Ha, yes, another post, but this time, a really short one. My SAT (self-appointed trainer, a.k.a., my husband) and I decided (needed?) to escape the Phoenix heat by driving to Horton Creek and doing a little hike. Horton Creek is about 20 minutes north of Payson and is high enough in elevation to bring welcome relief to those who suffer in Phoenix during the summer. It’s easy to get to the trailhead; type in “Horton Creek trailhead” into your GPS and drive about 2 hours. The trailhead is well-signed and has an outhouse. (Click here for an interesting article on the hike and the history behind it.)

The trail itself follows the creek and ends at Horton Springs, which is really lovely to see in the middle of summer. For those who are adventurous and do not mind bushwhacking and extreme elevation gain, you can hike another mile past the springs all the way up to the Mogollon Rim. Although we chose not to do that today, our hike was still about 8 miles with almost 1,500 feet of gain. That may sound impressive, but the trail is pretty gentle and hardly felt like we were hiking uphill! We had lots of shade because we were hiking in a forest and the cooling effect of the creek and springs was very enjoyable. (FYI, if we had hiked all the way up to the Rim, we would have hiked about 9 miles and climbed about 2,450 feet!)

We’ll be back to enjoy the springs again….and maybe climb all the way up to the Rim!