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GERONIMO TRAIL
South Mountain Park
This week, I achived an accidental milestone--I have now
hiked every single mile of South Mountain Park official trails. This was never
a deliberate "project" of mine---I just sorta realized it while perusing my
map collection over the long weekend. The coupe de grace was the Geronimo
Trail, one I never got around to
for a really lame reason: it's favored as a downhill mountain biker
route. Bikers like to start at the
top of the trail at Buena Vista Lookout parking lot and descend the rocky
pitch at break-neck speeds. I'm a fan of shared-use, non-motorized
trails and enjoy meeting bikers on the trails, but the constant moving aside
for racing machines isn't my favorite kind of hike. Certainly, a hike UP would
be against the grain, but what better way to check off the sole survivor on my
SoMo trail map. The crux challenge
of this hike is its lack of directional signage, so route-finding skills (at
the basic "pay attention" level) are required. It starts out as a
clear path between two fences at the trailhead and continues 0.1 mile to the
official park sign. That's it for
the help. Beyond the sign, the
trail makes its climb over a combination of bare rock, dirt, rock-lined
passages and constructed native
stone staircases. The collection
of corrals and buildings near the beginning of the hike are part of the
Heard Scout Pueblo which is
private property and off limits to hikers. Sketchy in places, the path seems to
get swallowed up in washes and
switchbacks. Here, hiker-placed carins and twigs serve as
beacons. Like nearby
Mormon Trail, Geronimo features some sweet views of downtown Phoenix and local
mountains. Hike it on a clear day, and it's exquisite. In between, the route delves into a beautiful slot canyon loaded with
desert vegetation. Creosote, palo verde, ironwood, elephant trees, and saguaro
cactuses flank the path spiking the air with spicy aromas. At near the mid point, an optional
exploratory side trip into a gorge
of sand and schist (similar to Hidden Valley) offers peeks at Hohokam
petroglyphs while adding only 0.5 mile more to the trek. Keeping in sync with
the theme of the hike--- don't expect this spur path to be obvious. I was lucky
to run into a local man who has been hiking the park almost daily for many
years and he was kind enough to
point it out and even gave me a tour, otherwise, I would have trudged right
past it in ignorant bliss. (So many nice folks hike and bike in the park!)
And so, after puzzling over a few confusing junctions, I
emerged on a crumbly high ridgeline on South Mountain, took in a celebratory
deep breath of crisp air, oogled
the views and descended among the
wheeled hordes.
LENGTH: 2.5 miles one way
RATING: moderate (steep, loose footing, route-finding)
ELEVATION: 1,280' - 2,320'
GETTING THERE:
From Phoenix, go south on Central Ave to Baseline Road. Turn
left (east) and continue 2.3 miles to 20th Street. Turn right (south) and go
0.8 mile to where the road makes a sharp right turn and becomes Dobbins Road just beyond a roundabout. This turn is marked by 2 big yellow
arrow signs on the left next to a small dirt lot----this is the trailhead, and
there's a small "Geronimo Trailhead" sign tucked among the curbside
creosote marking the start point of the hike. Parking is very limited, maybe room for 4 cars---do not
block private drives.
INFO: City of Phoenix
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