Content including photographs are Copyright © 2009 - Present - Don & Linda Gilmore
This is an active Maps.google Satellite Map. You can zoom in / out and change the formats to Street Map or Terrain; drag the map to scroll. Try it! Shown here - Harquahala Mountain.
The above Satellite view shows the buildings and solar panels on top of Harquahala Mountain.This mountain got it's name from the native Indians "water up high". The road to the top is not on any of the maps, but you can find it with the Garmin topo track included here. The dirt road to the top leaves Eagle Eye Rd, just South of the town of Aguila.
From Salome take Rt. 60 East and at the town of Aguila you'll turn South on Eagle Eye Rd. When you get to the road to the top of the Harquahala Mountain you'll see this sign on the right. I think we figured it was about 11 miles to the top of the mountain from the sign.
Dowload the Garmin GPS
track
We ran into a ground squirrel right away in the rocks next to the road. We saw several of these guys on the way in. They are pretty big -- about the size of a gray squirrel or even a little bigger.
Looking back down the road coming up the mountain you can see where it runs on the top of the ridges in places. And also why it's so far to get to the top. Some of it is fun!
The last third of the way is where it gets a little fun. If your nervous about steep narrow roads with a big drop-off, then this is not your kind of road. This trip is only recommended for 4 wheel drive vehicles.
As you can see here it's rocky and steep. And the worst part - not hardly any place to turn around -- so don't get a flat here, it'd be hard to change one on this section of road. When it does get better -- your at the top. There are some side roads that lead to other places of interest -- like an old ranch.
This is the solar array at the top for power for the micro wave antennas. It's really quite a big installation. Since there's no power up here they installed a lot of solar panels.
Once your at the top; you have to get out and walk around and look at the great 360 degree view. The blue building is an old building that's survived from a long time ago. This is really a worth while trip -- a little scary, especially if you do it by yourselves like we did.
This road up to the top of the mountain is not for 2 wheel drives and is not for unexperienced novics. Otherwise it's not too bad and the view once your on the top is great. This is the highest spot in Arizona. Have fun.
