Photos of the road to the Haunted Canyon trailheads
in the Superstition Mountain Wilderness

The drive to the Haunted Canyon Trailheads in the Superstition Wilderness is a study in contrasts. In order to reach the backcountry, you first drive through the active Pinto Valley copper mine. Copper was first discovered in the area in 1881 with the first major production in 1943. Current operations are an open pit copper sulfide mine and acid leach pits. For more photos of the mine, see my "BHP Pinto Valley Mine" photos under the Superstition Landmarks heading.

FR-287 heads north from US-60 12.4 miles east of SR-177 in Superior. It takes about 20 minutes to get from US-60 the eastern Haunted Canyon Trailhead and another 20 minutes to drive to the western Haunted Canyon Trailhead on FR-287A. Moderate clearance passenger vehicles can access the eastern trailhead. (Don't forget that a passenger car loaded with six adults will have greatly reduced ground clearance.) Accessing the western trailhead may be possible in a passenger car, but the drive will be less stressful with a truck or truck-based SUV at least on your first visit. There are some washouts and unbridged crossings. You won't want to drive FR-287a if there's snow or ice since the first part is a one lane shelf road --see ph0to 33.