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Wild Areas of Arizona

This book is confined to those parts of the state most attractive to backpacking. The desert ranges in the southwestern quarter of the state are conspicuously missing from this book. While this region contains vast wilderness tracts, the region is not backpacker-friendly. The vast desert plains and low mountain ranges offer no trails, few defined cross-country routes, and almost no water. The backpack trips in this book focus on the areas that have a variety of terrain and enough water sources so that you do not have to carry punishing loads.

COLORADO PLATEAU

Slickrock Canyons

The Colorado Plateau is a varied landscape that covers approximately the northeastern third of Arizona, from the Mogollon Rim north and eastward into Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico. Sedimentary rocks such as sandstone, limestone, and shale, laid down in horizontal beds, form slickrock canyons and make up the bulk of the plateau. The plateau is not a single, level surface, but a series of plateaus varying in elevation from 3000 to over 12,000 feet. One of the continent’s largest rivers, the Colorado, drains the western Rocky Mountains and cuts through the Colorado Plateau, creating a series of deep canyons along its length. Many of the side drainages carve their own canyons in turn, so that the surface of the plateau is dissected by upwards of 10,000 canyons. Towering above these deep canyons are scattered volcanic mountains. Two of the featured hikes explore canyon systems on the plateau.

Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon, or “the Canyon,” as locals refer to it, is the Colorado River’s master achievement. It is more than 260 miles long, up to 20 miles wide, and over a mile deep, but such numbers don’t convey the canyon’s uniqueness. A colorful variety of sedimentary, metamorphic, and volcanic rocks are exposed in the Grand Canyon. These not only make for good scenery, but their character determines the shape of the canyon and controls the very routes that humans may use.

The Grand Canyon is not just a single large canyon. It is a maze of side canyons and tributaries, towering buttes, temples, and mesas. Hidden here and there are perennial streams, springs, and secret grottos. Nearly the entire canyon is included in Grand Canyon National Park, and most of the park is wilderness. Units of the Kaibab National Forest flank the park to the north and south. Elevations range from 8900 feet along the fir and aspen forests of the North Rim to 1200 feet along the creosote bush-lined banks of the lower Colorado River.

Despite the crowds at the developed sections of the south and north rims, and the popularity of a few trails, most of the canyon backcountry sees no visitors in a typical year. The catch is that only about ten percent of the backcountry is accessible by trail. To explore the rest, you’ll have to hike cross-country through some of the most demanding terrain on Earth. This guidebook contains both trail and cross-country hikes in the Canyon, so you can learn the terrain on trails, and then progress to cross-country when you are ready.

RIM COUNTRY

Mogollon Rim

The Mogollon (pronounced “mug-e-on”) Rim, an escarpment towering 2000 feet above the country to the south, runs across the state from the west end of the Grand Canyon to the Mogollon Mountains in New Mexico. The Mogollon Rim, which reaches elevations of 9300 feet, separates the Colorado Plateau from the central mountains. Just north of the Mogollon Rim, the southern edge of the Colorado Plateau is named the Mogollon Plateau. The plateau consists of a series of northward-draining canyons and intervening ridges, all covered with the world’s largest stand of ponderosa pines. Some of the canyons are protected as wilderness areas, and all of them form a serious barrier to travel. Most of the rim country lies within the Kaibab, Coconino, and Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests.

Cross-country backpacking below Powell Plateau, Grand Canyon National Park, Trip 6

Near Iron Mountain, Superstition Wilderness

White Mountains

Volcanic activity created the White Mountains near the eastern end of the Mogollon Rim. This area of high mesas and rounded summits lies partially in the White Mountain Apache Reservation, and partially within the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest. Several wilderness areas in the White Mountain region protect heavily forested 11,000-foot mountains, as well as semidesert canyons at elevations below 5000 feet. The area of most appeal to backpackers is the Blue Range Primitive Area, known locally as the “Blue.” This wild area straddles the Mogollon Rim east of the White Mountains.

The Mogollon Rim is split by the mile-deep canyon created by the Blue River, which drains south into the San Francisco River. West of the Blue River canyon the Mogollon Rim culminates at 9355-foot Blue Peak. 8000-foot mountains and plateaus rise along the Mogollon Rim east of the Blue River. Miles of seldom-used trails trace the Blue backcountry. In the 1930s, the Blue was one of the first wilderness areas protected by the U.S. Forest Service under the inspired leadership of Aldo Leopold. In 1964, Congress passed the Wilderness Act, which included most of the Forest Service wilderness areas in the new National Wilderness Preservation System. The Forest Service designated the remaining administratively protected areas as primitive areas to distinguish them from Congressionally protected wilderness. In the years since, Congress has protected all the remaining primitive areas as wilderness areas, except one: the Blue. The administrative protection of the Blue by the U.S. Forest Service can be rescinded at any time. Even the small section of the Blue in New Mexico is protected as wilderness. Wilderness enthusiasts hope the Arizona section of the Blue will be added soon—it certainly deserves wilderness protection.

