear Wallow trail had much less deadfall (I would say 20 percent or at least if felt that way) than the 5 miles I did on Friday.

My bottom line is I do not recommend hiking from the Bear Wallow trailhead. I highly recommend hiking from the Gobbler Point trailhead. When you reach the end of the Gobbler Point trail (2.7 miles) you can turn right (to the reservation boundary) or left and hike as much as you want from there before turning around. This is a great hike and I may do it again in 3 weeks to see the fall color. It is mentioned as 1 of 15 fall color hikes in the October 2008 issue of Arizona Highways.

Autumn Foliage Observation Isolated

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Aug 02 2008

conform6073

Guides 12
Routes 9
Photos 1,291
Triplogs 58

78 male

Joined Aug 26 2002
Lakeside, AZ

Alpine, AZ

Hiking		Aug 02 2008
		conform6073 • Triplogs 58

Hiking	7.50 Miles	2,070 AEG

Hiking	7.50 Miles	6 Hrs	1.25 mph
	2,070 ft AEG

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The road to the trailhead from FR 25 was dozed recently and is in best condition I've ever seen. The trail itself is good down to the point where it decends into the bottom of the draw. From there recent deadfall becomes a real nuisance. This is also poison ivy central. At the creek we went downstream, planning to stop at reservation boundary. It is so obscure, we completely missed it and trespassed half a mile onto San Carlos. We discovered our mistake on the return when we encountered a sign welcoming us to the national forest. Went upstream to the fish barrier dam and a ways beyond. Brush along the creek so thick it's difficult to see the stream. Gathering dark clouds encouraged us to cut our hike short, and we walked in gentle rain half way back to car. Saw turkeys on the drive in and one other hiker on the trail. It was a tougher hike than we anticipated.

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Aug 16 2004

Sam Noble

Triplogs 1

43 male

Joined Aug 16 2004
Tempe, AZ