Four Peaks Wilderness

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The Pigeon Trail in the Four Peaks Wilderness sits thousands of feet above the beautiful blue water of Roosevelt Lake, giving hikers great views. A dozen different types of flowers, surrounding mountains and the rugged remoteness make this wilderness area a gem.

The great variety of trees color the Pigeon Trail and Four Peaks Trail in lush green. Periodic boulders add to the enticement.

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The trailhead tells hikers that the Pigeon Trail is also part of the 780-mile Arizona Trail, and known to be one of its tougher sections, in part because few hikers come through here, so the overgrown foliage can require some bushwhacking.

Another sign at the trailhead  tells hikers that a burn area is ahead. In 1996 two campers left a campfire unattended and it burned 61,000 acres. It was Arizona’s largest fire till 2002. Unfortunately, several forest fires have surpassed it since, reminding us to be careful to avoid starting fires by making sure campfires are out, and that we need to continuously be adamant about preventing forest fires and watching for them.

Just five minutes down the trail is Pigeon Springs. It’s sometimes dry, but due to recent rains there is a foot of water in it. Sometimes it can flood, but it currently doesn’t look like much.

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A little further down the trail the Four Peaks Wilderness sign appears, with four branches coming out of the top. One of my fellow hikers wonders whether this is on purpose.

More than two miles in, another spring appears. Veteran hike leader Michael

Humphrey warns everyone that they must use filters before drinking the water.

There are 40 miles of trails on at least 15 routes in the Four Peaks Wilderness. Our group of ten Arizona Trailblazers, a statewide hiking group, takes the Pigeon Trail down before taking the Four Peaks Trail back up. We started at about 5,800 feet and descended to about 5,200 before working our way back up the trail, which had enough scree to keep our attention on our footing.

These two trails had plenty ups and downs, giving us a total elevation change of about 1,800 feet. Most of us meandered about 7.5 miles, but with so many trails hikers can do as much or as little as they want.

Two of the other popular trails are Browns Trail and Amethyst Trail. Browns Trail  leads to the top of Browns Peak, the highest point in Four Peaks Wilderness at 7,659 feet. Amethyst Trail leads to an old amethyst mine. Some call this peak Amethyst Peak, but three of the four peaks do not have official names.

Brown’s Peak is the highest point in Maricopa County and a known landmark to those living in the East Valley.

Four Peaks Wilderness was established in 1984 and covers 60,740 acres. From the four peaks you can see about a quarter of the state, including Humphrey’s Peak. The elevation ranges from 1,900 feet near Apache Lake to the top of Brown’s Peak.

The highlands of Four Peaks Wilderness contain Ponderosa pine, Douglas fir and a few aspen stands. The central section offers pinon, manzanita and gamble oak, while the lower section has ocotillo, cholla, saguaro and palo verde. The lower parts can be over 100 degrees in summer, while the higher parts get snow.

This wilderness are hosts one of the densest poplations of black bears in the state. Other wildlife here include ringtailed cats, skunks, coyotes, javelinas, mountain lions, rattlesnakes and scorpions.

Four Peaks Wilderness is one of 90 wilderness areas in Arizona. To learn more about these wilderness areas watch my Preserving Arizona Wilderness series on YouTube. Check this column online for a link to our video about Mexican Gray Wolves in the Kendrick Mountain Wilderness.