Hike Elephant Head and Little Elephant Head Coronado National Forest, AZ

Apr 03, 2024 — The Santa Rita Mountains just south of Tucson AZ are mostly known for the high point Mount Wrightson, but on the west side of the range is a weird feature unlike the rest of the range, Elephant Head. This peak juts out from the desert, a gorgeous formation that requires some scrambling to reach. This was my second peak this week with "Elephant" in its name, but I've struck out both times in mustering the creativity to decipher an elephant's likeness from a mound of rock. The road to the trailhead is paved to this junction (31.68694, -110.96269), though any car can likely make it past here if driving slowly.

I started along the Quantrell Mine Trail, a pleasant and gradual hike through the desert that initially heads northwest and passes over a creek before ascending to a minor saddle on the east side of Little Elephant Head. The trail then contours for a bit and passes by the signed Quantrell Mine. Still ascending modestly, the trail finally curves around a slope, and Elephant Head comes into view just across Chino Canyon. To reach it, however, I had to drop down into the canyon and reascend on its opposite side.

I soon reached a cairned social trail that leaves the Quantrell Mine Trail and heads north, steeply descending into Chino Canyon for about 500 feet of vertical loss. There wasn't any scrambling here, and the switchbacks were in good shape, but I'd have to reascend this later on my way back. I wasn't too surprised to find flowing water cascading down the gorgeous slickrock canyon, a wonderful riparian oasis before starting back out on the opposite side. I paused when I reached the rushing stream, staring lustfully down into its narrows. This is a technical canyon descent that I'd disregarded earlier and was now in full-FOMO about passing it up.

The steep hike out from Chino Canyon and up to Elephant Head's eastern ridge was uneventful but included a couple of difficult-to-follow sections if not paying attention. There was also a forest of ocotillo that the trail led safely through, and I was grateful I didn't have to bushwhack. Once at the ridgeline, I continued west toward the base of Elephant Head. A cairned trail assisted in wrapping around various bumps and obstacles efficiently, perhaps removing a bit of the fun from how the route was before gaining popularity.

Now standing at the base of the extended summit push, I got pretty excited. This was a really neat peak. I navigated through crevices separating large boulders, wrapped around ledges, followed weaknesses that ducked below tree branches, and hopped up and down various rock ribs. Even though the route-finding was generally straightforward, there was some mental effort required. I found only one Class 3 section toward the summit, required to gain a short headwall and ultimately the final ramp to the high point.

Normally there are supposed to be elephant toys at the summit, but apparently, the typical argument of "leave no trace" versus "it's fun and don't remove them" persists here, and currently the "leave no trace" side was winning. The National Forest Service had posted a sign at the trailhead asking people to stop adding the trinkets. I took in the views from Elephant Head for a bit before starting back to the saddle with Little Elephant Head.

Little Elephant Head is a short add-on summit that has similar rock to Elephant Head but is much smaller in stature and lacks the fun scrambling of its larger neighbor. Reaching the peak requires hiking a well-beaten social trail up and over a sub-peak before dropping back down to Little Elephant Head's base. The trail then continues to the summit, navigating around occasional outcroppings and up steep slabs, nothing exceeding Class 2. The view toward Elephant Head and Chino Canyon was pretty cool from the top, and it was a worthy peak to tack on.