Easy Scottsdale hike is a walk back into ranching history
A mile and a half north of the busy Browns Ranch trailhead, a gnarled mesquite tree grows through and around the crumbling walls of a concrete feed trough. Nearby, tangled barbed wire, weather-worn and clinging tenuously to wood posts, surrounds a conglomerate of disintegrating foundations and rusty metal scraps.
The relics are what remains of Brown’s Ranch. Established in 1916, the 44,000-acre operation ran cattle in the mountainous desert space before being abandoned in mid-century. The historic site, now part of the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, is the key attraction on the Corral Trail in the popular Scottsdale recreation hub.
The ranch site can be reached by following Browns Ranch Road north to the Corral Trail. The 2.3-mile path swings through gorgeous Sonoran Desert scenery between the distinctive flattop form of Browns Mountain (3,253 feet) and the jumbled granite mounds of Cholla Mountain (3,406 feet). The first set of ranch ruins appear off to the left just a few yards from the road junction.
Even with encroaching cactus, catclaw, frothy turpentine bushes and stray twigs poking through cracked stonework, the Old West character is so animated here that you might expect to find cattle grazing among the ruins.
Any present-day rustlings, though, are those of browsing javelina, deer, rabbits, lizards and chattering Phainopeplas — red-eyed black birds with head crests that resemble cardinals — feeding on invasive mistletoe drooping from ironwood trees.
A string of barbed wire fencing trailing off from the main site soon dissolves into thickets of jojoba bushes and spiny yucca that line the trail as it swings north and west through open desert with towering saguaros and distant views of the Cave Creek Mountains to the north and Sierra Anchas to the east. Occasional glimpses of sagging fences are the only relics visible until near where the trail reconnects with Brown’s Ranch Road.
Here, a round cinder block structure that at one time held ranch resources now serves as a sort of giant planter for mesquite trees surrounded by untamed clusters of “jumping cholla” (chain fruit cholla) that provide fodder for pack rats and nesting habitat for cactus wrens.
Tread lightly while exploring these fragile remains that are slowing being reclaimed by environmental forces and desert creatures. Leave what you find, watch where you step — there are no cow pies, but those pesky cholla stems (and snakes, maybe) can ruin your day — and enjoy the trip back in time.
Read more of Mare Czinar’s hikes at http://arizonahiking.blogspot.com.