Black Cross Butte Hike

Black cross Butte is a challenging trip worth the work for its awesome views of the Salt River and surrounding desert landscape. While it’s not very long and doesn’t require much elevation gain, the route can be quite hard to find, rocky, and scrambly at times. Download your GPS route and come prepared for a rough trail. Also, we recommend long pants to minimize pokes from resident cactus.

Users report having the most difficulty with the eastern side of the route, mentioning that the trail is very difficult to follow and can be loose and slippery in parts. We recommend going clockwise and turning around to retrace your steps should the east side be too difficult for your group to get past.

From the trailhead, hike up to the base of the loop where the route splits. We recommend going left here to leave the worst section of the route for the end in case an out and back approach is the best option for your group. You’ll climb around the butte, slowly gaining elevation until cresting the top near a viewpoint. You can hike across the saddle to another butte for a different view before continuing to the far northern point of Black Cross. From here, the route cuts across the top of the butte and descends steeply back to the trailhead.