The Mountains of Arizona
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Stewart Mountain Highpoint • Peak 2939 • Peak 2973 Stewart Mountain is a lone peak located west of Saguaro Lake, about fifteen miles northeast of Mesa. Saguaro Lake is the west-most of a series of lakes created by dams along the Salt River. It is the most popular boating locale nearest Phoenix. The peak itself consists of three summits, the western one being highest. There is no trail nor development on the mountain. It probably doesn't see more than a handful of visitors in a typical year. Most people who come this way are heading to the lake. I climbed the highpoint in 2015. I did not return for over ten years, when I came back to climb the two eastern summits in February 2026.
Date: December 17, 2015
• Elevation: 2,997 feet ✳
• Prominence: 1,025 feet
• Distance: 2 miles
• Time: 2 hours, 20 minutes
• Gain: 1,150 feet
• Conditions: Clear and cold
Arizona
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Main
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AZ P1K
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PB
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LoJ
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USGS BM Datasheet
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Lidar
From my home at the time, I followed Shea Boulevard east through Fountain Hills, then the Beeline Highway (AZ-87) north about a dozen miles to the Bush Highway exit. The peak was visible from highpoints along the roads as far back as on Shea Boulevard.
I parked in a pullout along the road, which I don't like doing since it leaves my vehicle unattended and in plain sight while I am gone. I drove up and down Bush Highway looking for places that looked more "secure". I finally chose a dirt area near the intersection with the Butcher Jones Recreation Area Road. It had the advantage of being directly east of the peak. I locked up everything and started hiking at 9:30 a.m., the day clear and cold, the air temperature about 45°.
I hiked up the embankment on the other side of the road and walked through the brush, catching an older track that sped up my travel. After ten minutes, I was near the base of the rocky gully that separates the two easternmost bumps of the mountain. I would ascend this gully.
At first I stayed high on the gully's left as I looked up. The rocks grew progressively larger and more jumbled, and I was forced into the gully. I made good progress, moving quickly. A few times I ran up a dead end where the rocks were too big to surmount, but finding a secondary route was always possible. After about thirty minutes, I had ascended to the top of this gully, where I could now see Stewart Mountain's summit ahead.
I then followed open routes through the vegetation, hiking across a flat bowl ringed by the three hills that comprise Stewart Mountain. I hiked on a direct bearing toward the slopes below the summit. The slopes laid back nicely, and I encountered few impediments other than heavy brush. I angled left to a saddle, then turned right and marched uphill, and was on the summit a little over an hour after starting. The one-way hike covered a little over a mile and about 1,150 feet of gain.
I spent ten minutes up top. The day was lovely, and there was no breeze, so although it was chilly, it was pleasant. I had great views of the surrounding mountains and of Saguaro Lake. I could make out the Superstition Mountains and Weavers Needle, The Four Peaks, Mount Ord, and looking west, the McDowell Mountains and the bumps farther west into Phoenix.
The hike down went fast. The gully went fast as I could see routes easier, plus use gravity to scoot down rock faces that I otherwise would not have ascended. I stepped on one big rock and it teetered under me. I was able to correct my fall immediately, but it gave me a fright. Soon, I was out of the gully, back onto the desert flats, and quickly back to the road, where my truck sat, unmolested. The round trip took me two hours, twenty minutes.
I spent a few minutes relaxing, then drove out, taking the scenic route along the Salt River and up Usery Pass Road back into Mesa, where I caught the freeway home.
Date: February 12, 2026
• Elevation: 2,939 feet ✳
• Prominence: 336 feet
• Distance: 3.4 miles
• Time: 3 hours, 30 minutes (includes hike to Peak 2972)
• Gain: 1,160 feet
• Conditions: Cool, high clouds
PB
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LoJ
Exactly ten years, one month and 26 days later, I returned, to finally climb the other two peaks and complete this trio. I will admit I was not enthusiastic about ascending that gully again.
I was on the road before dawn. I stopped in at the Chevron on the Fort McDowell Indian Reservation to get a Tonto Forest day pass. I did not want to chance a ticket.
I timed my arrival so that the sun was up when I rolled in on the Bush Highway. The day was cool and with high clouds, but not overly cold. Outside temperatures were in the high 50s, so said my car's temperature-o-matic.
This time, I parked in the Rolls OHV staging area, a little northeast of the junction of the Bush Highway and Butcher Jones Road. I was the first here at this early hour. I found a spot off to the side, got dressed properly, locked everything up, and started hiking at 7:30 a.m.
I was surprised to see a gate in the fence that lines Bush Highway. I was not aware of this my last time here. The gate is to be kept close to protect the wild horses here. I did not see any of them either. I was happy to see the gate. It saved me the hassle of shimmying under the fence, a difficult task for an elderly man such as myself.
On the opposite side, I found some well-beaten trails, possibly horse paths and likely also used by the various other animals back here, as well as people. The paths went everywhere, so I followed any that aimed for the gully.
I was soon at the base of the gully. Maybe there had been some trails knocked in since I was last here. No such luck. I started uphill, and like last time, generally stayed left of the gully, on the higher "ridge" lining the gully.
