Trails
Agua Caliente Trail #140 and Very Steep/Vault Mine Trail #77
These two trails provide access to the upper slopes of
Mt. Hopkins, the second most prominent peak in the Santa Ritas. The
Agua
Caliente Trail winds along Hopkins’ north slopes through a cool
forest of conifers, oaks and aspens, providing good views of the Multiple
Mirror Telescope on the mountain’s summit as well as the upper
reaches of Madera Canyon and Mt. Wrightson’s rocky prominence
across the canyon. Off in the distance, the Santa Cruz
Valley and the Santa Catalina and Rincon Mountains stretch toward
the horizon.
There are three main ways to approach this scenic area,
the most direct and most demanding of which is via the Very Steep/Vault
Mine
Trail out of Roundup Picnic Area at the end of Madera
Canyon Road. This trail earned its descriptive name from the fact
that it climbs 1,400
feet in a distance of a little over one half mile. This
heart thumping climb leads from upper Madera Canyon to the vicinity
of Agua Caliente
Saddle, where that trail branches off toward Josephine
Saddle and a number of other trails that crisscross the upper slopes
of the Santa Ritas.
Agua Caliente’s trailhead is located in a canyon of the same name
on Mt. Hopkins’ western flank. From that point, accessible via
the Mt. Hopkins Road, the trail proceeds up a remote desert canyon toward
the mountain’s forested upper slopes. If you arrange a shuttle
in advance, a trip that stretches between this trailhead and the VS/VM
trailhead in Madera Canyon makes a good long day. A loop that doesn't
require a shuttle takes you up the VS/VM trail to Agua
Caliente Saddle, then northeast to Josephine Saddle and back to the
Roundup parking area
via the lower end of either Old Baldy or Super Trail.
Attractions:
Access to Mt. Hopkins
Great views
Stream side to desert diversity
Physically challenging
Season: Spring, summer, fall
Length: 5.2 miles (#140), 1.8 miles (#77)
Elevation: 4,960'-7,320'
Rating: More difficult (#140), Most difficult (#77)
Use: Light
USGS Map(s): Mt. Wrightson, Mt. Hopkins
Access: Very Steep/Vault Mine: Leave Interstate 19
at the Continental Exit/Madera Canyon Road. Turn
east and follow the
Madera Canyon road (FR 62) about 13.5 miles
to the Roundup Picnic Area entrance then turn left into the trailhead
parking lot.
Agua Caliente: Leave Interstate 19 at the Canoa
Road Exit. Take the east frontage road
3 miles south to Elephant Head Road and turn east 1.6 miles
to the Mt. Hopkins
Road. Drive 4.5 miles to FR 183. Turn north on this dirt road
about 2.4 miles to the trailhead at the canyon.
Notes:
1.5 miles of the Very Steep/Vault Mine
Trail and 4.7 miles of the Agua Caliente
Trail are within the Mt. Wrightson Wilderness.
Motorized and mechanized vehicles and
equipment, including mountain bikes, are not permitted
in Wilderness. See the Wilderness
section
of this guide
for more
wilderness rules and ethics.
Before visiting this trail, call the Nogales Ranger District
for current trail conditions which can vary with season,
weather and maintenance
status.
|
