Date: March 25, 2026 • Elevation: 6524 feet ✳ • Prominence: 342 feet • Distance: 5.2 miles • Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes • Gain: 825 feet • Conditions: Sunny and clear, pleasant but warming

Arizona • Main • PB • LoJ

Peak 6524 (6517 on the map, the newer elevation taken from Lidar) rises immediately west of Madera Peak, at the north end of the Pinal Mountains. The two peaks look like twins from some vantage points. Roads get close to Madera Peak, while some ancient tracks get somewhat close to Peak 6524.

I climbed Madera Peak in 2019, coming up from the north via Warnica Canyon. It was a hot day that day and I had no plans to make the side trip to this peak. Then I pretty much forgot about it. Now, seven years later and a heatwave in place all over Arizona, suddenly this peak looked attractive again. It would be high enough to be pleasant.

I camped at the Oak Flat campground, rising before dawn and taking down my meager camp. I was on the road (US-60) at dawn. Traffic on this highway has grown in the past year or two, it seems. I got in behind a line of cars trailing some very slow truck, about the twelfth car in line and another ten behind me.

In about a half hour I was in Globe. I stopped briefly to top the gas and get some snacks, then started the slow drive up Kellner Canyon Road (FR-651) in the Pinal Mountains. The road was as I remembered it, pretty good but narrow, demanding attention. It was just me all the way up; I never saw another vehicle going up or down.

A few miles of this had gotten me to the Sulphide Del Rey campground, now high in the big trees at just below 6,000 feet elevation. It was sunny and cool, in the 50s, with no breeze and no clouds.

Three years ago, I got this far and hiked the secondary road (FR-580) to Peak 6685 Madera Ridge Highpoint. I recall this road being pretty good, so this time, I would drive it, at least partway.

This second road was good, but narrower with steeper grades and some rutted parts. I went slow here, usually about 5-8 miles per hour. I wanted to get to about Peak 6685, since I still wanted a hike. I went slowly, never seeing anyone else, and parked just past a cattle grate a little southeast of Peak 6685. It was a little past 7 a.m. now.

I suited up and got my things together, and started walking the road. This went well. It reaches an apex, then starts about a 300-foot drop to just below Madera Peak, about two miles away. I could easily have driven this road, but I enjoyed the walking, having this whole part of the mountain just to myself for now.

The excitement came in the form of a lone cow, standing in the road eating grass. I clapped and it moved a little down from me, then stopped and started walking toward me. It huffed a couple times. I don't think it was a bull. Nevertheless, I don't want an exciteable cow coming toward me.

I inched up a slope and waited it out. After ten minutes, I got back down and it was gone. I was at the lowpoint in the road at the base of Madera Peak about 45 minutes after starting my hike.

A side road branches from here. It is gated shut and being left to decay. I walked it, dropping about another 80 feet to a lowpoint, then taking a right up another measly track, which put me in the saddle separating Peak 6524 and Madera Peak.

Looking up, the ridge looked open. There is a fence that runs up this ridge, and cleared areas to both sides of it. I marched up the slope, and saw that parts looked to be an old ATV track. I shimmied under the fence about half way up, then at the summit, had to shimmy again to get to the higher side. It had taken me just oer an hour to get here.

Views were very good, today being clear with no humidity. It was warm but pleasant here, in the 60s. The top is rocky with low grass and flowers (verbenas, mainly). I could not find a register. I stayed about ten minutes snapping images and having a rest.

For the hike out, I just stayed on this side of the fence, which meant more brush for a little bit, but then I was back to the old tracks and eventually to the road. I made good time back to my car, going about the same pace as on the inbound hike. I was back a little after 9 a.m.. This had been a simple hike and it worked well for me this morning.

I slowly drove out, often with the car in lower gear. On those very narrow segments, I hoped there was no one coming the other way. Once back on FR-651, it was a little easier, with more room to pass if necessary. I saw just one vehicle up high, and a group of three Polaris down low. I was in Globe soon, where I stopped at a Fry's Grocery and encamped in its Starbucks for about a half hour to check emails and texts and decide what to do next. Today's exciting adventures picks up on Peak 4883 North.

I enjoyed this hike. It was easy and uncomplicated, and the roads behaved. These three peaks — Peak 6524, Madera Peak and Peak 6685 — could easily be done in one outing if coming in via Kellner Canyon and FR-580. My Subaru would have been sufficient to get to the base of Madera Peak. On these roads, high clearance is all that is necessary as there were some rutted parts here and there. I would not recommend a smaller passenger vehicle. Good tires and a decent engine would be smart.