Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Both are trails for slow hiking, reading the interpretive signs, and perhaps introducing
small children to the wonders of the Arizona-Sonora desert. There are a few steepish
sections, but they don't last long. The mountain views are a bonus!
Route Details
From the north end of the parking area, to your left as you face the road, walk about
100 yards to a small traffic circle that is the end of the road and has three trailheads.
Ignoring the main Romero Canyon Trailhead, go to the northernmost part of the traffic
circle and a Nature Trail sign. Within 100 yards, another sign shows six possible
trails—again, follow the Nature Trail sign.
Now you'll climb steeply but briefly up a wide trail of mixed rocks and sand
to the first of numerous interpretive signs on this hike. Looking right (south and
southeast), you'll enjoy views of Sutherland Wash below and the mountains of Pusch
Ridge on the close horizon above. The sheer-sided, flat-topped, blocky peak to the
south is the unimaginatively named Table Mountain. Roughly east, you'll see Romero
Canyon .
After another 5 minutes of easy climbing, you'll reach a fork for the Nature Trail
Loop. It doesn't much matter which way you walk it; I describe it going left (west).
There are frequent informative signs—I like the cement slabs with animal footprints,
which remind me of movie stars' handprints on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Javeli-
nas, coyotes, and roadrunners are certainly the stars of the southwestern deserts.
Benches are intermittently placed for hikers to rest and to enjoy the view. One of
the benches is dedicated to Gale W. Monson (1912-2012) and his wife, Sarah. Con-
sidered a father of Arizonan field ornithology, Monson was one of the authors of the
first annotated checklist of Arizona birds. This is as good a place as any to identify
your first cactus wren.
Continue around this 1-mile loop and return to the Nature Trail Loop sign; then
descend to the sign showing six trails, mentioned earlier. Here, turn left (east) toward
the Birding Trail. You'll soon have a couple of choices, either skirting around the side
of the road to the southeast or taking a trail to the southeast, but either way you'll
quickly get to the Romero Canyon Trail and turn south, crossing Sutherland Wash.
This is normally dry or has an easily negotiated shallow flow of water. Rarely, a minor
wade may be necessary.
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