South Mountain Natural Tunnel LbNA #27761 (ARCHIVED)
Map
Nearby Boxes
Add Note
Add Location| Owner: | opposum  |
|---|---|
| Plant date: | Dec 19, 2006 |
| Location: | |
| City: | Phoenix |
| County: | Maricopa |
| State: | Arizona |
| Boxes: | 1 |
| Found by: | PunkSoulBrother |
|---|---|
| Last found: | Oct 7, 2010 |
| Status: | FFFFFr |
| Last edited: | Dec 19, 2006 |
The first thing that you need to do is find the entrance to South Mountain Park at 48th Street and Guadalupe. It’s a little tricky to find. If you are going north on 48th Street you will make a left into the park entrance (if you run into Baseline Road you went to far). If you are going south on 48th Street the entrance will be on your right (if you run into Piedmont Street you went to far). The entrance is not clearly marked and Guadalupe is only marked by a small street sign on the side of the road that you are going to enter the park. Once you make it to the park entrance drive to the end of the road, you will find parking, restrooms, a Ramada, and a trail map. I suggest going on a weekday, it is less crowded. The weekends tend to be very crowded and lots of mountain bikers use the trails, too. On weekends you will also have to park further away. This is a very popular spot.
You will also want to make sure that you have plenty of time, so that you can enjoy this hike, it is one of my favorites. It will take about one hour to hike one way, plus time to find the letterbox. I suggest a good two and half hours for a round trip (about five miles round trip). Take a snack and plenty of water it can get hot in the summer.
Once you park you may want to take a look at the trail map. You will start hiking at the Dirt Road. At the end of the Dirt Road follow signs for the National Trail. (Just in case you are wondering how close you are to the letterbox, the beginning of the National Trail is about halfway. Once on the National Trail you will be hiking to trail marker #9.) When you reach trail marker #9 on the National Trail you will see a sign pointing to the Hidden Valley Trail (left), take it and you will come to a natural tunnel :) Now you are really close, but here comes the more complex directions.
(My legs are short, so don’t take large steps if your legs are long.) Once through the tunnel, step up on the large boulder in front of you. Continue to follow the trail for 95 more steps. At the end of 95 steps there will be a large boulder that splits the path into two. Follow the path on the left 8 steps. Then turn left, again, and step up on the rock. Follow this path slightly to the right 24 steps. You should now be on top of an even larger rock (boulder). A Palo Verde tree will be slightly to your right (there will also be a Palo Verde tree to your left, but don’t worry about that one). Behind the Palo Verde, if you look up, there is a huge boulder. The right side of the huge boulder sits on a smaller boulder. To the right of the smaller boulder is where you need to look for the letterbox. (A little extra help: Behind the Palo Verde stand on the rock and walk in the direction of 80 degrees, step up a few rocks to find the Letterbox.)
You will also want to make sure that you have plenty of time, so that you can enjoy this hike, it is one of my favorites. It will take about one hour to hike one way, plus time to find the letterbox. I suggest a good two and half hours for a round trip (about five miles round trip). Take a snack and plenty of water it can get hot in the summer.
Once you park you may want to take a look at the trail map. You will start hiking at the Dirt Road. At the end of the Dirt Road follow signs for the National Trail. (Just in case you are wondering how close you are to the letterbox, the beginning of the National Trail is about halfway. Once on the National Trail you will be hiking to trail marker #9.) When you reach trail marker #9 on the National Trail you will see a sign pointing to the Hidden Valley Trail (left), take it and you will come to a natural tunnel :) Now you are really close, but here comes the more complex directions.
(My legs are short, so don’t take large steps if your legs are long.) Once through the tunnel, step up on the large boulder in front of you. Continue to follow the trail for 95 more steps. At the end of 95 steps there will be a large boulder that splits the path into two. Follow the path on the left 8 steps. Then turn left, again, and step up on the rock. Follow this path slightly to the right 24 steps. You should now be on top of an even larger rock (boulder). A Palo Verde tree will be slightly to your right (there will also be a Palo Verde tree to your left, but don’t worry about that one). Behind the Palo Verde, if you look up, there is a huge boulder. The right side of the huge boulder sits on a smaller boulder. To the right of the smaller boulder is where you need to look for the letterbox. (A little extra help: Behind the Palo Verde stand on the rock and walk in the direction of 80 degrees, step up a few rocks to find the Letterbox.)