(gentle bright music) - Hey, I'm Jayarr, and on this season of "Trail Mix'd," I'm gonna take you around, under, and through Arizona.

Join me in my quest to see the best trails that Arizona has to offer, from the iconic spots to the hidden gems.

Along the way, we'll be diving deep into what makes Arizona's trails some of the best in the world.

So come on!

Let's take a hike.

(upbeat rock music) Petroglyphs are found all around the world in many different cultures.

There's something about being human that makes us wanna leave our mark.

Here in Arizona, there are petroglyph sites all over the state.

Today we'll be visiting two sites right near the valley.

We'll visit a trail where there are hundreds of carvings to marvel at, and we'll explore another trail where it can only be found through a dedicated search and a little bit of luck.

(bright upbeat music) - [Announcer] "Trail Mix'd" is made possible in part by a gift from Sue and Bill Ahearn.

Additional support provided by: - [Announcer] SRP is staying ahead of the valley's growing energy needs.

We're investing in one of the country's largest solar battery storage projects to deliver power that's as reliable as it is sustainable.

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A valley tradition since 1946.

Over 200 acres of Arizona grown trees, citrus and palms, complete custom design and installation, and Whitfill Nursery still does the digging.

Whitfillnursery.com.

(gentle music) - [Announcer] Arizona, you never cease to amaze us.

From your determination, to your resiliency, both individually and as a community.

Because of you, the Arizona Lottery can use its resources to help make our state stronger.

From supporting small businesses to protecting Arizona's most vulnerable people, and giving hope to future generations.

Paving the way for a better tomorrow, for our better tomorrow.

- [Announcer] And by contributions to your PBS station from viewers like you.

Thank you!

(gentle music) (air whooshes) (air whooshes) - [Jayarr] Located to the south of Queen Creek, San Tan Mountain Regional Park spans over 10,000 acres of picturesque Sonoran desert terrain, with elevations ranging from approximately 1,400 feet to over 2,500 feet.

San Tan Mountain Regional Park boasts a network of trails spanning more than eight miles, catering to hiking, mountain biking, and horseback riding enthusiasts alike.

These trails vary in length from 1.1 miles to over five miles, offering options suitable for all skill levels from leisurely strolls to challenging excursions.

If you're looking for a quick hike, the Moonlight Trail is a great choice, offering a picturesque and tranquil route.

Starting at the San Tan Trailhead adjacent to the visitor center, this trail meanders along the foothills of a central valley mountain within the park, eventually linking up with the San Tan Trail.

If you're looking for a more challenging trek, consider the 6.4 mile San Tan Trail.

Beginning at the San Tan Trailhead, this route covers a substantial portion of the park and connects with other trails at multiple junctures.

It includes wonderful panoramic mountain vistas at the park's southern edge.

And if we can find it, maybe even a petroglyph!

One of the largest problems in preserving petroglyphs is erosion.

Most are constantly exposed to the weather and it can be difficult or impossible to transport them elsewhere.

Today I chatted with Nicole Cerveny to learn more about it.

- All rocks are decaying in some way, right?

Even your granite countertop that you got in your house, right?

There's many different facets of the erosion.

So it can be by water, by wind.

Wind is not as strong, so it can only pick up things like dust or sand and usually bounce sand along the ground.

But here, mostly it's gravity coming down from the slopes and water.

- How does that process connect to maybe petroglyphs?

- Ah!

So petroglyphs are inscriptions in the rock surface.

So almost all the time that you're looking at a bare rock, what you're seeing is a rock coating on the surface.

And each one of those things impacts the air rock interface, that surface of the rock.

If we're looking at inscriptions, inscriptions are on that surface, and so that is the most vulnerable spot to lose the inscription or to have another coating form over it.

You don't lose it at that point, but it's harder to see.

(air whooshes) - Today we're hiking the San Tan Trail.

Come on!

Let's take a hike!

(upbeat music) (arrow pops) So this is quintessential Arizona hiking.

I mean, it looks exactly how I would've imagined your standard Arizona trail looked before I moved out here like 10, 15 years ago.

But one thing that I noticed that's different about this trail is I've never seen so many saguaro skeletons.

I mean, there's these beautiful bleached spires that tell a story of life that's lived here much longer than we have.

They're just really nice to look at.

But don't be tempted to take them.

That is beautiful.

That looks like a sculpture.

That looks like something you would pay $2,000 for at Pottery Barn.

But nature's sculptures in the flesh.

The plants go through a cycle of life, living, existing, and then they fall back to the earth.

And those Saguaro husks are...

They're home to rodents and different insects, so just leave them here.

Leave them exactly where they're supposed to be.

I see a coyote.

I've actually never seen one before.

Look, look!

Right there, right there, right there!

