- Arizona County HP: #3
- Difficulty: ⭐️⭐️ (on a scale of 4)
- Summit Elevation: 7,280 feet
- Mountain Range: Santa Catalina Mountains
- Ancestral Lands: O’odham Jewed, Sobaipuri, Western Apache, Hohokam
PLANNING DETAILS
Location: Rice Peak is located within the Coronado National Forest approximately 30 miles northeast of Tucson, AZ. The closest small town with amenities is Oracle, which has a several gas stations and locally-owned restaurants.
When to Visit: Spring and fall are the best seasons to visit. Many of the higher peaks in the Santa Catalina Mountains receive up to 180 inches of snow each year. However, when approached from the north, this CoHP high point remains fairly accessible year-round due to the network of forest roads in the area and the nearby Arizona Trail.
Fees/Permits Required: None.
Getting There: The easiest route to the summit begins near the Peppersauce Campground on the peak’s northern side. (Scroll to the end of this to see two alternative approaches.)
Directions from Tucson: Head north on I-10 and take exit 255 (AZ-77/Miracle Mile). Turn right onto Miracle Mile and drive east 1.4 miles. Turn left onto North Oracle Road and follow AZ-77 north for 30 miles. As you near the town of Oracle, turn right onto W. American Ave and drive through town. After 2.4 miles, turn right on E. Mt. Lemmon Highway, and follow the highway for 8.4 miles until you reach the Peppersauce Campground near the junction of FR-29. A brown metal sign for Rice Peak sits about 50 yards up FR-29.
Parking: There is no dedicated parking area/trailhead for this highpoint, but there’s an OHV staging area and several pull-out spaces for vehicles at the beginning of FR-29. If you need amenities, the nearby Peppersauce Campground has a vault toilet and potable water.
Pets Allowed: Yes.
Kid Friendly: Due to the length of this trail, this trail is best for children age 10 or older.
The Summit: Unlike most counties, Pinal County’s high point isn’t located on the highest ground nearby. Instead, it’s on northern slope of Rice Peak where the Pinal and Pima county lines intersect around 7,280′ elevation. A good GPS track or map is helpful when trying to locate the county line as there is no defined trail leading completely to the high point. A small summit register sits inside a red coffee can on a 3-foot tall pile of boulders.
TRIP SUMMARY
Date Visited: February 19, 2024
Route Used: FR-29 from Peppersauce Campground – 9.2 miles round-trip
Preparing to tag this high point was frustrating for me, for two different reasons.
First, this was one of those CoHPs that’s known as a “liner” within highpointing community. Pinal County is four times as large as the state of Rhode Island, but its highest spot isn’t any of the independent peaks located within that vast 5,000 square mile area. Instead, the highest natural point is where the county line crosses the northern slope of Rice Peak (whose actual summit sits in adjacent Pima County). So I wouldn’t be taking any summit photos on this climb with a geodetic summit marker.
The second challenge for me came as I looked at the map for this CoHP before the visit. I quickly realized that I literally walked right past this same spot two years ago during my Arizona Trail thru-hike! I hiked 800 miles across Arizona starting at the Mexico border and heading north to Utah. And in the process, I walked within 500 measly feet of this CoHP! Arghh!
So with those two factors in mind, I decided to take a slightly different and easier route to Rice Peak, beginning at the Peppersauce Campground near Oracle, AZ. This approach would allow my entire highpointing trek to be entirely within Pinal County, and perhaps give me the opportunity to see the terrain from a new perspective while avoiding the 3,000-foot rocky, knee-crushing descent down Oracle Ridge that I’d experienced when I hiked the Arizona Trail two years earlier!
The drive to Oracle was completely straightforward, yet I could still see snow clinging to the north side of the Santa Catalina mountains from the big storm that had come through about 10 days earlier. Hopefully that wouldn’t impede my progress this winter afternoon.
When I reached the Peppersauce Campground at the junction of E. Mt. Lemmon Highway and FR-29, it was dead quiet. Perhaps February was still too cold for anyone to be camping out in the mountains. But at least there was water and a vault toilet to meet any last minute needs before the hike.
Directly opposite campground, I spotted the beginning of Forest Road 29 (FR-29) where I intended to begin my hike up to this CoHP. There wasn’t any sort of official trailhead for this peak here, but I found a small staging area beside the road that had clearly been used by many OHVs in the past.
A brown sign stood near the staging area announcing that Rice Peak was 7 miles ahead. My intended route was considerably shorter than the mileage on the sign. I hoped get up to the CoHP in just 4.6 miles – assuming it wasn’t impeded by the snow.
