Written: September 14, 2023

Trip report, Tunnel Spring - Big Casa Blanca Canyon, September 18, 2023

View down Big Casa Blanca canyon from 6900 saddle, Huachucas in distance

It was a sunny day in mid September with temperatures pushing up to 88 or so, but mostly in the low 80's. I find this entirely pleasant.

I picked up Dave in Vail and we drove to the Tunnel Springs trailhead on FSR-785. For about the first 5 miles we were on the route of the Arizona Trail. We hiked south up the hill, through the gate then down to where we admired the south end of the tunnel. The tunnel (which yields a spring at both the north and south ends) is half open at this end and is filled with water. Entering the tunnel would involve dealing with foot deep water and a low ceiling and would be no fun whatsoever. We were not even tempted.

From here the trail winds its way south along the east side of Ditch Mountain. The trail is virtually level as it follows the "ditch" all the way to Bear Spring in Big Casa Blanca Canyon. We did not actually see Bear Spring. There is a conspicuous steel sign that announces it, and presumable it is below the trail to the north where we did not take the time to investigate.

Somewhat further along, the trail gets to an interesting spot where a huge boulder seems to block the way, but you get surprised by easily being able to walk below it. Beyond here a detour is marked for horses. They would not be able to pass under the border. Beyond here are some nice spots for lunch with trees and grass. There were pools of nice looking water in Big Casa Blanca Canyon, but no detectable flow at the time of this visit.

From here the trail gets busy climbing from 5500 up to a saddle at 6600 feet. At the saddle you meet the trail coming up out of Walker Basin to the south. We turned right and hiked around the head of Big Casa Blanca Canyon to another saddle 2.3 miles to the north where we met the Gardner Canyon trail. The junction is not in the first saddle, but just a bit further, up on the next saddle to the west. Simply following the trail sorts this out.

We had nice views here with late afternoon light, then hiked down the Gardner Canyon trail 2.2 miles to the gate and what is now the official Gardner Canyon trailhead. We had another mile or so to hike to our car which was parked down the road at the Tunnel Springs trailhead.

A nice day with a chance to see a lot of interesting and seldom visited country. We lost count of how many times we stepped over bear scat in the trail, and on several occasions Dave pointed out places where a mountain lion had scraped a small depression in order to use the restroom. We saw a number of birds, but no animals with fur.

The route

Start at the Tunnel Spring trailhead (5600 feet)
3 miles - from Tunnel Spring trailhead to Bear Spring (5600 feet)
2 miles - from Bear spring to Saddle east of Josephine Peak (6500 feet)
2.3 miles - from Saddle to next Saddle and Gardner Canyon trail (6900 feet)
2.2 miles - on Gardner Canyon trail to Gardner trailhead (6000 feet)
1 mile - on road to car at Tunnel spring trailhead

Our route - 10.5 miles total

Plants

Milla biflora (Asparagaceae) "Mexican star"

Lobelia cardinalis (Campanulaceae) "Cardinal Flower"

We saw plenty of other flowers along the way. There were quite a few yellow Asteraceae in bloom given that it is late summer, early fall. These two though caught my eye as things I don't usually see.