Brown Canyon Trail #115

Brown Canyon Trail #115 leads into a scenic little canyon with good views and high desert vegetation. A spur trail, the Pomona Mine Trail, leads to the site of an old tungsten mine, while the Brown Canyon Trail continues into Ramsey Canyon. Brown Canyon is a relatively shallow, open canyon carved among rolling hills covered with grass, oak, and mazanita. Its upper reaches provide excellent views of the sheer cliffs of the Dragoon Mountains’ western face, as well as of the Chiricahuas in the distance to the east and the Whetstones and Galiuros to the north. Some people use this trail as an alternate route into beautiful, bird-filled Ramsey Canyon. Using this route means you don’t have to park at the Nature Conservancy’s Ramsey Canyon Preserve visitor center, where, if you didn’t remember to get the required parking reservation in advance, you’ll be turned away. Brown Canyon Trail can also be combined with the Hamburg Trail #122 in Ramsey Canyon to make a fine day trip loop. No shuttle is required if you walk the 1.5 miles of road between the Brown Canyon Trailhead and the Ramsey Canyon Visitor Center. You will need a permit to cross Nature Conservancy property on the Hamburg Trail, and you’ll have to leave your horse at home. No horses are permitted in the Preserve. The best direction in which to travel this loop is up Ramsey Canyon and back down Brown Canyon. Another feature to visit along this trail is the old Pomona Mine high on Scheelite Ridge. A side trip of 1.4 miles will take you to the remains of that old tungsten mine and more fine vistas.