Guidebook
Segment 19: Whitewater Mesa 4.8
miles
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access point |
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Ending
access point |
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US
180 at Alma. Short-term
parking may be available in the village of Alma, located
4.6 miles north of Glenwood along US 180. Ask at the Alma
Trading Company, a convenience store/gas station, the community's
only storefront. (The GET crosses US 180 less than 0.1 mile
south of the store.) Otherwise, consider parking at the
Trail 307 Trailhead (the Beginning Access Point for Segment
18) and hiking segments 18 and 19 together.
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NM
159 at Gold Dust trailhead. From
Glenwood, travel north on US 180 ~3.5 mi., then right onto
signed, paved NM 159 / Bursum Rd. In 1.5 mi. the GET route
in this segment joins this road (from County Route 046 on
the left), and continues with us on NM 159 for 2.4 additional
miles. Just as the road bends left, climbing, turn right
into a large dirt lot, possibly signed "Trail 41"
at roadside (waypoint 19050). You can park here or continue
across the lot, then a short ways via 2-track to the trailhead
signboard by a gate.
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SEGMENT
OVERVIEW
Along with
Segment 18, this short segment offers a convenient link between
the backcountry of Arizona's Blue Range and the Gila Wilderness
in New Mexico. US 180 serves as a natural dividing line between
these segments. The 2-lane highway offers access to the village
of Alma, directly
along our route, and also larger Glenwood
a few miles to the south.
As in Segment
18, the route here follows lightly-used roads. The first half
of the segment is on graded dirt, with seasonal Mineral Creek
close by. Along the way, a 3 mile detour leads to the historical
oddity known as Cooney's Tomb. a grave site hollowed out of a
large boulder. Pioneer prospector James Cooney discovered silver
and copper along Mineral Creek and later bragged publicly that
he "had not seen a hostile Indian in this camp for three
years," only to be scalped by Apaches two months later. His
friends built the grave, using ore from Cooney's own mine to seal
the entrance.
Beyond Mineral
Creek, we join paved US 180 on our way up to Whitewater Mesa and
segment's end at the trailhead for Gold Dust Trail #41, gateway
to Gila country. A mile high and billiard-table flat, the wide
open expanse of Whitewater Mesa offers a surreal vantage at the
foot of the Mogollon Mountains, whose forested summits stand yet
nearly twice as high above sea level. Accessible from the end
of the segment is the famed ghost town of Mogollon, a 5 mile hitchhike
detour. Home to as many as 6,000 souls in the late 19th century,
Mogollon today preserves a rich mining history in its many period
buildings on display, now tended by a small arts-oriented community
who've come to call this place home.
For hikers
planning to resupply in Glenwood, several options exist to get
to (or for westbounders, from) the start of Segment 20.
From Glenwood, you can walk or hitchhike north on US 180 to Alma
and from there hike all of Segment 19, as described in the Route
Details below. Or you can go part of the way to Alma and then
join NM 159, reaching the GET at milepoint 2.3 of the segment,
which all told would be about 2 miles shorter. But if you'll be
on foot the entire way, a better option out of Glenwood may be
to head east on NM 174. You can then turn onto signed Rowe Grade
Rd (C006), and take this quiet dirt road to NM 159 at milepoint
3.7 of the main GET (4.7 miles from Glenwood). The shortest and
perhaps most inviting approach of all, though, would be to stay
on NM 174 all the way to the Catwalk trailhead, 4.8 miles from
Glenwood. Using this last approach would miss all of the main
GET route in Segment 19, including scenic Whitewater Mesa. However
it avoids the need to double back in order to visit the must-see
Catwalk Trail, since you get to hike it directly en route to the
main GET in Segment 20 beyond.
ROUTE
DETAILS
From the junction
of US 180 and Mineral Creek Road in Alma,
(waypoint 18110, elev. 4900') proceed east on Mineral Creek Rd
(C 007 / FR 701). (At the junction, this road is also signed for
Cooney Tomb and Mineral Creek Tr 201.) The quiet, 2WD dirt road
passes a few homes among farmland. Keep right at a turn-off to
Alma Cemetery in 0.5 of a mile (waypoint 19010). Now the
road comes close to Mineral Creek, passing Oaks RV Park on the
left at about 1.2, with camping, water and hook-ups for
RV's only.
At 1.6
(waypoint 19020), turn right onto signed, 2WD dirt C 046 (FR 714),
which immediately fords Mineral Creek,
typically ankle-deep in wetter springs, but dry by autumn. (Or
to visit Cooney's Tomb, continue on Mineral Creek Rd for 3.3 miles.)
Ignore a road that turns left just beyond the ford and proceed
southwest, climbing. Where C 046 levels out again, the surrounding
juniper-grassland would accommodate a camp. At road's end (2.3,
waypoint 19030) turn left (east) onto paved, 2-lane NM 159 (aka
Bursum Road). Use caution as the winding road climbs with narrow
shoulder, reaching the height of land atop grassy Whitewater Mesa
by a cattle guard. Thankfully traffic tends to be light.
The now-safer
road heads due east through a parcel of private land, passing
a junction with signed C 006 (FR 586) at 3.7 (waypoint
19040) (also called Rowe Grade Rd, and leading to Glenwood or
the Catwalk via NM 174). The steep eastern wall of Whitewater
Mesa is concealed from view, giving the impression that NM 159
heads straight for Whitewater Canyon. But at length our road arcs
northeast away from it, here at a large dirt lot on the right,
signed "Trail 41" (4.7, waypoint 19050). Head
across the lot to find a dirt 2-track that continues a short ways
to a green metal gate in a wire fence, the trailhead for Gold
Dust Trail #41 (4.8, waypoint 19060, elev. 5582').
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