Date: December 9, 2025 • Elevation: 2,409 feet ✳ • Prominence: 386 feet • Distance: 5 miles • Time: 2 hours, 10 minutes • Gain: 740 feet • Conditions: SUnny, cool but warming, gorgeous

Arizona • Main • PB • LoJ • Lidar

This peak rises north of Newman Peak a few miles east of the farms and houses of Eloy and Coolidge. The main thing out here is the Central Arizona Project (CAP) Canal, which runs from the northwest, then angles south long the range before curving southeast again.

The canal presents both a challenge and possibly some assistance. The canal itself is impossible to cross except in spots where it goes underground. However, roads to it are usually well-maintained and often paved, so getting close to the canal and the general area is easy.

I hiked one peak back here, Pump House Peak, earlier this year. So I got to looking at the maps and seeing if there were ways to access the hills farther to the north. I was on my way to Tempe, tonight being the final exam for my classes. That wouldn't start until 7 p.m., so I had time.

I left Bisbee a little after 7 a.m. and followed the usual route through Bencon and Tucson, with some heavy traffic in Tucson, before emerging out of the city. In Picacho (Exit 211), I went north on state route AZ-87 for 3.5 miles, then went right (east) on Houser Road for 5.5 miles, bringing me to Brady Pump Road.

By now, I was miles apart from any home or building or even a farm. It's all State Trust land out here, with a few slivers of BLM land. On Brady Pump Road, I went north about three miles toward the Brady Pump facility. I went right at a stop sign.

The CAP Canal runs underground here for about a mile, and crossing over it is unfettered, no gates or signs to stop anyone. I went right at a Y-junction and proceeded east, paralleling the canal, for a mile. I passed through a wire-stick gate, and drove to a raised berm.

The peak I wanted was visible a couple miles to the east, a hill covered in rocks even visible from a distance. As to where I parked, I explored the roads a little, but they got a little rough. I parked in a depression near the berm. There is a tower back near the Brady Pump facility that I could see from a distance and that would be my azimuth for the hike out.

It was a little past 10 a.m. by now, cool and very pleasant, temperature in the high 50s, with a strong sun. It was actually warm in the sun, but in any shade, it was chilly. I got dressed, got my pack and sticks and started walking almost immediately.

I just walked on a direct bearing toward the peak. The desert terrain was very easy to travel through, with the plans always spaced apart so I could walk unimpeded, there was no heavy grass, and what grass was here grew about an inch high. Everything was green. The plants were the usual: saguaro, cholla and various other cactus; palo verde, mesquite and creosote. I followed cattle paths when I found them. This was some of the prettiest and greenest desert I've ever walked through.

About a half-hour later, I was nearing the peak. I came to a fence going north-south, and a road on its other side. I eased through the strands and followed this road north, then a lesser track east, now directly below the mountain mass. I was aiming for a gully that looked promising as a way up.

The hill is nothing but rocks and small cliffs. Even from fifty feet out, it all looks very steep. But once I was at the base of the rocks, suddenly it all leaned back and did not look so bad at all.

I had about 300 vertical feet of these rocks to get to the saddle on the ridge. The rocks are all granite boulders in heaps, and getting through them was easy but slow. I often had to move laterally to find better ways up. What wasn't rock was loose grus-type gravel which slid with each step.

But, it all worked out nicely. It was steep, often brushy and often awkward, but it all went up with no surprises, no cliffs or impassable barriers. I used my hands maybe twice. I wouldn't say I scrambled at all. The poles were critical for balance and yes, more than once, a massive rock would teeter under weight. I kicked loose a few mid-sized ones.

At the saddle, the peak appears behind a foreground hill. The rocks going up from here were more of the same, steep but simple to manage. I was able to weave through the rocks and openings, going up until I was on top. It had taken me just over an hour to get here.

The top has three rocks that could be the highpoint. I tagged all three and felt the middle one was highest. I looked for a cairn or register, with no luck. I snapped a few images, then sat for a few minutes to relax, have something to drink and check my texts and emails.

Views were good, with a cloudless sky and dry air. Newman Peak rose high to the south. To the north and east were the Superstitions and a lot of undeveloped State Land desert. To the west was the canal, then some farms and houses. I spent about ten minutes on the peak.

Going down, I stepped carefully down the rocks until I was back on flat ground. Then I just had to walk a couple miles of desert back to my car. I could not see that tower most of the time, but when I could I just aimed for it, keeping a little left of it. I had a failsafe: if I got too far off my bearing, a fence line would stop me and I was parked near this fence.

The walk out took an hour, and I was able to get back to my car almost exactly on point. When I was closer, that tower was visible, and also the berm. I was back a little after noon. I changed and started the drive out. I drove another road to check out a gate situation for a future trip, now that I know how to get here and what the roads are like.

I was happy this hike went well and the roads to it were excellent roads. There are a few more peaks back here and these roads at least get me within shouting distance, so I'll be back. I saw a couple campers but not many people. I saw just one canal worker in his truck.

I stopped in Eloy for gas and a lunch, then drove into Tempe for my class's final exam, and the end of my 63rd semester at ASU.