Hike Eastern Goldfield Mountains and Triple Arch Tonto National Forest, AZ

Feb 16, 2026 — After enjoying myself last month in the Goldfield Mountains and specifically Golden Dome, I decided to check out some of the more minor peaks in the eastern portion of the range. The lower reaches of the area are well traveled by hikers, as well as by OHVs on their extensive trail system, but for some reason the peaks get basically no attention. This might be because most of the peaks on this route are little more than lumps with colorful cliff bands, but I thought it was an enjoyable loop with lots of excellent scenery, minimal bushwhacking, and some short spurts of route-finding and scrambling.

I started out on the Triple Arch Trail, which leads to a fairly popular destination. It began on doubletrack before taking a left shortly after to get to the base of Peak 2604, a nice little warm-up. I headed up a steep and somewhat brushy gully on its northern face, a couple of light Class 2 moves on the way up. From the top, I could have probably continued along its western ridge to rejoin the trail further on, but I was looking forward to enjoying the trail system and instead returned the way I came.

The Triple Arch Trail wandered between colorful tuff and then through a beautiful wash for a few miles. I left the trail shortly before it reached the canyon separating my next two peaks in order to hike up to Peak 2269. It was a simple and gradual slope to the high point with minimal brush, and overlooked the narrow canyon below. I could also now see the truly squat nature of the various peaks on my planned outing, but the surrounding colors were still impressive.

I made my way back to the trail and followed it until it reached the west side of Peak 2548. I was unsure I could find a route to its summit from here because there were clearly a couple of cliff bands higher up, but I figured I’d give it a go, knowing that I could likely approach from its northern slope should I fail from this direction. Fortunately, I was able to locate a solid Class 3 weakness in the lower darker cliff band. A subsequent slope led me up to a second cliff band, a short volcanic tuff layer that I was able to wrap around on the right via a brushy chute. Some more Class 2 led me to the summit.

I backtracked slightly, and decided to try a more direct route down Peak 2548’s northern slope toward Triple Arch rather than return to the trail on its west side. My choice ended up being pretty brushy and not as straightforward as I’d suspected, so just returning the same way and using the trail would have probably taken about the same amount of time. There might also be a route down into Willow Springs Canyon using the eastern slope, but I didn’t experiment because I wanted to go check out Triple Arch first.

Once within the drainage beneath Triple Arch, I located the steep trail leading up to the arch, whose name is pretty misleading because it’s just one large window, punctuated by a tiny arch too small to be considered as such, and a third nook that isn’t even an arch because it just has a rock stacked on top of it. Anyway, off to the next peak.

I dropped back into the canyon and continued east through it. The Triple Arch Trail didn’t officially continue this way, but it was clear people venture into the canyon based on the many footprints in the sandy wash. When the canyon narrowed, I encountered a couple of dryfalls, the first of which was Class 2+ and the second needed to be avoided on the left. There were a few other little obstacles past here, but nothing notable.

I exited the mouth of the canyon and entered Willow Springs Canyon, a major north-draining wash with clear ATV use. I followed it until I could begin ascending a drainage on the south side of Peak 2662. There was some enjoyable Class 3 scrambling within the watercourse, avoidable on the annoying adjacent slopes. The drainage petered out toward the top and the route became a simple steep slope walk to the Class 2 boulder-covered summit.

My descent from Peak 2662 was a bit sloppy, my foresight not very good since I didn’t expect the cliff band below that I quickly learned was there. I meandered through few sections of Class 3 to overcome this cliff band. When looking back up at my descent choice, it appeared that I could have made it more straightforward if I’d just descended slightly further east, but I’m unsure.

The approach to Peak 2673 was yet another rocky, steep slope. My chosen line required some boulder-hopping and a Class 2+ dryfall to reach the crest. Shortly after, I found a well-defined trail, which I found surprising given how little documentation of it exists online, which led close to the summit, but not all the way. Instead, it descends to the north and I traced it until it disappeared, leaving me curious where it ultimately led. I headed off-trail to Peak 2673, where the views were fantastic toward the Salt River and Saguaro Lake, plus the local icons: the Four Peaks, Weaver’s Needle, and Superstition Benchmark on the horizon.

I got back to the trail and followed it south along the ridgeline all the way over toward Peak 2881. I’m not really sure if this trail has a name or if it’s even used much by hikers. The trail continued off the ridgeline at Peak 2881’s base, so I continued along the gradual slope to the high point. There were hints of a social trail with cairns along the way, which easily led around any brushy patches. Peak 2881 has great views and is on some Arizona peakbagging list, so it does receive some visitation, but it is more commonly approached from the south via a doubletrack trail. However, to get back to my car I decided to drop off of its western slope. My descent choice was initially steep, but barely even Class 2, though not exactly pleasant. The remainder of the slope was a bit brushy and rocky.

The benefit of my descent choice was that I could pop up and over the ranked lump Peak 2467, a tiny bonus peak, requiring another steep uphill jaunt. I dropped south to join an unlabeled trail, which dipped in and out of a bunch of arroyos before leading to an OHV trail, which I took back to my car.