Agua Caliente #140

Provides access to the upper slopes of Mt. Hopkins, the second most prominent peak in the Santa Ritas. The Agua Caliente Trail winds 5.2 miles along the north slopes through a cool forest of conifers, oaks, and aspens, providing good views of the Multiple Mirror Telescope on the mountain’s summit as well as the upper reaches of Madera Canyon and Mt. Wrightson’s rocky prominence across the canyon. Off in the distance, the Santa Cruz Valley and the Santa Catalina and Rincon Mountains stretch toward the horizon. There are three main ways to approach this scenic area, the most direct and most demanding of which is via the Very Steep/Vault Mine Trail out of Mt Wrightson Picnic Area at the end of Madera Canyon Road. This trail earned its descriptive name from the fact that it climbs 1,400 feet in a distance of a little over one half mile. This heart thumping climb leads from upper Madera Canyon to the vicinity of Agua Caliente Saddle, where that trail branches off toward Josephine Saddle and a number of other trails that crisscross the upper slopes of the Santa Ritas. Agua Caliente’s trailhead is located in a canyon of the same name on Mt. Hopkins’ western flank. From that point, accessible via the Mt. Hopkins Road, the trail proceeds up a remote desert canyon toward the mountain’s forested upper slopes. If you arrange a shuttle in advance, a trip that stretches between this trailhead and the VS/VM trailhead in Madera Canyon makes a good long day. A loop that doesn’t require a shuttle takes you up the VS/VM trail to Agua Caliente Saddle, then northeast to Josephine Saddle and back to the Roundup parking area via the lower end of either Old Baldy or Super Trail.