Upper Brush Corral Trail

Most maps of the Santa Catalina Mountains show the Brush Corral Trail #19 plunging down the eastern slopes of the Santa Catalina Mountains, passing a junction with the Evans Mountain Trail and ending at the Brush Corral Trailhead. For several miles – until the junction with the Brush Corral Shortcut Trail – the map matches reality, the trail is rugged but easy to follow. After the junction the trail is overgrown and criss-crossed by fallen trees but it is still navigable until lower on the trail, at a ridge with great views of the terrain below, it fades away – cairns, faint paths and sections of the original track sometimes emerge from the landscape – but fire and time have caused the middle section of the trail to disappear. The journey down to the Brush Corral Trailhead is now just another obscure off-trail route.

This description covers the upper section of the Brush Corral Trail down to the point where the off-trail route begins.

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• 0.0 miles, 7300′: Park at the Upper Green Mountain Trailhead [Waypoint thugm].
• Take the Green Mountain Trail up to a small saddle and then down the other side (careful of the social trails/routes at the saddle).
• 0.2 miles, 7300′: At an unsigned junction near a large/prominent rock formation take a right (a left will take you to San Pedro Vista) [Waypoint gm-ugmc].
• 0.3 miles, 7200′: At the signed (both old and new style signs!) junction with the Brush Corral Trail take a left onto the Upper Brush Corral Trail [Waypoint gm-bc].
• The trail descends steeply.
• 0.75 miles, 6650′: Cross two small streams at [Waypoint bc01] – after the crossing the trail begins to climb.
• 1.0 miles, 6800′: There is a short section of trail on the top of the ridge before the trail begins to descend again near [Waypoint bc02].
• 1.7 miles, 6100′: The trail crosses a stream [Waypoint bc03].
• 2.0 miles, 6200′: Signed junction with the Brush Corral Shortcut Trail at [Waypoint bc-bcs] – a left will keep you on the Brush Corral Trail.
• 2.1 miles, 6200′: Watch for the old phoneline crossing the trail [Waypoint bc04]. This phoneline once ran up from Tucson (you cross the phoneline coming up from Tucson on the Palisade Trail) and down to the Brush Corral Ranger Station.
• 2.2 miles, 6200′: Enter an area burned in the 2017 Burro Fire [Waypoint bc05].
• 2.5 miles, 6200′: On the top of a ridge with great views down the trail deteriorates quickly into an off-trail route – below this point you can occasionally find cairns, trail markers and sections of the original track, but in my opinion below this point there is not a ‘trail’. Experienced and adventurous hikers might continue down off-trail (take care, this area is as remote as you can get in the Santa Catalina Mountains – don’t underestimate the ruggedness of the terrain because there was once a trail here!) – but this is the end of the trail and with great views it is a nice spot for a break before heading back up the mountain.

• [MapGreenTrailsCatalina]
• [MapSahcCatalina]

• Sirena’s Wanderings – One of the few great trip reports available about this trail – for many years this post and Scott Morris’s post (below) were the only good online information on this trail!
• Diary of Scott Morris – A 2004 post on the Brush Corral Trail.
• HikeLemmon – Brush Corral – 4/23/2017 – A full hike of the trail and some historic information related to the trail
• Coronado National Forest and HikeArizona.com – these links describe the trail as if it still exists as a trail, that is – in my opinion – a mistake.

2017 July Upper Brush Corral and Brush Corral Shortcut Loop

2015 July Brush Corral Loop

2014 July Brush Corral Loop

2014 July Brush Corral and 6828

2013 September A bit of Brush Corral

• 2017/8/17 – Add HikeLemmon posts to resources
• 2017/8/8 – Page Created