Mule Mountain Trail

This 7.5 mile out-and-back is a workout

Metaslider []

Driving

– Take exit 24 off Interstate 5 towards Phoenix . Then, turn right on Highway 99 for less than a mile and turn left on South Stage Road towards Jacksonville.  There’s a quick jog right and then left on Griffin Creek Road and then South Stage turns into California Road as you drive through Jacksonville.

As you emerge from Jacksonville you are on Route 238 heading to Applegate. It’s rural. It’s nice. Keep an eye out for Upper Applegate Road in about 10 minutes. You’ll turn left at a city called Ruch, but you aren’t going to see a city, you’ll just see a grey real estate building. So turn left and you have 20 minutes on Upper Applegate Road driving along the Applegate River. Some roads split off, but head toward Applegate Lake and Applegate Dam.

There is a tricky left run before the dam. You will pass the Historic McKee covered bridge (and swimmin’ hole) on your left and then you will drive over the Applegate river. The first road to your left is Eastside Road. DON’T take that, 50 yards later on you turn left onto unlabeled Beaver Creek Road. Take that paved road for about a mile and you will see on your right an excellent brown Forest Service road sign for the Charlie Buck Trail. Turn right on that and you have about 2.5 miles of bumpy dirt single lane road to the trailhead.

This is a long section of single lane forest road driving. Make sure you are comfortable stopping and backing down a dirt road to a slightly sketchy pull out to allow for crossing traffic occasionally.

Parking

– The dirt road ends at the trailhead and there are 10 areas to pull off to the side into the weeds. More if you start back a couple hundred yards. Yeah, there’s plenty of parking, but you gotta be comfortable with brushy, roadside pullouts.

The Adventure

– There isn’t the classic Forest Service sign up here to start you out. More of a funky graffiti covered chunk of metal with laminated signs taped to it. But, the trail is obvious to the right and it is uphill right off the bat. Great, steady workout for 3/4 of a mile and then, a little ridge line break, then another 1/2 mile. Then… you burst out onto an open, grassy hillside with amazing view. Enjoy that for 1/4 mile and you will have a decision.

Uphill to the left is maybe 1/2 mile to the top of Baldy Peak. It’s great. Straight ahead is about 3 miles to the top of Acorn Lady (formerly Squaw) Peak. Also great. However, today we are taking the hairpin turn downhill to the right towards Mule Mountain. The next mile and a half is open hillside and a moderate downhill. As the trail gets more wooded you will see a new ridgeline head up angling up to the right. It is bushwackin’ time!

7.5 miles. Crazy views. Boom!