You know, I would've never thought that we would see one during the day.

Okay, so real talk.

I grew up in New York.

I moved out here 10 years ago.

The most wildlife I saw in New York was squirrels and rats.

That was crazy.

One thing that I realized is that the animals, like the wildlife that's out here, they don't want, they want to avoid you.

So just remember that if you're on the trail and you see an animal, just don't freak out.

Just let it go.

Like it doesn't wanna interact with you.

It's actually trying to avoid you, so.

But that was a super magical moment.

(animal calling) Do you know how old the petroglyphs here are?

And at the White Tanks?

- So the ones here are very likely to be associated with the Hohokam people, and those would be in the classic period in archeology.

And so somewhere between 1100 and 1450, 80, is about the time that they were here.

They're probably about that age range, although I don't think any official radiocarbon dating or any dating of the petroglyphs have been done.

In the White Tanks, I would say also that there's Hohokam influence, but the White Tanks is a little closer to a common area that different Indigenous people went through and so there might be some more influence there as well.

There are some Indigenous communities that believe that the image should erode away naturally.

- Right!

- Right?

And then there are other people who want to preserve or save them for whatever reason, but there are so many out in the open that there's no way to protect them all.

So you record them.

- Exactly!

- So that you at least have them, 'cause we don't have a Rosetta Stone for rock art.

We don't.

We don't know what it means, and we usually interpret it from our 20th century viewpoints, right?

(gentle upbeat music) - The sun is out, but it's not too hot.

Yes, I am sweating a bit, but nobody ever says sweating is a bad thing.

Sweating is a good thing.

Now I saw these mountains in the distance and I am very, very excited to be coming up over this hill to get a better view.

(gentle upbeat music continues) Ah!

Somewhere in this vast expanse of mountains, I heard there's one petroglyph.

Will I find it?

Who knows?

But that's a part of getting out and hiking is the adventure of seeking.

Now, if you know anything about me, you know I love ancient art, so I'm super stoked to find this thing.

You guys wanna keep going?

Come on!

(gentle upbeat music continues) (animal calling) I feel like I wanna go look over there 'cause I see horse.

I see horse prints right here.

I don't see any other footprints, so I don't think this is it, but it looks like it would be.

(animal calling) I mean, this is usually where petroglyphs are.

No, this can't be it because there's no other footprints.

Okay!

It looks like that could have been it though.

♪ Mr. Petroglyph ♪ Where are you (gentle upbeat music continues) Hmm!

No, I don't think this is it either.

Oh, I see a huge pile of rocks over there and I see a defined trail.

I bet that's it.

Let's go find out.

(gentle upbeat music continues) It's like one of those activity books.

The search and finds in nature though.

Oh, here we go.

Defined!

A defined trail with some horse tracks going up.

I feel like if I get a high vantage point, then I can see it better.

(gentle upbeat music continues) Okay, so I finally found this thing, but the way I found it was very unorthodox.

So as you can see, there's nothing there, right?

Well, watch this.

Oh!

And there it is, and it's revealed.

This ancient petroglyph that I hiked all the way out here for.

So it's there.

Now it's not.

It's there.

Now it's not.

It's there.

It's not.

It's there.

It's not.

It's there.

It's not.

I've seen a bunch of petroglyphs out.

This is probably the smallest and...

This is probably the smallest and most anti-climactic, but the coolest part was that, right there, the illusion.

So yeah, if you come out here in the morning before the sun has really hit it, you can probably see it better, but still really cool to see.

Really glad that I took this hike.

How can we protect rocks and specifically petroglyphs as just regular hikers?

- So the best thing that a regular hiker can do is look with their eyes, but not with their hands.

So all rocks have a coating on top.

A lot of times this is rock varnish, which is an iron manganese oxide that turns dark brown to black.

Why we see it is because there's a contrast between the pecking and the rock coating itself.

Over time then, from the time that the petroglyph is made, it then begins to create a coating over it again.

If we interrupt that by re-carving or re-scratching or interrupt it by placing hand oils or dirt or anything else on it, it affects the way it's seen and it will change the way in which it weathers naturally.

So the best thing that we can do for them is leave them be, can honor the Indigenous people who believe it should weather back to nature, and we should look at them.

But if you happen to have petroglyphs near you, you can become a site steward with the state and you can go back on a regular basis and check the petroglyph site to make sure there hasn't been damage.

The help from the public, that citizen science piece, and the love that people have for a specific site and the care that they have for it, means that we can protect just a little bit more.

(air whooshes) - If you're looking for an easy and accessible trail that leads you by a huge amount of petroglyphs, then welcome to White Tank Mountain Regional Park!

Encompassing almost 30,000 acres, the White Tank Mountain Regional Park is the largest regional park in Maricopa County.

