Barnhardt Trail #43

Dogs Leashed

Features River/Creek · Views · Waterfall · Wildflowers

Start from the Barnhardt Trailhead parking lot. The trailhead is 5 miles off the highway on a gravel forest service road. The parking lot is large and flat. The trail is well marked and mostly rocky. In some places the trail is very rocky and tough especially if you are wearing light weight shoes.

This area had rain the week before our hike so the usually dry creek was full of water but off the trail. There was only one water source, and it was this creek, off the trail, down a canyon. Also due to the rain, wildflowers and cactus were in bloom making a beautiful sight in the desert. Since we got a late start we needed a campsite before sunset, but this trail could easily be a day hike. We were rewarded with the only viable place to setup a tent about 3.6 miles in on the trail. This site was right on a cliff overlooking the valley below, the Mogollon rim, and Paysen. (34.0923° N, 111.454° W) Across from this campsite, the cliffs had veins of quartz running though them.

The next day from our camp we set out at 7:30 for water and another campsite. The hike on this part of the Barnhardt Trail #43 was a narrow, brushy path which was very tough to hike through. On our map, there was a trail listed that rolls down towards the creek but this was blocked and hadn't looked used in many years. We followed the contours towards the intersection of the Arizona Trail (AZT) where you can choose to continue your hike or head back the way you came.

Wildflowers and cactus.