East Mountain 6,892’ from Pioneer Pass Road Globe, AZ – Road and Trail hike

I have wanted to hike East Mountain for a while, and there’s a trail at Pioneer Pass that actually kind of loops around on a trail heading northbound to East Mountain, returning to the road to Pioneer Pass FS 112 about two miles further down the road. I didn’t post this hike because it was too short. However, in order to make it a day hike, we will just start from lower down on the road.

We will meet at Basha’s in Gold Canyon, AZ and then carpool to Pioneer Pass Road. We will park at 33.3116, -110.7949 where there’s a parking area at 5,050’. It is about a 1h 20 minute drive from the meeting place.
From there, we hike the road to Pioneer Pass over 3 ½ miles. We take the trail for over a mile reaching the base of East Mountain. From here, we go off-trail where a minor cow path heads towards the summit, where there is a register. It is 0.4 miles, and 315 feet above the trail. We will return to the trail the way we came. But then we will continue northbound on the trail, and switchback down to the lower part of Pioneer Pass Road.

All together the hike will be at least 9 miles round trip with an elevation gain of about 2,000 feet.

The road to Pioneer Pass is generally friendly for 2WD. While this isn’t very high up, as long as we aren’t in a major heat wave, the temperatures should be fine enough for a nice hike. We will be meeting at 6am, subject to change if temperatures are higher or lower.

READ THE FOLLOWING: The Organizer of this trip is a VOLUNTEER, not a "leader". The organizer IS NOT trained in first aid and is not a bonded expert mountain guide. You will need to bring your own experience and judgment. If you want to enjoy the benefits of traveling in a group, then we suggest that you stay with the group on the trip.

The waitlist is created to give preference to hikers who have demonstrated the ability for tougher hikes and consistency of showing up when they RSVP. Those who have RSVPed multiple times and have always cancelled or been a no-show will be kept on the waitlist until others who are more likely to come are given an opportunity to RSVP. The waitlist also ensures we do not overwhelm parking, as this area doesn’t have infinite parking.

Assess the route and conditions as if you were going to do this trip solo.

About your organizer: My name is Dan. I moved to the Phoenix area in early 2017. I have organized over 200 hikes for various groups – including in Arizona, the Sierras, and Northern Nevada. I tend to choose mountain summits I have never done before. I do as much preparation and mapping as I can to ensure we take the correct trails. However, when driving to and hiking in a new area, there are always surprises and unknowns.

This hike is subject to cancellation or rescheduling due to fires or inclement weather.