Haunted Canyon and the Tony Ranch ride

The  haunted Canyon is  something Alan Gillman and I tried  to find  last  year when we were  in Arizona.
He later found  it after with another  rider along  with the  Tony  Ranch.
To find the  Haunted  Canyon, you must  travel East  on Highway 60 from the  town of  Superior until you reach the  top of the  grade above the  town of  Gobe. On the  North  side  of  the Highway, you'll see a  large open pit  mine. The  tailings  can be  seen for miles around. Turn left  on this road and  follow signs  to Haunted  canyon past  the  mine and sediment  ponds.

At the bottom of  the hill there will be a small "Bailey  Bridge" just  before that  bridge  you'll see the  above  trail marker. You want  Trail 3037.

We unloaded the  horse and mules  there  because  parking  is rather  tight  in this area. You ride  down a  gravel road  for approxamatley 1/4 mile  from the  intersection and  you'll come  to a locked  gate.

You ca n walk a  horse around the  edge to get through this  gate.

From here the  "trail" follows the  road  past  several monitoring  wells and  pump stations from the  mine for about  a mile before  the trail leaves  the  road  and continues  uphill and  overland. Be  sure  to close  the  gate  behind  you as this  is  open range  country and  Cattle are at  large.

The  trail up the  road crosses through a flowing  creek several times.

Elisabeth lead  most of the way in on her Welsh  pony.

The trail gets  increasingly  more  difficult   the  further  up into the  Canyon that you travel.

Haunted Canyon is  aptly  named….

Once  you get into the  cayon itself, the trail descends  to the  valley  floor and  the  trail basically folllows  the stream. I didn't  get  many  photos of the  trail in on the  hardest  spots because  I really  had to watch where we were going. I would  rate  that section as a 9.5 as far as being a  "technical trail." It would  be a  great trail to have a Go Pro camera for.

The local Back Country  Horsemen maintain the  trails and  the  camping  area around  the Tony  Ranch and they do a great  job of  it! Although we  were  the  only  stock on the  trail system on this day we did  run into at  least  8 hikers that were  walking  in to do an overnight  camp.

One  good thing  about this  ride  was that the  Cactus was  very  minimal. Even though it was a  hot  day; the temps in the  bottom of  the  valley were in the  60's  with all of the  shade and water.

At times the  trail was hard to follow and  we really  had  to watch for the  cairns.

Alan, Peg and  Elisabeth  taking a  break.Pinky, Alan's  dog enjoyed having that much water available  on this  ride.

Tis  huge  tree was blocking  the trail and  Elisabeth was the  only  one  that  could  get  under it  with her 13 hand  pony.

I can only  imagine  what this  creek looks  like after a  major  rain. The  trail would  then be totally  impassable!

we went through a  grove  of  Black Cottonwood trees  befor coming into a large are with dispersed  campsites.

Alan wanted Elisabeth  to see what it was  like  to ride  a  mule. That didn't  last  to long before  she wanted her Romeo back!

This  is the  Tony  Ranch

It was  pretty  cool the  way that  the original owners  layed the  stone  floor  in the  cabin

Hikers and campers  through the  years left  propane  cylinders  for the  camp stove and  Lanterns that  are  left  for others to use in the  cabin.

                                                                      The  old  bed

                 The  only  disappointment  inside the  cabin. I don't  know  why  people need  to do this…

The  Back Country  Horsemen trail crew  store  some  of  their tools  inside  the  cabin.

Although it doesn't  leak too bad, the roof  has  seen better  days.

                                                              Enjoying our  lunch

                                                               A honeymoon Shot!

                                                  the small pasture behind  the  cabin

LuLu enjoying her  break in the  ride.

The trail out  of  Tony  Ranch seems  quiet  enough to start out but within minutes , you're  climbing steep switchbacks and  on the  rocky edgy ledgy trails  that  keep most  people  from riding  into there.

The  haunted  Canyon and Tony ranch are  located at  the  base of  the  third ridgeline back.

It  is a very steep climb out of Haunted  Canyon regardless of  which route you choose  to go.

Peg  led most  of the  way  out  of  the Haunted  Canyon and through  what  seemed to be the  worst  part  of the trail. I was  extremley proud of  the  good  job her and her  partner  Rita  did.

Although  not  for everbody, The  haunted  Canyon/ Tony Ranch ride  tested  both rider and  mount. Thank you Alan for the  opputunity  to experience this  beautiful, challenging ride  with  great  company!