Hike Coyote Mountain Coyote Mountains Wilderness BLM, AZ

Coyote Mountain is one of those big Arizona mountains that peakbaggers dread since it’s reportedly a gnarly bushwhack, but after a lovely few days spent hiking on trails I felt I needed to change it up and with a free day in Tucson, today would be the best chance I’d get at going for Coyote Mountain. I knew beforehand that there’s an old trail leading to the summit, but I’d soon learn quite how old the trail is. This is not a pleasant hike, but I guess character building is a thing people say is good for you. The northern and western slopes surrounding the mountain are on Native land, and there’s no easy access from the south, so I’d be taking what seems to be the newer standard route for reaching the summit. A sliver of land on the east side of the range allows for access to the Coyote Mountain Wilderness Area at the end of a residential neighborhood. My car was outside all day and the nearby home clearly knew I was there since their dogs were barking and I saw them drive away without saying anything to me. I even left a note with my phone number requesting info if I was parked illegally, but nobody got in touch so I suppose there’s no issue. To reach the trailhead, head south from AZ-86 here (32.06272, -111.38515). Turn right here (32.02782, -111.41933), continue south here (32.01897, -111.44503), west here (32.01179, -111.44508). The road is possibly doable by passenger vehicles, though the last half mile could be too rough.

I started into the marked wilderness area along an old roadbed, which wrapped around the foothills and approached the eastern base of the range. It lasted for a couple of miles and only gained a few hundred feet of vertical. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t be able to see Coyote Mountain until much later in the hike, but I was able to see that the hike would be a pretty brutal one from here. The slope ahead was steep and covered in brush and cacti and I was immediately grateful I’d chosen to wear snake gaiters, more so to serve as body armor rather than for snake protection.

The road dipped down and would continue north and away from the mountain, and it’s at this dip where I located a cairn marking an extremely old trail. I’m not exaggerating. The trail is barely there and I found myself working pretty hard to stick to it right from the beginning. I’m confident there are portions of this trail where I would have been better off just ascending the slope rather than trying to stay on route. However, between my ascent and descent I was able to piece the trail together and successfully follow what remains of this certainly underloved route. It’s kind of a bummer because it’s clear a lot of construction went into building the trail, significant walls built in spots to keep it from eroding and to aid in creating switchbacks.

The trail begins by taking a narrow spur ridge on the eastern side of Coyote Mountain. It never seems to actually stay on the crest of this spur ridge, instead choosing to oscillate between its adjacent slopes. The ascent was pretty steep, made more difficult by lots of encroaching desert plans, some less friendly than others. At around 4200′ the ridge lost its shape and I continued on switchbacks up the subsequent slope that didn’t really seem to have a reason for leading in any chosen direction, though the trail’s goal was clearly to reach the eastern ridge of Coyote Mountain. It was around this time I questioned my choice of hike today and put on my music to get my mind off of it.

Once on the ridge, the trail became a bit less annoying. I supposed I’d ascended out of the rougher vegetation to a higher elevation where those many particular plant types no longer grew with such vigor. The crest of the ridge had an old fence, but the trail led just below it, making some tight switchbacks toward a large outcropping ahead. Passing beneath the outcropping’s southern side, the trail continued just south of the crest, only emerging rarely for views in both directions. I guess it was too rocky to justify building the trail up there, the slope just below a bit more tame. I enjoyed this portion of the hike. While there were some ankle-high poky plants, my gaiters allowed me to crash through them without thinking too much, and the views were really quite nice. I could even see Baboquivari Peak in the distance, along with the additional impressively rocky terrain to the south.

I finally emerged back to the ridge crest and descended a little to a minor saddle at around 5700′. The views here were spectacular, but there’s lots of rough plants if you go the wrong way. Past this, however, the brush is less painful (though certainly still exists) and I enjoyed the remainder of the route quite a bit, granted there’s not a whole lot of it left. I only had the final ascent ahead, about 800 vertical feet of forest and boulders. Some have reported that the trail continues, but also said it’s nearly impossible to find and is better left forgotten. Instead of attempting to locate this trail, I continued from the minor saddle directly up the slope. I encountered a few fun Class 3 moves on really nice rock, and also had to avoid a few small outcroppings. Fortunately I could avoid mostly all brush as I ascended the relatively steep slope, and I was happy to enjoy some scrambling opposed to the brushy theme of the route so far. At around 6100′ there was a notable rock rib that needed some thought to overcome since its opposite side sort of dropped off, though Class 2 options exist to get around it.

I kept to the north through some brush to avoid a small rock outcropping at 6200′, where I emerged to another minor saddle. On my attached map, this is where you’ll note a little loop section. The southern side of this small loop is the remains of the trail, which you can likely pick up without too much difficulty. I took that on the way down, and it was in better shape here than most other portions of the hike. Alternatively, you can continue along the slope, ignoring the trail, and add in some more fun Class 2/3 bouldery scrambling and meet back up with the trail at 6400′. Either way worked nicely in my opinion.

The trail then navigates north of the rocky ridge crest. I recommend trying to stay on it, especially in a couple of sections where it seems to disappear (it’s just obscured by overgrowth). The alternative is some much rougher forest brush. The last bit to the Coyote Mountain summit is much nicer, where I finally got an unobscured view south and the brush receeded. The summit block requires a Class 3-ish move, but it’s low enough that I guess you could just tap it if that’s not your jam. I lingered on the summit, not thrilled about needing to return. Overall I’d say the peak was less horrible than I anticipated, but definitely not one I’d repeat.