Like last time, it was steep and rocky and often very brushy, but also not difficult, just slow and tedious. I got up half way without any stops. When things started to get messy, I angled into the gully, which sometimes helped. Like last time, I ran into a few dead ends and needed to find some work-around.
The rocks are huge and lie piled atop one another. My main concern was not the rocks, but the spaces between them. They are rounded so they form voids and defiles where it would be easy to get a foot, ankle or whole leg caught in one.
This segment wasn't fun but I got through it all, taking about a half hour. I was relieved to be one with this. Now in the basin between the three peaks, I walked in a little more to eyeball the slopes upPeak 2939, the northern summit. I found one I liked and started up.
This worked very well. The slope was steep but safe, the rocks generally stayed in place and I did not need to do any high-stepping or scrambling. In about fifteen minutes, I was on top of Peak 2939.
The summit rock is an interesting fin atop a larger rock, looking like someone placed it there. But it's natural, much too large for a person to lift into place. Another rock about thirty feet to the north looked as high so I tagged them both.
I sat on a nifty flat rock near the fin and had a break. I could not locate a register, but I did find some glass from what may have been the register bottle. I had a signal so I checked my texts and emails. I had a snack, and also enjoyed the fine views. I could see some boat "contrails" on Saguaro Lake below. I spent about fifteen minutes up top.
For the hike down, I followed a random slope and poked my way down back into the inner basin, now setting a course for the far saddle to access Peak 2973.
Elevation: 2,973 feet ✳
• Prominence: 300 feet
• Distance: 1.2 mile
• Gain: 390 feet
PB
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LoJ
I walked up a gentle grade toward the rocky saddle connecting Peak 2973 and the Highpoint peak. Things got a little brushier and grassier here. It wasn't bad but this is the time of year a random snake may be encountered.
When it felt right, I turned and started up the rocky ridge toward the peak. The rocks here were more abundant than over on Peak 2939, but small enough so that I could walk atop them or easily bypass them.
Halfway up this ridge is a small electronics transmitter within some fencing, and above it, a large "billboard" reflector of some sort. I am not quite sure of its function other than it's supposed to reflect a signal.
What impressed me was there were simple "tags" at the very top. Looks like BDC and Retro were here, writing their names in spraypaint at the very top. The stanchions around back are climbable but with exposure. It takes a special type of person to bother to hike up a challenging rocky gully carrying spraypaint then climb a billboard just to write their names. These guys might want to think about peakbagging as a hobby.
The latter half of the climb was up more rocky slope, then there I was, on top. Two very large pillars come first, but the highest point is a little farther along. The highpoint rock itself is a small pillar jutting up about three feet. It rises maybe five feet higher than the big pillars.
Views up here were great, too. I got an unimpeded view of Saguaro Lake, plus more views of the surrounding peaks and desert. I could not locate a register. Down by the bigger pillars, someone had jammed in a cross into a cleft. It appeared to me it is supposed to lean the way it does (or that it was the only way it was going to stay up).
I did not spend long up top, just enough to snap a few images and look around. I returned the same way, walking by the billboard thing again. Then I was back down into the inner basin and heading out, done with today's climbs.
The climb down the rocky gully went well. Like ten years before, I went slowly, testing each rock. I was able to down-scoot rock faces that I would not have climbed up, so this saved time. I may not have followed my exact same route down as going up. I just followed what seemed easiest.
Back on the flats, I walked out that gate then back to my car. By now, a bunch of trucks and toy-haulers had taken up positions in the big lot, but there was no one there except for one guy walking his dog. I was back to my car at 11 a.m., a 3-hour and 30-minute round trip hike.
It felt good to finally tag these two remaining peaks, thus completing the Stewart Trifecta. It's a very pretty mountain and there were no lack of views. I enjoyed the hike, but am glad I don't have to deal with that gully again. If there was a trail up, I am sure it would be a very popular hike.
The highpoint summit is cited as 2,968 feet on the topographical maps, and the peak immediately to the east is marked as 2,961 feet, but the highpoint definitely higher than seven feet than the eastern peak. The difference was more like thirty feet. Online sites list the peak's elevation as 2,988 feet, and older references give elevations about 2,990+ feet.
Stewart Mountain's prominence is often listed between 968 feet and 1008 feet, going by the map's elevation of 2,968 feet (with 40-foot contours). If the 2,988-foot figure is assumed, the prominence range bumps up to 988 feet and 1028 feet. I admit I did not look for the benchmark while up there. The highest rocks jut about five feet above the dirt, so the prominence range could be higher.
I asked Andy Martin about this and it turns out that ten years ago, he and Mark Nicholls explored this issue, referring to older maps and benchmark information, plus some GPS readings, to conclude that with almost certainly that the peak has at least 1,000 feet of prominence. Apparently the 2,968-foot figure on the maps is an error.
In 2025, Lidar analysis returned with a summit elevation of 2,997 feet and a prominence of 1,025 feet. The lower summits also "gained" elevation when compared to their map citations.
The southern summit (Peak 2973) sits right at the 300-foot prominence boundary. Lists of John cites it as 2,973 feet, Peakbagger 2,972 feet with 299 feet of prominence. I could not replicate it on the 3DEP website. The top is a small pillar about three feet tall, which Lidar can possibly miss. I have no way (at the moment) to know for sure.
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