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Warning: The Black Rock Trail changed completely in just 3 months
I hiked the Black Rock Trail in Saguaro National Park back in March and it was a nice easy route with good shade. Went again last week and it's a total mess now with eroded sections and fallen trees blocking parts of the path. Rangers told me the monsoon storms in July caused flash floods that washed out about 2 miles of trail. Has anyone else seen big changes on desert routes after heavy rain?
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william_harris1mo ago
The March 2023 storm that hit the Catalina Mountains dropped over 6 inches of rain in just a few hours near the trailhead. I was out there a week after that and the washouts were crazy, like the trail just got ripped apart in spots. The rangers told me they're still figuring out if they can rebuild it or if they'll just reroute the whole thing. I've seen the same thing happen to the Douglas Spring Trail in Rincon Valley after heavy summer rains, it took them almost a year to fix it back up. Seems like these desert trails are way more fragile than people realize once the water really starts moving.
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mary_west1mo ago
Did you get caught in any of that rain yourself, or did you just see the aftermath? I swear, every time I go hiking after a storm I end up looking like a drowned rat for the first hour... Must be karma for all those times I laughed at people slipping in the mud. That March storm was something else though, the wash near the Bear Canyon trailhead looked like a whole different planet after it cut through.
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