Praying Hands

Via Treasure Loop Trail

We hiked to Praying Hands from our campground. We started our hike around 3:30 pm. This hike is pretty well marked, but on the way down it can be easy to lose the trail. We always download the AllTrails map to make sure we are on the correct trail and don’t end up off trail. We use the paid version of AllTrails in order to be able to download the maps. We recorded 3.5 miles out and back from our campsite. The Superstition Mountains are one of our favorite places to be in the valley. The towering jagged rocks are something out of another world.

While this hike is short, it has steady incline and once you near Praying Hands rock formation you will do some bouldering, but nothing too intense. At the start of the hike we saw groups of people coming back down and we passed some people on the way up. But once we got near Praying Rock we were the only ones up there. We could have continued this hike onto Treasure Loop Trail, but we decided to head back to our campground to make dinner, plus we hiked 6 miles the day before and were a little sore!

While we were hiking back down we were walking into the sunset. It left us absolutely speechless. There weren’t a lot of people on the mountain and it was relaxing. However, we did see some people throwing their oranges and Owen kindly told them that they aren’t as biodegradable as they think! Please don’t throw your food on the ground. It doesn’t belong there. Food still counts as littering and it is SO important to Leave No Trace while exploring the outdoors. Overall, we had a fantastic hike. Most people hike Flat Iron when going to Lost Dutchman State Park, but it has so much more to offer. We did end up hiking back down in the dark, but not for long. We always bring our headlamps with us in case this happens!

Overall, this is a great hike for all skill levels. It has some good incline, but it is short enough that it isn’t super strenuous. The weather was perfect, but it did start to get a little chilly on our hike down. If you are hiking in warmer temperatures be sure to bring enough water. We always bring our Camelbacks with us and would recommend to get a pack that has a reservoir. We hope we can come back to hike the full Treasure Loop Trail!