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| Photos, maps, and GPS tracks of a 3.8 mile loop hike in and near the Superstition Wilderness from the First Water horse lot, to Hackberry Spring, to First Water Ranch, and then back to the horse lot. Part of the hike is inside the Superstition Wilderness but it's all on <b>unofficial and unsigned trails</b>. Photo 6 has a link to my GPX tracks for the area--the file has more trails than are shown in photo 1. The downloadable GPS track file has all the routes that I've found so far in the area but there are probably more.
The hike is relatively easy overall but it involves some creekbed hiking and a short section just south of the spring where'll you have to climb over boulders. (I don't have photos of those boulders.) During and after rain, the hike may require wading in sections 2, 3, 4 (see photo #1). The hike is 3.8 miles and takes 2.5 to 3 hours. Hackberry Spring usually has water during hiking season (it might dry up in the heat of summer) but it will need to be treated. The source of the water is probably water draining through cracks down from the mesa above the spring. There's no way of knowing how much filtering it gets on the way down. The structures present at First Water Ranch (as of Jan 09) include, a large water storage tank, a windmill tower (the blades and motor are gone), a ramada, corrals, and a cattle loading chute. The First Water Horse lot is outside the Superstition Wilderness and the boundary line passes just west and south of Hackberry Spring. The spring is inside the wilderness as is the trail north and east from there. First Water Ranch is at the boundary line--it must be just outside, since the Forest Service hasn't destroyed the structures. |
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