Hike McFadden Horse Mountain Tonto National Forest, AZ

May 02, 2021 — I parked just off the scenic Globe-Young Highway and located a small, old sign reading "McFadden Horse Tr No 146", clearly not a very often visited hike. The first mile or so followed an old ATV road steeply up to the western toe of McFadden Horse Mountain. Google Maps' imagery is slightly incorrect for this ATV road, but you get the idea from my attached map. Another trail sign pointed left and led away from the ATV road and up a true singletrack. The going was pretty steep and a little rocky, but not overgrown and in pretty decent shape. Though I would be surprised to find that this trail sees more than a handful of visitors per year. 

After the initial steep ascent, the trail mellows out as it wanders through a sparsely vegetated forest and begins to ascend steeply again. The views to the south are nice during this section, but soon the views are obscured by trees as the trail reaches the wide slope that comprises the sprawling summit of McFadden Horse Mountain. I continued south through the forest along the trail, marked by cairns which were helpful since the trail was difficult to follow at points. A quarter mile from the summit, I left the "trail" and headed to the high point. There were some mostly blocked views south, nothing worth talking about.