Located about 30 miles west of Phoenix, the White Tank Mountains are the perfect day trip if you're in the Phoenix area.

The park contains ramadas and barbecue grills for picnicking and is equipped with restrooms and showers for camping, as well as a library, gift shop, and nature center.

Nearly 26 miles of hiking trails with various levels of difficulty wind through the park.

The park also doubles as a nature preserve and is home to many indigenous species, including mule deer, coyotes, javelinas, roadrunners, and occasionally even mountain lions.

Today we're hiking one of the most popular trails in the park: Waterfall Trail.

Come on, let's take a hike.

(air whooshes) (upbeat music) (arrow pops) The Waterfall Trail's a really easy hike.

It's only 1.8 miles here and back, and the first half a mile is wheelchair accessible.

(air whooshes) So why are they called the White Tank Mountains?

Well, that's an interesting story.

In the mid-1800s, gold was discovered in Central Arizona and miners flooded in looking to strike it rich.

Water is worth more than gold, and as miners followed rough trails through Arizona spots to refill their canteens were immensely important.

One of these spots was a large natural basin, sometimes called a tank.

This tank was the only water source for 20 to 30 miles and probably held water year round.

Surrounding the tank were striking white granite cliffs, thus the mountain range was called the White Tank Mountains.

Sometime before the 1900s, heavy rains caused the collapse of the cliffs around the tank, filling it in and destroying it.

Currently, the mountains hold many springs in smaller tanks, but the original tank is lost.

(birds chirping) Hmm!

So far the trail's been great.

I'm really excited to see some petroglyphs and I'm hoping that we see some wildlife.

You never know.

(gentle music) (animal calling) All right!

We made it to Petroglyph Plaza!

While it's tempting to wanna add your own mark to the petroglyphs, it's important to leave these historical rocks undisturbed for others to enjoy and learn from.

There are 11 archeological sites in the White Tank Park, all attributed to the Hohokam people.

This one is about halfway down the Waterfall Trail.

Far before miners settled in Arizona, from around 500 to 1100 CE, the White Tank water source was used by the Hohokam people.

The 11 archeological sites, which include seven different villages, are located all throughout the park.

Most of the villages are close by the water tanks, ensuring that the people of the villages would've had a consistent water source.

The word petroglyph comes from the Greek words petra, meaning stone, and glypho, meaning carve.

Ancient people chipped away at the rock, creating beautiful stone art.

Some of the petroglyphs may be up to 10,000 years old.

All of them have withstood the elements for at least 700 to 800 years.

We're not sure what they mean, but they could have served as a way to record events, as trail markers, as religious symbols, as a way to make rain fall, or encourage good hunting.

And here we are at the end of the sidewalk.

We're about halfway through the entire trail.

This is where things start to get a little more rugged.

We got this!

Come on!

(crow cawing) Whew!

The trail is still pretty easy, but definitely more difficult than the sidewalk part.

(birds chirping) (arrow pops) If you wanna catch the waterfall part of the trail, come out to the hike right after a big rainfall.

Just be sure to keep an eye out for flash floods.

We finally made it to the spot that gives the trail its name, the Waterfall Trail.

And as you can see right now, there's no water flowing through here, but there's times a year where this place is absolutely flooded with water.

It's a beautiful spot to take a break, get some nice shade, respite from the sun.

Local wildlife use this as a watering hole and most likely, it's one of the reasons that the Hohokam stayed around to have access to this water as well.

If you're looking for inspiration, what better place than this?

Get outside, get outdoors, get away from the screens, and create your own art.

(air whooshes) Welcome to South Mountain Park.

(upbeat music) (air whooshes) (animal calling) (arrow pops) (air whooshes) (arrow pops) The Holbert Trail, starting at the main entrance of South Mountain Park, is a two to three hour journey.

(upbeat music continues) Oh!

I was not expecting this.

It looks like there's some petroglyphs over here.

So you try to imagine what they were illustrating here.

And I mean, that jagged line could be a river or it could be referencing the wash, but most likely it's a snake.

Maybe that's a turtle.

Sun?

I wonder how long these have been here.

And then if you look, there's actually some more over here.

I mean, I guess that this is a lizard.

You know what I was thinking?

Now that I've done a few of these trails with petroglyphs, this was an unexpected surprise and now it feels like I'm kinda programmed to hunt for petroglyphs on the trails that I go.

So I have spotted some unexpected petroglyphs and now I'm in this mode where I'm kinda like playing hide-and-seek with the past.

That might be a bit of an engaging thing, you know, just trying to look at the rocks and spot petroglyphs, like a game of hide-and-seek.

So we're about a 1/4 of the way up the total trail now, but don't get confused.