Hoping to take advantage of the warmest part of the afternoon, I’d decided to wait until noon to start my hike. I knew the forest roads would be easy to follow as they wound up into the mountains, but they were also pretty also wet this time of year from the snow melt above.
Almost as soon as I started hiking, I was forced to rock hop over several seasonal creeks that currently directly over the road, but I managed to still keep my feet 100% dry. And the only other souls I came across during the initial two miles of my hike was a couple boondocking in their 4×4 Winnebago Revel near one of the streams.
When the patchy snow began appearing on the edges of the road, I took the opportunity to check my location on my GPS. I’d intended to follow an unnamed trail uphill for part of this route, but when I opened my map on Gaia, I discovered I’d already passed it. I somehow completely missed the trail diverging from the forest road about a half mile back. How did that happen?
I considered backtracking, but decided it wasn’t worth the additional effort. Given the muddy conditions around here, I might actually be better off following these wider OHV-roads uphill. And I could always take the hiking trail back down on my return after visiting the high point.
After 2 miles of moderate uphill hiking, I met a junction. I could continue on a short connector road toward FR-4472 or turn left on FR-29 as it dropped down and paralleled that route. Given my general dislike for dropping in elevation – just to have to hike back up it again, I was happy to stick with the flat connector road and continued straight ahead.
The connector road met up with FR-4472 about 0.1 miles later, and I was finally high enough to enjoy some sunshine along with a half-mile of nice flat terrain. Above me, I could hear the engines of some OHVs and the noise was getting louder by the moment.
Once I reached the next junction, I came face to face with three OHVs heading downhill and stepped aside and let them pass so I didn’t get any cold mud splashed on me. I was now 2.6 miles into my ascent of Rice Peak, and needed to turn right onto FR-4475 to follow the shortest route to the intersection of the Pinal and Pima county line.
More and more snow appeared, and I was actually grateful the OHVs have been out here to tamp down their tracks and make my hike easier. I was carrying a pair of microspikes in my daypack. But even with the shade on the north side of the mountain, the road wasn’t icy enough to require them.
I continued chugging along uphill and still hadn’t seen a soul out there hiking or snowshoeing. But then I reached an interesting sign immediately before a sharp hairpin turn.
Apparently the road I was walking on was narrow enough that many 4×4 vehicles couldn’t maneuver around the upcoming turn. A sign on downhill side instructed drivers to turn around and back up to the switchback(!) so they could drive uphill the rest of the way. And once I got above the switchback, a corresponding sign told the drivers heading downhill to use the opposite technique.
The snowpack was becoming noticeably heavier above the hairpin turn too. I was nearing 6,000 feet elevation and found myself walking in the deep OHV tracks as I continued making my way uphill.
Around 4 miles into the hike, I came to the final decision point of my ascent. I was now at 6,600 feet elevation and I needed to choose between two parallel routes to the county high point:
- One option was to continue hiking to the natural end of the FR-4775 where I’d reach the Arizona Trail and turn left. Once on the AZT, I could continue south (uphill) toward Oracle Ridge for 0.65 miles where the trail made a major switchback near the county line. That approach would get me within 0.1 miles east of the high point – just as it had in 2022 during my thru-hike – and then I’d just need to bushwhack off-trail to the high point itself.
- The second option was turn up an unnamed trail running up Rice Peak’s northern slope about 0.15 miles before the junction with the AZT. This trail would leading me almost directly up to the CoHP. It was slightly shorter than the approach on the AZT, but the real reason it won out was simply because it was new terrain to me.
Unfortunately, this was also the steepest part of the climb. I needed to hike 1,280 vertical feet in just 0.5 miles! That’s a 47% slope. It was no joke! And most of it was covered by ankle deep snow, making it incredible slow and tiring.
There seemed to be multiple false summits on the northern slope, so rather getting irritated by my slow progress, I distracted myself with the views of the desert. Off to my right, I was high enough that I could now see the white domed buildings of Biosphere 2 in the desert.
This human-made ecosystem is owned by the University of Arizona and used for large-scale climate change research. And despite its important purpose, my Gen X mind automatically went to thinking about to the 1996 movie ‘Bio-Dome,’ where two stoners (played by Pauly Shore and Stephen Baldwin) agree to seal themselves inside a biosphere for a year with a bunch or scientists and eco-warriors. The film’s plot and acting were mind-numbingly horrible, but it’s still the first stupid thing that I always think about whenever I see news articles about Biosphere 2.
