South Mountain Hiking

[tibber]

Ok, there's 28 pages on Looking for a Hike and the Search "South Mountain" hikes didn't get me anything (unless I didn't put in the right terminology).

So this is the quest, I want to go hiking down in the South Mountain area this Saturday. What would be a couple of your favorite, medium level hikes of around 6-10 miles that provide a nice workout with some elevation and a good view or two?

And yes, I know I can do the TrailDEX search but there are too many choices. You all seem to put different trails together that look pretty cool.

I appreciate your suggestions.

:thanx:

[trekkin_gecko]

i used to do this hike every weekend:

start at beverly canyon trailhead on 46th and baseline
beverly canyon trail
ridgeline trail
mormon loop
national trail west to hidden valley turnoff
hidden valley back to national
east on national
javelina back down to parking lot

it's a figure eight with a trip through fat man's pass, hidden valley and the tunnel
about 7.5 miles with some good climbs and good views
easy access at BC TH
the only drawback is that it will be somewhat crowded on a saturday

another option is to take geronimo up, national east, mormon trail down, and cut back to 20th on the streets
dave1 and i have triplogs for this hike, which is about 6.6 miles with one good climb and some good views
maybe too short but won't be very crowded

the tortoise should chime in with his favorites

[Dave1]

I like the Geronimo Trail. You can park at the 24th street lot and take a short half mile walk through the neighborhood over to Geronimo TH, up Geronimo to National Trail, through Fat Man's Pass, Hidden Valley and the Natural Tunnel. Then back down to the parking lot via Mormon Trail (all the signs say Moron Trail). Total mileage is about 7 1/2.

edit: oops, trekkin gecko already posted this

[johnr1]

Angela
Kelly has a very nice suggestion that I think you would enjoy. Dave also has a neat alternative

Some of the photo ops may involve the people but you could also do a bit of sleauthing for petroglyphs.

If you want some elevation gain, I can help

[kingsnake]

Summit Rd split -> Bajada -> Ranger -> National (west) -> Bajada -> back to split. Did it a few weeks ago. Only saw three people the whole time, between 0730 and 1030. About 9 miles.

Fat Man's pass and Hidden Valley is neat, but its a zoo in there. ;)

[tibber]

Thx everyone. Those suggestions look good to me.

I think I'm going to go back to Plan A for THIS weekend (Peralta/Cave Trail) and try one of your suggestions, Plan B, next weekend. If anyone wants to join me for Plan A - I plan to leave N Phx at 8:30, hopefully be at the TH at 9:30 and be on my way.