HIKE OF THE MONTH

“The Rim,” Raymond Carlson wrote in the April 1966 issue of Arizona Highways, “is scenery, history, virgin wilderness, so rough only small portions are accessible by conventional auto, the rest a challenge to the jeepdriver or the sturdy mountain goat.” He used the words “unimaginable beauty” to describe the vistas. Although time has brought more roads - and more people - the unimaginable beauty remains the same. For that reason, it's a summer playground for all kinds of nature lovers. Its lakes attract serious anglers and kids with cane poles. Its network of forest roads draws mountain bikers and four-wheelers. And its trails call to hikers of all fitness levels. For an easy stroll, there's Woods Canyon Lake. For something more strenuous, there's See Canyon. And somewhere in between is the Horton Creek Trail.

The trail, which is named for the creek that's named for settler L.J. Horton, begins at the foot of the Mogollon Rim, about 150 feet from the Upper Tonto Creek Campground and just below the Tonto Creek Fish Hatchery, which has been in operation since 1937. In 1990, it was damaged by the Dude Fire - the same fire that took out Zane Grey's cabin, about 3 miles to the east. One of the hatchery buildings crumbled, and the watershed sustained damage, but the facility was saved, and every year it produces rainbow trout, brook trout and Apache trout (Arizona's state fish) to stock the state's waterways.

From the trailhead, the route follows an old logging road that parallels the stream. The first quarter-mile or so is an