Rain Creek Exploratory

November 15, 2021

Finally, a day off from digging holes or destroying the guest bathroom! We chose an exploratory hike of Rain Creek, on the west side of the Mogollon Mountains, where 10,000-foot jagged mountains soar up from the the yellow grass plains of Wildhorse Mesa. Rain Creek Divide Trail continues up the canyon, while Rain Creek Trail #189 peels off and climbs steeply to a junction with the West Fork Mogollon Creek Trail.

view of Mogollon Mountains dropping into Rain Creek

Access is confusing, to say the least. Alltrails and most other sources show a trailhead on a gated and posted road on private land. The actual TH is higher up and farther to the west.

After a 500-foot descent, we finally reached the creek, sliding over a smooth stone bottom.

view of distant peaks from Rain Creek

The trail rolls up and down high above the creek, with occasional crossings.

We turned back at a large camp about two miles upstream, where the trail became difficult to follow.

West Baldy

Instead, we checked out the trailhead for Little Dry Creek, where there are tantalizing views of West Baldy. This trail is high on our list!