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Harquahala Mountain

Harquahala Mountains Wilderness, AZ Sonoran Desert

Distance: 10.1 mi
Net Gain: 3,400 ft
Time: 3-5 hrs
YDS Rating: Class 1
Route: Out/Back
Peaks: 1

Effort: 4.5/10
Personality: 5/10
Beauty: 6/10
Solitude: 4.4/10

What do these mean? →

Peaks on this hike

Summits listed in route order

Harquahala Mountain
5,681′ elevation · 3,461′ prominence

Route map + Trailhead

Trailhead Coordinates

33.842980, -113.384730

The directions link below drops a pin on the trailhead coordinates and lets Google Maps pick the route. If the drive has rough roads or access issues that GPS nav might get wrong, I cover that in my trip report.

Trip report

Oct 13, 2021 — Harquahala Mountain is a big desert peak far west of Phoenix. It's remote enough that the fact there is a trail leading the whole way to the summit seems really odd to me, but I was happy to learn of its existence and the fact that its quality was excellent. To reach the trailhead, turn-off here from AZ-60 (33.86855, -113.39795), enter through the gate (closing it behind you) and head along the obvious dirt road for a few miles. There are a few sections where the road dips enough through washes that a sedan likely couldn't make it, but otherwise it was a very good road overall.

The trail begins by leading southeast up an alluvial fan for a few miles on the remains of an old road through mostly boring and typical desert scenery. After reaching some old mining remains the road turns into a trail and ascends the rest of the way to the base of Harquahala Mountain. The rest of the hike is very enjoyable. Once the trail wraps around the west ridge of Harquahala Mountain, the summit towers come into view. Oh yeah, you could also drive to the summit if you would prefer to skip the trail (ew).

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Photos

31 photos

Harquahala Mountain Trailhead. The peak is visible left of center.
Passing some old mining ruins.
The road becomes a trail and continues slowly ascending.
View back, already a few miles into the hike.
Passing a dug-out portion of mine.
View back toward an old mine.
Harquahala Mountain visible ahead.
The trail begins to ascend out of the wash and up onto Harquahala Mountain's slopes.
View back.
Ascending along the great trail.
The trail wraps around to the other side of the drainage as it ascends.
View back.
Progress up the slope.
View back, you can see the trail from earlier in the center.
Close-up back along the trail.
Winding along the northwestern slopes of Harquahala Mountain.
View back again.
An old mining cabin or something, this sign was too degraded to read.
Continuing to wrap around to the west side of Harquahala Mountain. The trail leads to the low point on the ridgeline above, center.
Some tight switchbacks.
View back from below the ridge.
Approaching the ridge.
At the ridge, view up toward Harquahala Mountain. You can also see the service road which leads to the summit.
View back toward the low point on the ridge I came up from.
Harquahala Mountain ahead.
Just below the summit, a view back at a marker that points to the trail.
Final bit to the summit of Harquahala Mountain.
Harquahala Mountain, view southeast.
Harquahala Mountain, view southwest. The trail came up from the low point on the ridge in the center.

Hire me or show some love!

Hire or refer me as a web developer, or send me a few bucks if you find my site useful. I'm not sponsored, so it's funded by yours truly. It also takes a ton of work to edit photos and write these reports. I really appreciate it!

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