One Loop to See a Double Crested, a Glomerate & a Giant Saguaro Skeleton

How To Get There

Drive toward Scottsdale via the 101, and head north at the Pima-Princess exit, then head east on Dynamite Blvd. This road will turn into Rio Verde Dr, and at 136th St head north. Your goal is the parking lot for the Granite Mountain trail head which has many more trails to explore.

Our particular route: start on the Granite Mountain trail head to the 136th St Express, moved west along Dove Valley, hopped on the Coyote Canyon trail, deviated shortly to Renegade then back to Coyote, trekked the Granite Mountain trail to Bootlegger before winding back to the main trail head. Here is a Map for your reference.

A Debrief

If you want to escape the crowds during the middle of the week, the Granite Mountain trail head area is full of must-do trails that are ideal for cooler Arizona weather. In the summertime, hiking this area will be risky due to limited shade options – still, this is an easy, level trail full of iconic low Sonoran desert flora with plentiful sights. Any intersecting trail in this area is worth it to get out of urban areas quickly, but our particular route had three show-stopping saguaro to admire: 3- a towering skeleton, 2- a marvelous Cristate, and 1- and the even rarer Glomerate. Out-of-towners will love this trail and get a pleasant taste of what State 48 has to offer.

THE STORY OF THE TRAIL

The southerly portion of the McDowell Sonoran Preserve is a far more popular a destination due to proximity, so many are unfamiliar with the treasures and solitude of the northern territory. Granite Mountain (and a few other places like Brown’s Ranch and the Fraesfeld area) are facing Tom’s Thumb from the north and contain dozens of potential routes for the desert wanderer.

All the interconnecting trails are promises of new adventures with each visit. Expect to see lots of tall grasses, bushes, buckhorn cholla, Palo Verde, and Mesquite tees, and some impressive Saguaro cacti (Carnegiea gigantea). Despite the towering Saguaros and mature native trees, prepare for little shade. We were enamored with the prevalent ‘bush’, the Banana Yucca (Yucca baccata), a tall-growing yucca clustered in families throughout the hike. This is an edible native plant with many practical purposes, and one we rarely have seen in such a flourishing way. The leaves are traditionally used by the indigenous Apache and Navajo for weaving items, providing both needle and thread from the pull-away fibers. The sweet potato-meets-banana fruit can be roasted or baked, a deliciously sweet flavor profile, highly nutritious, and commonly viewed as a delicacy. Blossoms arrive in late spring and the fruit harvest is in fall. Here are some facts about the Yucca baccata and how to cook the fruit.

After turning on to Dove Valley, we entered a short corridor of granite boulders stacked atop one another, providing brief relief from the overhead sun. Even in the winter, the Arizona sunbeam is still intense so any moments of shade are welcome. This would be a good lunch stop if the correct angle of shade can be found, perhaps a decent ambush area too, but definitely a major photo opportunity.

The trail winds around and from a distance, we could finally see our objective: another crested saguaro to document on our Crest Quest. And this one is a double! This Double Crested Saguaro is conveniently located at an intersection of a few trails.

We heard from some other hikers that there were in fact two more crested saguaros in this area, so of course we needed to investigate. Taking the Renegade trail for just 10 minutes west, we found another jaw-droppingly unique saguaro. Not a crested, but one with a glomerate formation. Apparently, these are quite rare in the cactus world. Fondly called ‘The Michelin Man’ because of its bulbousy, bumpy figure, it stands solemnly in a now-overgrown clearing that feels like an area of power, gathering, and ceremony.

Now…take a hike!

Ren Fou