Hike of the Month

HIKE OF THE MONTH The Sierra Estrellas' Gadsden Trail Gets You into Big Country

The jagged peaks of the Sierra Estrellas rise like a rusty saw blade against the sky, tauntingly close to the Gadsden Trail. But I know from the map the trail will follow a line of least resistance, avoiding the wild rocks. At places along the sevenmile-long trail, I can see the tree line marking the Gila River. Before 1854, when the United States acquired a huge chunk of Mexico through the Gadsden Purchase, the Gila marked the Mexican border. The trail name commemorates the bargain.

But I haven't come for a history lesson or even a wilderness challenge not today, anyway. Just looking, really. And along this trail, that's best done with binoculars because there's a lot of big country to take in, more than you would want to walk through on just a day hike.

Urban dwellers use the trail in Estrella Mountain Regional Park, about 20 miles southwest of Phoenix, for walking and jogging or trail-riding on bicycles and horses. In places the trail is worn to a deep groove from all the traffic. But you can make the Gadsden Trail a sightseeing opportunity. Look to the mountains for your reward.

On this particular weekday, I encounter no one else, and the easy nature of the trail suits me just fine. An autumn sun has infected me with indolence, and I would be content to snooze in the thin shade of a paloverde tree. A desert wind speeds by, rearranging hair and clothing and dusting off the land after a long, hot summer. The only water handy is in my canteens.

The Estrella mountains, all perpendicular granite rising up to 4,337 feet at Montezuma Peak, provide a spectacular backdrop for my fall-fever daydreaming. There's nothingstopping me, except lack of ambition, from striking southwestward away from the trail and Indian reserves farther east, across Bureau of Land Management public lands, to the Sierra Estrella Wilderness Area just a few miles away. But I yield to overwhelming

WHEN YOU GO

To reach the Gadsden Trail from Interstate 10, about 20 miles southwest of Phoenix, take the Estrella Parkway turnoff, Exit 126. A freeway sign points the way to Estrella Mountain Regional Park, seven miles ahead. After you cross the Gila River bridge, turn left and follow the park perimeter road about a half mile, then take the road to the stables. The trailhead is located at the parking lot with a self-pay $2 fee station by the covered picnic ramada. Always carry water, at least a gallon per person in hot weather.

For more information about the trail, contact Estrella Mountain Regional Park, 15099 W. Casey Abbott Road, North Goodyear, AZ 85338; (602) 932-3811.

Laziness and continue down the trail. A few "little gray birds" and straggler mourning doves that have not yet migrated from the Gila River bottom are the only wildlife I see. The scarcity of critters only confirms how unrelentingly inhospitable the Estrellas are.

The trail first takes me across creosote bush flats all white light and hard on the eyes even in fall, through some small passes, then across rolling hills of hardpan before returning to the starting point at a rental stable parking lot in the park.

Before the land received park protection, a long stretch of the Gadsden Trail was a jeep road. Although the trail is rated for year-round use, I couldn't recommend it in summer. With little shade available, the Sonoran Desert through which the trail passes would be frying-pan hot. Late September through the desert flower blooms of February and March is the best time to hike the Gadsden, or to venture beyond into the Sierra Estrella Wilderness, itself.