![]() ![]() ![]() The National's west-end terminus is at the San Juan Lookout, which offers an up-close-and-personal view of the snaggletoothed Estrella Mountains. Once there, it's clear and mostly level sailing along the South Mountain spine, a section of the trail that offers dazzling Valley panoramas amid a pristine Sonoran Desert landscape. After you stop to catch your breath, head toward the Rock Shelter on the next peak over. ![]() On your journey, you'll pass some of the trail's major landmarks The Tunnel, Fat Man's Pass before hitting another ascent, this one a moderately difficult 500- to 750-footer that takes you to the very top of the range near the Antenna Array. From there, the National gains about 500 feet in elevation, placing you on the main line atop the mountain. The best approach is from the east end, at the Pima Canyon trailhead off 48th Street in Ahwatukee. The round trip is approximately 20 miles, the equivalent of walking from 48th Street to 51st Avenue and then turning around and doing it in reverse. While not particularly challenging in a technical sense, the National Trail is one bad mutha if tackled from beginning to end and back. From there, you'll encounter a multitude of micro-environments, from the humid, almost jungle-like environs of the Weeping Rock region to a rubble-filled riparian area to the hardpan flats of the low desert and then up to the flat-top summit of Black Top itself an otherworldly domain of craggy volcanic boulders, oddball vegetation, and absolute seclusion. The trip starts at the First Water trailhead, which is located on the north side of the preserve, off the Apache Trail east of Apache Junction. Unlike the more heavily trampled trails in the Supes Peralta, Hieroglyphic, Black Mesa, Dutchman's the 12-mile round trip to Black Top Mesa is for loners. While the strenuous jaunt is not an "official" Bureau of Land Management/Tonto National Forest route, it's the best trek we've come across in our many years of meandering through the Valley and surrounding areas. If you've ever daydreamed about lying naked 'neath a clear, blue sky, this hike's for you. ![]()
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