Photos of the Top of Carr Peak
Hiking to the top of Carr Peak to see the Fall colors
I hiked up to top of Carr Peak to see the Fall colors. I think the best part of the fall foliage is early, especially with dry weather. To get to the trail head you have to drive up Carr Canyon Road to its end at Ramsey Campground. The road starts on pavement and turns into a four-wheel road. Do not take a car up there; a high clearance vehicle is recommended for that rough road. There is a sign on the way giving warning about taking cars up.
It is an amazing road carved in to the side of the mountain with amazing views of the San Pedro River Valley. There is the remains of an old settlement up on top of the cliff face known as the “Reef” from the 1800s. The reef settlement is on top of a huge cliff and it looks like a reef. The settlement had a mine and a sawmill. There are still many huge Ponderosa Pines still up there too and old mines. There is a US forest service campground called Reef settlement campground. There is a reef settlement trail that goes around the old settlement.
To get to the Carr Peak Trail drive up Carr Canyon Road to its end at Ramsey View Campground. It takes about an hour to drive up to Ramsey campground. There is a parking area near the Trail head close to Ramsey Campground.
The Trail Marker sign says 2.75 to Carr peak. It took me about two hours to hike to the top of Carr Peak. The Carr peak trail #107 is easier going up than coming down due to the many loose rock and drop offs. I have some walking sticks and those are great work for this rocky trail. The views are great please check out my video from the top. The trail is nice because there is not a huge vertical accent, since you start at about 7000ft at the parking lot.
Carr trail starts off nice and flat. One then comes to a pine forest that is a nice rest area. Then you start the ascent with switchbacks going through some sparse pines. The trail then opens up on an exposed ridge. One now has an unobstructed view of Carr Canyon and the town of Hereford below. You then bear right to the gully to an Aspen Forest for some most needed shade. Carr trail then climbs back on the ridge again and the views of Miller Peak come into sight. One finds themselves at the base of Carr Peak now. Just a walk around Carr knobby peak and you arrive at the Carr Peak spur trail to the top for a view from 9200ft. It took me about 2 hours to get to the top and about the same coming down. There is no water on this trail. Everyone needs to bring 3 liters of water for this hike. This is an awesome hike with incredible views even though it is a little tough to get to. Enjoy the hike up Carr peak trail and leave comments on how it went for you.