Haunted Canyon - Superstitions

[desertgirl]

Haunted Canyon – Trail #203

Great Hike in the Eastern Superstitions with a beautiful destination – Tony’s Cabin!

Directions to the trailhead: Take US 60 east 12.8 miles past Superior to the FR 287 - Pinto Valley Road (You will see go thru the tunnel on 60 & see the mine tailings as you drive towards the turnoff for FR287) which is also the entrance to Pinto Valley Mine. The mine entrance is ~ 2.7 miles in. At the mine entrance, bear left & follow a clearly marked rough access road for 7.5 miles. Stay out of the areas marked "Private." This is mine property. High clearance vehicle is highly recommended to get to the trail head. (Pay attention to the road as you will encounter forks along the way). You will get on FR287A at about 6.7 miles from Hwy60. At 7.5 miles, pull out in the small (4 SUVs) roadside lot. Trail head for #203 (Haunted Canyon) is across the road. FR287A continues on to Miles trailhead.

Trail Description:
The trail heads upslope to reach a saddle opening up expansive views both in front of you into the canyon and behind you towards the town of Miami and distant mountains, dropping into the canyon and winds along by the creek. You walk up through desert scrub vegetation and are looking into pines and sycamores as you descend from the saddle. You will encounter a small pond/lake (it was almost dry) reaching the highest elevation (4900 ft.) along the trail. At this point you are about halfway between the trailhead and the remote Tony Ranch and Cabin. From the tank, the trail switchback’s its way through a very overgrown section until it descends into the dry creek bed of Haunted Canyon. Here the trail fades; stay to the trailside of the rocks while heading to your right and the path once again becomes obvious. You will pass by an old corral to your right & a half buried water tank to you left (important landmark) as you head towards Tony’s Ranch. Follow the riverbed to the right with towering sycamores (white bark gigantic trees) and the forest opens up into a meadow, where up ahead you can see an old homestead cabin peeking out from the midst of a stand of white barked trees. This is an interesting place with large fire ring with a log bench, coral and overturned water trough. The cabin holds an assortment of leftovers from camping trips past (Do not depend on supplies at the cabin). There are plenty of good camping spaces in this area and also by the corral you pass on the way in. Return provides a few options – return the way you came (Make sure you look for the corral – It is quite easy to end up on the trail that heads up Haunted Canyon – you will have a long walk back to you vehicle & it’s a long hike out!) or follow Haunted Canyon out to 287A (Plan on a few miles hike to your vehicle on FR 287A).

Caution: Avoid retruning via Bull Basin Trail -- This is extremely overgrown and the trail is non-existant.
_________________
Photos: http://www.pbase.com/desertgirl/galleries
Life is but a dream ...there is no end to what you can dream!

[Arizonaheat]

I agree, it is an absolutely beautiful destination and a great hike. Just don't try returning via Bull Basin. or you will be in for a surprise of a lifetime.

[Nighthiker]

I have hiked this while it was snowing. Great chance to see wildlife.

[Canyon Dweller]

That must be great seeing the Superstitions in the snow. Snow hiking is a really neet thing. I love it.
_________________
Mountains are there to be climbed!

"Meaningless! Meaningless," says the teacher, "Utterly Meaningless, Everything is meaningless."-Ecclesiastes 1:2

[plummer150]

Sounds pretty outstanding! I'm going to have to check that one out here sometime. Last time I did any hikes out in the Miami area was about 2yrs. ago where we had some bad experiences there just overall. Thats why I havent done much way out there. Looks like it's time for me to make it out there though. Thanks for the info on the hike!
_________________
"IRONMAN" cometh, hiketh, destroyeth

[cactuscat]

We did this hike in the snow recently, and that was the best part - no wildlife sightings, though. And as Kent commented, avoid the Bull Basin return (trust us!).

[k9hiker]

How is the Miles Trailhead and the road in? I did this hike just after Christmas adn there was tons of snow left over from the few storms we had a week or so before. It was really beautiful. We didn't see and critters, but did see some deer track in the snow. I wanted to check out the road and the TH at Miles, but didn't have time. I drove my family car into the area without any problem even in the snow. It would have been a much better ride in a high clearance veh. though.
_________________
Jamie
Canine Hiking Club of AZ
www.mydog8az.com

[chihiggs]

Family sedan--no problem. Some bumpy places...the worst being that one westward down hill back in the mine area you've already been through with the car.
_________________
All our dreams come true if we have the courage to pursue them...Walt Disney

[AncientTrekker]

Do you or does anyone know the lat. and long. or UTM coordinates of the Haunted Canyon trailhead. I can't seem to find the Forest Rd or anything on my National Geographic Topo program. Thanks for any help with this.

[k9hiker]

I haed a hard time finding the trail on my NG topo also. I just kind of fooled around until I found the right area.

The hard part is so of the trail is on one disc and some on another.
_________________
Jamie
Canine Hiking Club of AZ
www.mydog8az.com

[Shawn]

A good supplement to the NG Tope software is a Delorme map book. It has the FS roads and trails, as well as more current state/county roads. NG is simply the USGS topo maps scanned, some of which are getting quite old.
_________________
The bear went over the mountain to see what he could see.