Early morning hikes are rough especially in the winter the sun comes up later, you don’t want to leave the comfort of your nice warm bed. But once you get out there and see the sun rise and kiss the mountains and turn them pink its totally worth it. Yesterday morning my friends and I adventured out to Willow Springs Canyon, its the canyon right before Canyon Lake. It was a nice easy hike as Willow Springs Canyon has a 4×4 road running threw parts of the canyon and wash ( if you want to drive threw you will have to get a permit it is free but takes 24/48 hours to issue one online).
As we made or gradual decent into the canyon we all got to enjoy the sun rising behind us and the gorgeous colors that it left on the canyon. It was a chilly morning and it seemed to be just a bit cooler cause of the wash. Goose, Chipper and Hope enjoyed a fun zoomies moment and loved running up and down the wash. We found some sun and soaked in the warmth, we sat down on some boulders we found in the wash and enjoyed some breakfast burritos. Then we were off again moving deeper and deeper into the canyon, the canyon walls towered over us. It was a great change of scenery seeing the beautiful colors of all the rocks and their beautiful designs. We saw many small caves along the way which is always fun to see and to explore in.
We could of explored more but real life is always calling us back to civilization. As we moved back out of the canyon we must have missed the trail leading out of the wash we were in, cause we ended up in a beautiful part of the canyon. But it was not the trail or wash we needed to be in. We took the scenic rout back to the trail head not really the way we wanted to go we had to weave threw cactus and shrubs. I guess we made it interesting cause who wants a boring hike.
Trail Name: Willow Springs Trail Head
Directions to trail head: Needle Vista viewpoint is on the south side of the highway once you pass that the trail head is on the left it is not marked but it’s a clear pull off area just before mile marker 204.
Location: Apache Junction, AZ
Parking: Large pull off area off hwy 88 (Apache Tail Rd.) Parking is free but permit is required for 4×4 road
Trail: Unmarked trail, no cairns, no signs, but trail is 4×4 road and wash its very visible.
Duration of Hike: 3/4 (we turned around and did not hike to Bagley Tank)
Miles: 5/6
Type of Hike: One way (in and out)
Elevation Gain: -188 feet