Dead Horse Canyon Trail

Can't beat a dead horse canyon trail. Didn't see any horses, dead or otherwise. But horse riders obviously use these easily accessible trails here in Catalina State Park based on the amount of horse shit I came across. These trails are also rated "easy" or "moderate" because they tend to be short and not particularly inclined. The Dead Horse Canyon Trail is just such a trail even though it is not a trail the park service maintains. AllTrails rates it as moderate, but I consider it easy because it is so short. 

Dead Horse Canyon Trail starts out sharing the Alamo Canyon Loop Trail for a bit, and about a mile up, where the Dead Horse Canyon turns diverges, I did not and instead took a little inadvertent Alamo Canyon detour to the tune of about a mile. This suited me just fine as I needed a little longer hike than the short 4.6 miles I signed up for. I only had a couple hours to kill before returning home for lunch, and this trail—extra mile and all— really fit the bill.

Beautiful weather once again. Mostly sunny, temps around 65º at 11:00 at the trailhead, rising to 75º by hike's end two hours later. A few other hikers, mostly on the park-maintained and recently reconfigured Alamo Canyon Trail, which until recently was a shorter out-and-back but is reincarnated as a slightly longer (3.2 mi.) loop trail. 

A lot of sand the first ¾ mile as the trail first crosses then sidles next to the Cañada del Oro Wash, which runs dry and hence sandy this time of year.

The extent of the water on the trail, this near the

terminus.