After much effort on the snowy climb, I reached a burn area and entered a small clearing where the trail simply terminated. But I was still about 100-150 yards shy of the county line and I couldn’t see exactly I needed to go amid trees and desert shrubs.
I was searching for an invisible geographic boundary somewhere in front of me, and I had no idea if there would even be anything marking the high point. This was where I’d have to rely on the Gaia GPS app on my phone. It not only showed me the direction of the county line, but also a terrain maps so I could parse where the high point should be.
I pointed my body in the appropriate direction, focused on a tree in that same area, and then began to slowly pick my way around the prickly desert foliage and patchy snow.
After about 100 yards of bushwhacking, I intersected with a pair of fresh tracks in the snow running perpendicular to my path. The footprints were coming from my right (i.e., the direction of the Arizona Trail) and continued to my left. As I visually followed them to see whether the tracks held any significance, I spotted a rock pile just 20 yards off to my left!
The rock pile was partially hidden by some tall grasses, so who knows if I would have even noticed it without the other visitor’s tracks leading me right to it. Perhaps the snow was a blessing in disguise!
After a handful of pictures and leaving my name in the “summit register” inside the red can, it was time to return the way I’d come. My footsteps in the fresh snow were easy enough to follow, and before long I was back on the forest roads heading toward the car.
My only real mistake on this CoHP was my desire to go in search of the trail I’d missed earlier in the trek. On my descent I decided to see if I could head back on an actual trail. I found where the uphill point met the forest road and started walking down it.
It was evident though that this little trail and clearly hadn’t been used in many, many years. It started out as a wide two-track road, then narrowed to a single-track where the trail was faintly visible. But as I continued working my way downhill, it turned into something absurd. It was so overgrown with catclaw acacia and other prickly plants that I was bogged down in sheer frustration as I attempted to follow the creek for the short one-mile trail. It was anything but “hikeable.”
When I finally popped back onto FR-29, and breathed a sigh of relief, I realized why I’d completely missed the trail on my ascent. The downhill outlet for the trail was just one of the wide snow melt creeks I’d rock hopped across at the start of my hike. This “scenic alternate” was a complete bust.
In the end, I made it to the CoHP. But I have to admit it wasn’t nearly as enjoyable as taking the Arizona Trail had been two years earlier. If I were recommending an approach to Rice Peak to another highpointer, I’d definitely recommend one of the two alternates I detail below instead of following FR-29 like I did.
BONUS MATERIAL
Alternate Routes:
- High Jinks Ranch Route (13 miles). Highpointers looking for a trail hike with some Arizona history can begin at the historical High Jinks Ranch, originally founded by Buffalo Bill Cody in 1912. From High Jinks Ranch, follow the Arizona Trail for 6.5 miles up to Rice Peak’s northern slope. This route uses the AZT-Cody Trail #9 and heads west for 1.5 miles, before continuing south on the AZT-Oracle Ridge Trail #1 for an additional 5 miles up to the Pinal Co. line. Once at the switchback for the county line, hike 0.1 miles east cross-county to the high point.
- Oracle Ridge Route (10.6 miles). Another popular route to this high point begins in the town of Summerhaven. Hikers head north on the Arizona National Scenic Trail (AZT) for roughly 5 miles as it descends the back side of Mt. Lemmon. This route follows the AZT-Oracle Ridge #1 trail north for 4.8 miles down to Dan’s Saddle and across Oracle Ridge. Once at the Rice Peak Trail, you can either: (a) head uphill 0.2 miles to the summit before descending 0.1 miles cross-country down the mountain’s northern slope; or (b) continue north on the AZT to the switchback at mile 5.2 (Pinal Co. line) and hike 0.1 miles east cross-county to the high point. (Note: The descent down Oracle Ridge is more steep and rugged than the other routes, and the return will require 5.3 challenging miles back uphill to Summerhaven.)
Camping nearby:
- Peppersauce Campground is located 6 miles southeast of Oracle, AZ, near the start of this hike. This USFS campground is open year-round and offers 17 rustic campsites, picnic tables, potable water, and a vault toilet. Cost: $15/night.
- Catalina State Park is located 12 miles north of Tucson nestled on the west side of the Santa Catalina Mountains and the Pusch Ridge Wilderness. This extremely popular state park campground has 120 RV and tent campsites with picnic tables and fire rings, water, showers, and restrooms. Cost: $25-35/night; reservations strongly recommended!
Resources:
- An Overview of Rice Peak (Summit Post)
- Arizona Trail – Passage 12 (Arizona Trail Assn.)
- Map of Oracle Ridge and Rice Peak (USFS)