Jacob's Crosscut Trailheads
Jacob’s Crosscut is a trail that runs along the base of the Superstition Mountains in Tonto National Forest and Lost Dutchman State Park. You can start the hike at Crosscut Trailhead, near State Route 88, off of First Water Trailhead Road (Forest Road 78). Or, you can start Jacob’s Crosscut trail from the Broadway Trailhead on the southern end. We’ve hiked parts of the trail from both ends and go into the details below.
Good to Know
This is the Sonoran Desert, home to many sharp and thorny plants, venomous reptiles and spiders, and larger wildlife like mountain lions, bobcats, and coyotes. Pay careful attention to your surroundings and always hike snake aware. This area is the geological result of volcanic activity from millennia ago. On trail you’ll find the rocks are sharp, jagged, and large. We highly recommend stable footwear with good protection. There are no restrooms at either trailhead but there is at Lost Dutchman State Park.
Jacob's Crosscut from First Water Road (Crosscut Trailhead)
Crosscut Trailhead is the same trailhead as Massacre Falls in Tonto National Forest. From this trailhead you are easily able to connect into Lost Dutchman State Park within a few miles. We’ve hiked Treasure Loop from Crosscut Trailhead and recorded 4 miles. There are many other trails you can do to make the hike longer if you want.
Jacob's Crosscut from Broadway Trailhead
Broadway Trailhead is located in a development in Apache Junction that boarders Tonto National Forest; it’s not too far north of the US 60. The parking area is very small. We hiked a little over 5 miles out and back onto Jacob’s Crosscut. This hike is moderate with some incline/sharp rocks. We recommend to have good footwear! You can hike Jacob’s Crosscut trail all the way to Lost Dutchman State Park. It is 5.8 miles one way to the Crosscut Trailhead off first water road from Broadway Trailhead. From Broadway Trailhead you can also hike to Broadway cave. For this hike we opted out of it since the view isn’t incredible.
What Else
- To see what gear we like to use, check out our post here. We also have individual posts about what we like to use here: Lauren | Owen.
- Check out the other 4 Must do Hikes in the Superstitions
- Here you can browse by location using the map feature or by your preferred type of activity.
