Price Canyon Trail #224

Price Canyon Trail #224 is an out-and-back hiking route in the Chiricahua Mountains/Coronado National Memorial area near Douglas, Arizona, built around the bottom of Price Canyon. The route is described as strenuous/hard and uses backcountry route-finding rather than staying consistently obvious past key junctions.

Plan on roughly 8.7 km (11 miles) total. Elevation gain is in the ~3,150–3,328 ft range, with an all-day commitment; typical completion times are given around 6.5–7.5 hours.

The most important navigation concept is the bottom-of-canyon follow-up early, then the turn toward the Crest Trail area: the trail connects with the Price Shake, Baker Canyon, and Rucker Canyon trails along the way, then makes a steep ascent to reach the Crest Trail northwest of Sentinel and Finnicum Peaks.

Key named waypoints used for orientation include Price Spring, Shrine Cave, and Whippoorwill Seep. Price Spring is on the left side of the route and is described as producing small seeps/drips that can create a muddy patch at times.

Conditions change after Price Spring: the route is described as manageable in the initial section up to Price Spring, but beyond that point it’s frequently heavily overgrown and often hard to follow, with numerous downed trees and brush that can obscure tread.

Trail junctions that matter for route-finding include the Price Shake Trail junction near the lower canyon segment, the Baker Canyon Trail junction during the canyon run, and the Rucker Canyon Trail junction (with signs noted as burned/overgrown in some stretches). After the Rucker Canyon Trail junction the trail climbs out of the canyon and improves, reaching a saddle where the tread can be followed up to the Crest Trail connection.

More information: Conditions, Visitor information, SF Crosstown Trail