Loma Verde Loop

Follow the Loma Verde Trail through a mesquite woodland studded with barrel cactus and saguaros.  Grinding stones in the park indicate native use of mesquite beans as food. The McCulloch homestead was here in the mid 1900's.  Crossing Monument Wash twice, you climb a bluff onto a bajada, the gentle slope of gravel at the base of Tanque Verde Ridge.  A sign tells the story of Loma Verde "Green Hill" mine.

The sign reads: "Loma Verde Mine Site: Copper mining was an economic adventure in Arizona during the 1880's.  The mounds and depressions before you are the remains of a 350-foot shaft dug by the Loma Verde Copper Company in 1901.  Though this site yielded ore of 16 percent copper, the mine soon closed.  The greenish rocks found around this site are copper ore.  Please leave this area undisturbed."

Joining the Pink Hill Trail, turn right and ascend the iron-stained slope for a panoramic view of the Cactus Forest and Catalina Mountains.  Notice the vivid color of the green-skinned palo verde tree and numerous cacti.  Annual rainfall of 12 inches classifies this area as "thorn scrub" according to some scientists.  As you cross the wash, imagine the torrents of water that come with summer monsons.

Turn right at the Squeeze Pen Trail; the name recalls days when cattle were rounded up on this land.  The Carillo family ranched this land under both private and public leases for many years.  Creosote, with its shiny leaves, yellow flowers and fuzzy seed capsules, lines the trail.  The rocky slopes of the Rincons are prime habitat for ocotillo, brittlebush, teddy bear cholla and saguaro.

You will soon re-enter the mesquite bosque.  At the junction of the Loma Verde Trail, turn left to get back to the trailhead.