Thu 31 Mar 2011
Ballentine Trail, Four Peaks Wilderness
Posted by Shawn under Family, Hiking
No Comments
In January, we were in the Phoenix area for several days and decided to hike the Ballentine Trail in the Four Peaks Wilderness. This trail is northeast of Phoenix, Arizona.
The trailhead is just past milepost 210 on Arizona 87, about 21 miles north of the intersection of Shea Boulevard and Fountain Hills. It is marked, but you will need to be watching for the small signs.
The start of the trail can be done in a loop, as you will see on the GPS track at the bottom of the photos below.
Water can obviously be scarce, since you are hiking in a Sonoran Desert – notice the Saguaro Cacti along the trail. We went back into the wilderness about 5 miles to an old corral. There was a flowing stream there, but I would not count on it much of the year.
We only saw a few people on the trail near the start, and nobody further back into the wilderness. Our total round trip distance was 10.2 miles in about 6 hours.
It was a great hike, and I will let some of our photos describe it for you. Click on any picture to see a larger version.
Happy Trails,
Shawn