You do hit a road, but just trust the signs as always and you just carry on up the mountain.

(gentle music) If you're looking for a peaceful hike away from the noise of the city, South Mountain is a great place to go.

Every Sunday, the park closes the main road to cars for their Silent Sunday event.

The road is closed at the one mile mark into the park for a period of time, ranging from a few hours to the entire day.

Okay, so we're about halfway done with the total trail and since the quarter point, it's gotten considerably more rocky.

Definitely more elevation gain, but totally manageable.

(gentle music continues) All right, we're about 3/4 of the way done.

There's been a bunch of switchbacks, but I can already see the top, so let's finish strong.

So the Holbert Trail goes this way, but we're gonna take the Dobbin's Extension right to the top.

(birds chirping) (gentle music continues) Great cardio.

Good for the heart.

It's important to sweat, but one thing you don't wanna forget is water, water, water, water.

But so far, so good.

Situated at an elevation of 2,330 feet, Dobbin's Lookout stands as the park's highest location you can hike to, providing breathtaking views of the city.

A stone ramada provides shaded seating and a compact observation platform allows visitors to identify prominent Phoenix landmarks visible in the panoramic view.

Even though we don't know exactly what petroglyphs mean, they're an important relic of the people who came here before us.

Whether easy to spot or almost completely hidden, petroglyphs are a precious glimpse into Arizona's past.

And if we're careful, they'll last long into the future.

(air whooshes) (gentle dramatic music) Next, we're headed to Sabino Canyon.

(air whooshes) Located at the base of the Santa Catalina Mountains, Sabino Canyon is a great place to see water in the middle of the desert.

(air whooshes) (footsteps crunching) (gentle dramatic music continues) (footsteps crunching) Hey!

Are you Amber?

- I am!

- Hey, good to meet ya.

I'm Jayarr.

- Hey, Jayarr.

Nice to see you.

- This is amazing.

Thank you so much for meeting me out here.

- Of course!

- And hopefully answering some questions about this beautiful park you have.

- Yeah, definitely.

There's a beautiful dam at the end of this trail.

- Will you take me?

- Yeah, of course.

Let's go!

- Come on.

Come on, let's go.

These saguaro are really densely packed in here.

- [Amber] Yeah!

This is the perfect elevation for saguaros to grow in.

- [Jayarr] Oh!

- And so they're very happy here.

- Do you ever get snow at the top of the big one over there?

- The mountains here?

Oh, definitely.

- Okay.

- The mountains go up to like 9,000 feet and I think there's still snow up there right now.

- [Jayarr] Oh, at the top of Mount Lemmon?

- [Amber] Yeah!

- You're out here all day.

I know you must be drinking so much water.

- Oh, yeah.

- How much water does it take for you to be alive?

- I'll usually pack out maybe four liters of water a time.

- Okay.

- If I'm out for a really long time or it's especially hot out, I'll make sure there's somewhere to refill water on the way, depending on where I am.

- [Jayarr] Okay.

(water babbling) I think I hear?

I think I hear the dam or some sort of flowing water.

- [Amber] Yeah!

We've got so much water right here.

This is Sabino Creek.

- Do you ever get in the water?

- Yeah, there's a spot further up where the water pools like a beach right above a bridge.

- [Jayarr] Yeah!

(water babbling) - [Amber] And it is beautiful.

- [Jayarr] Nice!

- [Amber] The dam is just a little further up there.

- [Jayarr] Okay!

- [Amber] And tons of trails lead to it.

- [Jayarr] Is there a specific trail that's better than others to get there?

- I love all of them.

(birds chirping) (Amber chuckles) Here's the dam.

You see it?

That's snow melt coming down from the mountain.

The Santa Catalina Mountains reach 9,000 feet, and so we've got snow up there in the winter.

And when that snow melts, especially now in the spring, it starts running down Sabino Creek and that's what we see right here.

So that water's cold.

- Yeah.

I am dying to get in that water.

So thank you so much chatting.

- Yes, definitely have to check it out.

- Yeah, you're the best.

- Good to meet you.

Thanks for visiting Sabino Canyon.

(gentle guitar music) (gentle guitar music continues) - This trail is certainly an incredible place to relax and enjoy nature.

(gentle guitar music continues) (birds chirping) (water babbling) It's been incredible, but I think it's time to wrap things up.

Thank you so much for joining me in the Coronado National Forest in Sabino Canyon on the Sabino Lake Trail.

I had an amazing day, sweating in the sun, but now I'm in the water, so I feel so much better.

I hope you had a good time.

I had a great time.

Appreciate you.

We'll catch you on the next one.

(water splashes) (waterfall thundering) Did we get it?

Woo-hoo!

Totally worth it!

(bystanders laugh)