HUACHUCA MOUNTAINS

Intensity: EASY

Duration: 3 HOURS

Distnace: 4.6 miles (7.4km)

1,161ft (353m) Elevation gain

DRIVE TIME: 3 HRS RT

  This trail offers good views of upper Carr Canyon, with its weathered pinnacles, crinkled rock strata, and the emerald green riparian area of upper Ramsey Canyon. It starts through an area burned by a careless camper in 1977, where stumps and rocks now replace what were once trees and meadows. The trail re-enters the trees at the burn's edge before descending into Ramsey Canyon, where remnants of the old mining town of Hamburg and its mines are visible. Many hikers connect with the Hamburg Trail, leading to the Nature Conservancy’s Ramsey Canyon Preserve.

Intensity: MODERATE

Duration: 5 HOURS

Distance: 8.2 miles (13.19km)

1,774ft (540m) Elevation gain

DRIVE TIME: 3 HRS RT

  Brown Canyon Trail leads into a scenic little canyon with good views and high desert vegetation. A spur trail, the Pomona Mine Trail, leads to the site of an old tungsten mine while the Brown Canyon Trail continues into Ramsey Canyon. Brown Canyon is a relatively shallow, open canyon carved among rolling hills covered with grass, oak, and manzanita. Its upper reaches provide excellent views of the sheer cliffs of the Dragoon Mountains’ western face, as well as of the Chiricahuas mountains to the east and the Whetstone and the Galiuro mountains to the north.

Intensity: CHALLENGING

Duration: 7 HOURS

Distance: 9.9 miles (16km)

2,995ft (912m) Elevation gain

DRIVE TIME: 3 HRS RT

    The trail climbs to the northwestern park boundary where it enters the Miller Peak Wilderness Area. It continues along the crest of the Huachuca Mountains to Miller Peak, at 9,466 feet is the highest peak in the range. The Crest Trail is also part of the Arizona National Scenic Trail, an 800+ mile trail that extends from Mexico to Utah. Although the scenery along the way is not as spectacular as some other hikes in southern Arizona, the view from the summit is as far as the eye can see in all directions. And being so far south, the flora takes on a slightly more Mexican flavor.