Activities: Mountain Biking

Info:
State: Arizona
Location: Tonto National Forest
Length: One-Way: 4.8 miles
Trail type: Out and Back
Minimum Elevation: 6720 feet
Maximum Elevation: 7120 feet
Elevation Change: 400 feet
Best Season: Spring to Fall
Usage: Light

Description: The Dan’s Trail is surrounded by beautiful Ponderosa Pine and fir forest. The trail offers excellent mountain biking. This trail is an old logging road connecting with other roads. Pay attention to trail markers. Visitors can hike or ride directly from Valentine Ridge Campground following Forest Road 18 and Valentine Trail (#551). This trail has been adopted by the Mountain Bike Association of Arizona. From Forest Road 109, Dan’s Ridge follows a ridge south for two miles with a descent of 400 feet elevation. It meets with Forest Road 512 at an arroyo bottom then turns north to climb along another ridge. After one mile, it turns to the east and descends to another arroyo. It then follows north up a third ridge to return to Forest Road 109 at a point 1.5 miles east of the start. A loop can be made by returning on Forest Road 109.

Activities: Hiking

Info:
State: Arizona
Location: Tonto National Forest
Length: One-Way: 5 miles
Trail type: Out and Back
Minimum Elevation: 4400 feet
Maximum Elevation: 4900 feet
Elevation Change: 500 feet
Best Season: Spring to Fall
Difficulty: Easy
Usage: Light

Description: The Grapevine Trail provides access to Sierra Ancha Wilderness. The trail has several overlooks of the Cherry Creek drainage paralleling the eastern escarpment of the Sierra Ancha. Most of this trail was originally an old jeep trail. The trail generally contours under the high bluffs of the Sierra Ancha. There are campsites at the old Pueblo mining area and at Billy Lawrence Trailhead.

Activities: Mountain Biking

Info:
State: Arizona
Location: Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest
Length: Round Trip: 14 miles
Trail type: Out and Back
Minimum Elevation: 7500 feet
Maximum Elevation: 9000 feet
Best Season: April to November
Usage: Moderate

Description: Cool water, great views and three seasons of use make the South Fork trail one of the most rewarding trails on the District. A round trip hike adds up to 14 miles so many people like to leave a vehicle at each trailhead. The lower trail follows the South Fork of the Little Colorado for 3.5 miles, through stands of cottonwood, sycamore, pine, aspen and oak. Several grassy meadows open up the scenery and make ideal picnic spots, offering a change from the steep-sided canyon that dominates most of the lower trail. The South Fork of the Little Colorado is a fast running stream fed by runoff and springs. Many pools exist along its path where an angler can snag a fish or a footsore hiker can cool off. Look for signs of beaver; gnawed aspen stumps and intricately built dams are their trademark. Views from the upper bench are spectacular. From the southwest to the northwest, Mt. Baldy, Greens Peak and all the mountains between are spread out, while the vast grassland to the north stretches all the way to the horizon. To the southeast, Escudilla Mountain rises near the New Mexico state line. Mexican Hay Lake is a shallow, high elevation lake. A large meadow borders it on one side and an aspen and conifer forest on the other. The tall reeds that give the lake its name make it a magnet for waterfowl. Ducks and Canadian geese can be seen through most of the year and bald eagles winter there. Elk, deer, beaver and turkey are all common sights along the trails.

Activities: Hiking

Info:
State: Arizona
Location: Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest
Length: One-Way: 2.7 miles
Trail type: Out and Back
Minimum Elevation: 6700 feet
Maximum Elevation: 8770 feet
Best Season: Spring to Fall
Difficulty: More Difficult
Usage: Light

Description: Good views of the Black River drainage and San Carlos Indian Reservation provide a scenic send-off for this trail into the Bear Wallow Wilderness. From the trailhead, views stretch all the way to Mount Graham in the Pinaleno Range 80 miles to the southwest. This striking panorama accompanies you a good portion of the way of down the steep switchbacks that begins the trail’s descent into a side drainage of Bear Wallow Creek and eventually to the canyon floor. Gobbler Point is the steepest trail leading into the wilderness. It also provides the shortest route to the creek’s downstream reaches, which could be important to those interested in fishing the stream’s pools and riffles for the population of native Apache trout that have been stocked there. In addition to panoramic views, a mixed stand of conifers, ponderosa pine and aspen provides a scenic setting for the trail’s upper reaches. Those tall upland species gradually give way to clumps of Gambel oak, red-osier dogwood and bracken fern as the trail looses altitude. At the junction with Bear Wallow Trail on the canyon floor, the trail is set in a park-like community of ponderosa pines and canyon hardwoods, including Arizona ash, alder and box elder. A sprinkling of wildflowers usually adds a splash of color. The humble fence that marks the boundary of the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation is just a half mile downstream from the point where the Gobbler Point Trail meets Bear Wallow Trail. Bear Wallow Creek flows into the Black River another one and a half miles downstream from that. If you’d like to complete your tour of Bear Wallow Creek and take a look at this remote section of the Black River, be sure to get a permit in advance from the San Carlos Apache Tribe.

Activities: Hiking

Info:
State: Arizona
Location: Phoenix
Length: One-Way: 10 miles
Trail type: Out and Back
Best Season: Spring, Fall, Winter
Difficulty: Moderate
Usage: Moderate

Description: The Desert Classic Trail is excellent for mountain biking, Hiking or trail running as it leads through the south side of South Mountain Park. The trail is fairly level with washes. Single track, some rocky areas, washes are sandy at bottom, fairly flat. Be sure to hydrate in late spring and summer.