Central Mountains

All of Arizona south and west of the Mogollon Rim is part of the basin and range geologic province, in which small, separate north-south trending mountain ranges rise above intervening valleys. A rugged complex of mountains and deep valleys characterize the central mountains, the area immediately south of the Mogollon Rim. This vast area, mostly contained in the Tonto National Forest, contains a variety of terrain from desert canyons to forested plateaus and mountains.

Mazatzal Mountains

The Mazatzal Mountains, one of the largest and highest ranges in the central mountains, reaches 7903 feet at Mazatzal Peak. The Verde River, Arizona’s only Wild and Scenic River and home to desert bald eagles, flows along the west side of the Mazatzal Wilderness Area. The crest of the Mazatzal Mountains is formed by a giant, tilted fault block of metamorphic rocks. This geology creates steep escarpments on the east, where water from the canyons drain into Tonto Creek. The west slopes are gentler, but are cut by deep, rugged canyons which empty into the Verde River at elevations around 2000 feet. The area is protected within the Mazatzal Wilderness, part of the Tonto National Forest. A network of trails covers the wilderness and provides the backpacker with a plethora of excellent wilderness trips from forested crest to desert plains.

Superstition Mountains

The Superstition Mountains, located at the southwestern edge of the central mountains, are mostly volcanic in character, the apparent remnants of a gigantic caldera. Local hikers fondly refer to the range as the “Sups.” The western canyons and mountains of the Sups are part of the Sonoran Desert, and range from 2000 to 5000 feet in elevation. Desert shrubs, cactus, and grasslands are the primary vegetation in this western region. The eastern end of the Superstition Mountains features a metamorphic geology of largely granitic rocks. Elevations are higher in the eastern Sups, and the terrain is mostly covered with high desert grassland, chaparral brush, and pinyon pine and juniper woodland. A few pockets of stately ponderosa pines favor cool canyon bottoms and north slopes. Mound Mountain is the highest point in the Sups, at 6266 feet. The Superstition Wilderness Area encompasses nearly the entire range. Though relatively small, the wilderness is rugged and includes a thorough network of trails. This creates opportunities for a variety of backpack trips of several days.

SKY ISLANDS

Santa Catalina and Rincon Mountains

Arizona’s basin and range country culminates in southeastern Arizona, where the mountain ranges reach as high as 10,700 feet. In the broad valleys separating the ranges, the Sonoran Desert of southwestern Arizona meets the Chihuahuan Desert of southern New Mexico, creating a mix of desert vegetation. But to the backpacker, the mountain ranges are of greatest interest. Crowned with forests of pine, fir, and aspen, and graced with springs and creeks, these isolated, lofty ranges are locally known as “sky islands.” Nearly all the sky islands are part of the Coronado National Forest, and many are protected as wilderness areas. The 9157-foot Santa Catalina Mountains are the most accessible of the sky islands, just north of Tucson. Although a paved road leads to the top of the mountain, the western and southern sections are included in the Pusch Ridge Wilderness Area. The wilderness is a complex maze of deep canyons, creeks, and granite peaks, all laced by a network of trails. East of Tucson, Saguaro National Park contains the Rincon Mountains, an 8664-foot sky island. Both the Santa Catalina Mountains and the Rincon Mountains rise from 3000-foot desert valleys, and the vegetation ranges from classic saguaro cactus to fir, quaking aspen, and spruce.

Along the Super Trail, Santa Rita Mountains, Trip 25

Pinnacles, Chiricahua Mountains

Galiuro Mountains

Probably the least known sky island, the Galiuro Mountains top out at 7663-foot Bassett Peak. Vegetation is primarily high desert grassland and pinyon pine and juniper woodland. A few patches of ponderosa pines occur in protected valleys and on cooler north slopes. Deep canyons are the main feature of the range, and these are protected in the Galiuro Wilderness on the Coronado National Forest, and the Redfield Canyon Wilderness on Bureau of Land Management land. A network of little-used trails covers most of this remote sky island, and there are many possibilities for extended backpack trips into areas that rarely have visitors.

Chiricahua Mountains

The Chiricahua Mountains, another beautiful sky island, are in the southeast corner of the state, north of the town of Douglas. The crest of the Chiricahuas is a series of gentle, forested summits, culminating in 9759-foot Chiricahua Peak. Numerous canyons cut the flanks of the range, creating towering cliffs and dramatic vistas overlooking the 5000-foot valleys. The Chiricahua trail network provides many miles of enjoyable backpacking, from the Chihuahuan desert grasslands in the canyon bottoms, through chaparral brush and pinyon pine and juniper woodland, to graceful forests of Apache pine, quaking aspen, and Douglas-fir along the highest ridges.

Santa Rita Mountains

The prominent summit of 9453-foot Mount Wrightson crowns the Santa Rita Mountains south of Tucson. This unit of the Coronado National Forest is protected within the Mount Wrightson Wilderness. Because this sky island range is close to the Sierra Madre Mountains of northern Mexico, it forms a haven for rare birds normally seen only south of the international border. Several permanent streams further enhance the wildlife possibilities and contrast with the desert vegetation in the 3000- to 4000-foot valleys flanking the Santa Rita Mountains. Trails run the length of the crest and down the flanking ridges and canyons. Although the range is small, several rewarding overnight trips are possible in the Santa Rita Mountains.