Sharing Our Travels : White Tank Park-Black Canyon Loop Tail

11/25/2015. Wednesday. Another cool morning and overcast. Six of us including Joe, the leader, headed West of town this time to White Tank Park at the base of the White Tank mountain range, about 15 mils away. The White Tank Mountain Regional Park encompasses 29,271 acres of desert and mountain landscape, it is the largest regional park in the county. Opened in 2010 and located at the park's entrance, is the White Tank Library & Nature Center that features views of the park plus live native reptiles, information center, and gift shop. There are several picnic and campground areas. The AZ regional parks are fee paid areas and you can also buy a yearly pass per car that saves on the entrance fee, so several hikers from the park have a pass.

The park is better renowned for its extensive network of 26 miles of hiking trails. Only six of us made the hike this time for the 4 mile Black Canyon Loop Trail. Joe called us “Joe’s Hiking Harem” since he was the only male!

It started off cloudy but then the clouds started breaking up and we began to see some nice blue sky. It sure made for some nice pictures. This hike was far more scenic than the one on Monday.

It finally warmed up enough for us to take our jackets off, especially with Joe just taking off down the trail! Gosh, but it was pretty out there and pictures really don’t do it justice.

Joe just wanted to make sure his “harem” was headed in the right direction when we came upon these 2 cowboys heading out onto the trail from the While Tank Stables next to the trail and the park. Loved it! Found some real cowboys! I got to pet the horses. The cowboy in the second picture convinced me I could ride, so 3 of us gals are going to go for it! I will let you know if I chicken out! The ladies that want to go are a bit older than I am, so I can’t let them show me up! I love the second picture because the background is so pretty that it almost looks like a backdrop instead of being real.