Boulder Canyon Trail 103

Superstition Wilderness

HOW TO GET THERE:

This hike is about an hour from Scottsdale. From Scottsdale you take the 101 to the 202. You get off at exit 26 onto Brown Rd. You keep left on Brown Rd East and at the roundabout you take the first exit. You then take a left turn onto E Apache Trail and the trail with be on your right. You can park at the Marina to the left. To get to the Marina you will cross over two bridges. After the second bridge and once you are near the trail there will be another parking lot that you can park in if the Marina is full. When we went the Marina wasn’t full. We got there at about 9 AM on a Saturday. The Marina does not cost any money to park at, but if you park at the other lots you will need a pass and can get it at nearby gas stations or you can use your America is Beautiful Pass. We put our pass on our dashboard just in case, but we were fine!

THE HIKE:

The hike starts as a steady incline for about a mile. At this point you start to decline but only to then incline again. You do this for about a mile. Once you get about 2.2 miles in you will reach the view point. This viewpoint is beautiful. You can see Weaver’s Needle and Battleship Mountain. You can just hike to this viewpoint if you don’t want to hike down into the canyon. We had already planned to hike Boulder Canyon 103, but you can always test your limits and see how you feel once you get to the viewpoint.

From the viewpoint you start to descend into the canyon. Going down is always easier than going up for me. So this part wasn’t bad if you have decent knees! You start to descend once you are 2.2 miles in and at about 2.8 miles you are near the bottom. At about 3.1 miles you start to incline for a short period and then you decline once more. Once you decline for your last time you will come across a wash. There wasn’t any water in it. It hasn’t rained in forever! We passed by Second Water which is another trail. We are not sure why AllTrails takes you this way. You go in and out of a wash that has some big rocks in it. We recommend staying on the trail instead of walking directly down the wash. You are walking next to Battleship Mountain at this point, but the trail has you randomly end. If you did continue down this trail you could hike to the start of Battleship Mountain. We have heard this is a tough scramble hike and is pretty risky! We are not sure though because we haven’t done it yet, but you know it is on our list to do. We didn’t hike all the way to Battleship, because we weren’t prepared. That would have added on more time and miles. We wanted to make sure we had enough water and food. We recommend stopping at Second Water. It gives you a cool view of Battleship Mountain from a different angel. We don’t like where AllTrails has you end. It just seems really random, but if you want to be adventurous then you can continue on the trail to Battleship Mountain. There weren’t a ton of people on this trail, but once we reached the bottom of the canyon we saw some people camping. You could walk around forever in the Superstitions. There are so many trails! We really enjoyed this hike. Going back up the canyon was definitely a challenge. We were both sore by the end of the hike!

TIPS:

As always be sure to pack it in and pack it out. Bring a trash bag with you for your trash and avoid bringing plastic water bottles on the trail. Be sure to bring plenty of water and snacks. We brought sandwiches and snacks since this was a longer hike. We would also recommend to wear proper hiking shoes. This trail has a lot of sharp rocks. You will need a shoe with good grip, especially when declining down the canyon. Lastly, be respectful of other people. We try to wear our masks when we cross other people because of COVID-19. We hope you enjoy! 🙂