My name is Wayne Tomasi and I have lived in Elgin for approximately 20 years. I am a retired college and university engineering professor. Between 2008 and 2013, I completed over 200 hikes (all but seven were solo hikes) in and around the Santa Rita Mountains, accumulating over 2,000 hiking miles. In 2013, I self-published a book entitled “Exploring the Santa Rita Mountains.” I am 78 years old but still do short hikes in the area, mostly alone or with my rescue dog Chataigne (French for chestnut).
In this new column for the PRT, I will be writing about hiking opportunities in the Santa Ritas. Each column will include descriptions of trails and routes I have hiked, with information on where the trails are located, how to reach them and their difficulty. I will also describe the salient features of the hikes and their historical significance.
This month we’re looking at Ditch Mountain Trail #137. Ditch Mountain was originally called the Chinaman Trail, which by modern standards is politically incorrect. Consequently, the Coronado National Forest Service recently renamed it. The new name was chosen because the trail follows a man-made water ditch that circumvents Ditch Mountain, which ironically was named after the ditch. The trail was part of Passage 4 of the Arizona Trail System until it was rerouted a couple of years ago. Hikers sometimes refer to the route as the Tunnel Spring Trail because it passes a well-known landmark called Tunnel Spring.
With only 80 feet in end-to-end elevation change, the trail is virtually flat. The route is an easy hike, venturing into a remote basin where visitors can enjoy a leisurely walk and still be rewarded with exceptional views. If you are looking for a casual and relaxing day hike in the Santa Rita Mountains, this trail is a good choice. The trail is a three-mile one-way hike where approximately 1.6 miles are within the Mount Wrightson Wilderness Area.
The trailhead is located on FR-785, about three miles from FR-92 (Gardner Canyon Road). FR-785 branches off FR-92 1.8 miles past the first entrance to the Apache Springs Ranch. Driving to the trailhead is possible by passenger car but much easier and probably a lot safer and dependable in a high clearance, four-wheel drive vehicle. FR-785 crosses Gardner Canyon Creek five times between FR-92 and the trailhead; during monsoon season, creek crossings may be difficult or impossible.
The trail follows a three-foot deep, man-made ditch around the head of Big Casa Blanca Canyon along the base of Ditch Mountain and ends at Bear Spring in the upper basin of the northwest arm of Big Casa Blanca Canyon.
Constructed in 1902, the ditch supplied water from Bear Springs to the gold mines near Kentucky Camp eight and a half miles away. However, the mines are inactive today and the ditch is dry. Allegedly, Chinese laborers constructed the ditch, which explains the original name. The Ditch Mountain Trail begins near the south end of a 975-foot-long tunnel laborers dug by hand through the ridge separating Gardner Canyon and Big Casa Blanca Canyon.
There is a spring in the middle of the tunnel, hence the name Tunnel Spring. Water flowed from the ditch through the tunnel into Gardner Canyon where a combination pipeline/ditch system transported it to mines in the Greaterville Mining District. The ditch and much of the waterworks remain in surprisingly good condition even though neither has been used in over 100 years.
The beginning of the trail follows a well-groomed path past a wilderness boundary marker and then switches back and forth approximately 100 vertical feet up a steep slope. The trail levels off on top of a broad, grassy ridge. If you are out of breath when you reach the top, cheer up because this is the only section of the trail with any perceptible elevation change. From the ridge, the trail begins a steep descent down the south-facing slope into Big Casa Blanca Canyon. At the bottom of the hill, look for the entrance to a tunnel, which is only a few yards beyond an informational sign. The opening may be difficult to see without walking up the drainage. The tunnel was originally six feet high, four feet wide, and 975 feet long. The entrance is partially sealed with a concrete wall; therefore, it is smaller than the actual tunnel. The floor is covered with a foot of water and in my opinion only a fool would enter it. A volunteer ranger at Patagonia Lake State Park once told me you could walk end-to-end through the tunnel, but I have never tried it because the north end is sealed.
The trail continues either alongside or directly in the ditch with an imperceptible uphill grade while skirting around the base of Ditch Mountain en route to Bear Spring, which is usually dry. The entire upper basin of Big Casa Blanca Canyon is serene and decorated with lichen-covered rock formations. Bear Spring is a fine place to lunch and decide what to do next. You can turn around and head back the way you came or continue on an unnamed trail, which climbs almost one and a half miles to a junction with the Walker Basin Trail on a ridge high above the north end of Walker Basin.