Mesquite Canyon - Goat Camp : Climbing, Hiking & Mountaineering : SummitPost

Mesquite Canyon - Goat Camp

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Geography

Routes in Arizona

Parents

White Tank Mountains Summit

Routes

Mesquite Canyon - Goat Camp

Page Type: Route

Location: Arizona, United States, North America

Route Type: Hiking

Season: Spring

Time Required: Half a day

Difficulty: Trails, old roads, easy nav.

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Page By: surgent

Created/Edited: Feb 20, 2006 / Feb 21, 2006

Object ID: 174087

Hits: 1036

Page Score: 81.81% - 2 Votes

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Table of Contents

Overview

One of many viable routes to the summit. This combination of trails, old jeep ruts and roads offers a reasonably easy way to the top.

Getting There

See the main page for details.

Route Description

Walk past the information sign a few feet and turn left onto the Mesquite Canyon Trail. Follow it into a canyon, then up, over and down a ridge into another canyon. At 1.8 miles it intersects the Willow Trail. Stay straight on the Mesquite Trail. It gains gently then steeply up (and down) some rocky sections, eventualy topping out high on a ridge at the junctions of the Ford Canyon and Goat Camp trails, 3.2 miles from the start. Go left onto Goat Camp trail and hike another mile amid high ridges and grasses. The tower-laden false summit is to your left, and the real thing directly ahead. The Goat Camp trail will top out on a ridge and start a steep descent; leave the trail here at a cairn and seek out a very old set of jeep ruts. This meager track offers mostly brush-free hiking up over the intervening ridge points for slightly less than a mile before intersecting a substantial dirt road used by the tower workers. Simply follow the road to the top. The one-way mileage is about 5.5 with a gain of about 2,400 feet. Return the same way, being sure to note where the jeep track intersects the good road (it's easy to miss on the descent).

Other options include to start at the Goat Camp trailhead or the Ford Canyon trailhead. The Goat Camp route looks to be about 1.5-2 miles longer each way, and Ford longer than that.

Others have barrelled up the steep slopes from the west, which didn't look too friendly when we peered down the summit. As for hiking the main N-S jeep road through the range: possible, but I have no idea where they are gated and how far a walk it would be. I wouldn't suggest it anyway. Coming in from the east is a lot nicer overall anyway.

Essential Gear

Good boots, long pants, hiking pole. Snakes live here.