Hiking Little Granite Mountain Loop | Prescott

After getting to know the Prescott, Arizona area a bit we found that this is a nice area to get out and hike. There are some really cool rocks and rock formations in this area that we first experienced on our Watson Lake hike! Hiking and scrambling around on these rocks near Watson Lake reminded us so much of being in Joshua Tree in California. As we were looking for the next hike to do in the Prescott area we found Little Granite Mountain Loop. We thought we couldn’t go wrong with a name like that! Granite. Mountain. Loop. Sounded right up our alley! Without much else thought we packed up and hit the trail. Find out more about our experience hiking Little Granite Mountain Loop including what we wish we would have known beforehand and how you can prepare better than we did!

Quick Info: Hiking Little Granite Mountain Loop

Distance: 9.6 mile loop

Difficulty: Moderate

Directions: From Prescott, follow W Iron Springs Road for 6.1 miles. Then turn right into the Little Granite Mountain Trailhead (Trail #37) parking area.

Our Experience Hiking Little Granite Mountain Loop

After running some errands in Prescott, we followed W Iron Springs Road about 6 miles up to a more forested setting. Here we joined several other vehicles at the Little Granite Mountain Loop Trailhead parking area. We started hiking right around 1 o clock which was a bit later than we had planned on.

parking area at trail number 37 trailhead

huge boulder while hiking little granite mountain loop

Trail #37

Trail #37 started off as a gradual climb through a mix of conifers and cacti with rocks underfoot. After about a mile there’s a large metal gate and then after another half mile there will be another gate to your right. This is where you can choose to continue straight to hike Little Granite Mountain Loop clockwise or turn here to complete the loop counter clockwise. We decided to continue straight on Trail #37.

Trail #37 followed the mountain side before rounding and descending the next hill. From here there are vast valley views as well as cool boulders and rock formations.

vast view of the boulder strewn hillside

This segment of Little Granite Mountain Loop is very exposed and reminded us of some places in Joshua Tree. The trail was easy to follow with mild ascents and descents. There are areas where you will notice evidence of a relatively recent fire.

After hiking through the desert landscape and random boulders the large rocky mountains get closer and closer. We thought the boulders and the rocky mountain formations looked like a lot of fun to scramble on and adventure through! But, with out late start and the duration of the loop we tried to stay focused and kept moving.

mix of trees and cacti while hiking little granite mountain loop

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We had gone about 4.5 miles on Trail Number 37 before we reached another gate. This is where we encountered an intersection that we hadn’t prepared for… We knew that we were supposed to pick up Trail #261 as the next segment of our loop. But what we didn’t know is that Trail #261 branched off to summit Granite Mountain! When we set off on Little Granite Mountain Loop we had anticipated a summit of some sort. So we were disappointed when we realized that this branch to the peak was not part of our planned loop.

another gate near the turn off to granite mountain summit

Okay, so just do the summit then come back down and continue the loop right?

That’s definitely what we wanted to do! Butttt we weren’t sure if we would have enough daylight to complete the additional miles! If we would have done a bit more researching and planning we could have anticipated this additional destination and started our hike earlier… but we didn’t. And as hard as it was to do, we decided to skip the Granite Mountain Summit. So that’s our recommendation to you – if you plan on doing this loop hike try to factor in this side adventure to Granite Mountain to your hike time and mileage! It looked worth it.

side trip to the summit of granite mountain

Trail #261

So from here we continued on Little Granite Mountain Loop and followed Trail #261 as it paralleled the gorgeous Granite Mountain. The brown and tan rocks making up this towering formation mixed with the dark green vegetation was beautiful! We took in the views and followed the trail as it crossed several small streams and led us into a wooded section. It felt so calm and peaceful to be in the shady woods, hearing just the sounds of the flowing streams and wind through the pines.

We thought it was awesome how different the trail was here from the more exposed area we experienced a mile back. Nice and diverse. We then reached the Granite Mountain Wilderness Area sign and checked out the map before enjoying a late lunch in the shade.

map of hiking little granite mountain loop

Trail #40

Not much further we reached the turn off for Trail #40 – the final leg of the Little Granite Mountain Loop. Turn right here to follow Trail #40 as it climbs up, exposing nice views of Granite Mountain across the way. Just off the trail we noticed an interesting small building with barred windows. There were also some houses that we could see from this section of the trail.

The trail continues to climb, revealing awesome rock formations. Here we found a tiny Horny toad! Before we knew it we were back in the woods, with a lot of ups and downs. There were some pretty neat trees on this section of Little Granite Mountain Loop, too!

After some more climbing, we reached the gate where we rejoined Trail #37 – completing the loop. Just a little bit more up before a mild mile descent back to the parking area.

All in all, Little Granite Mountain Loop was a great endurance hike with nice views and a variety of features along the way. It was also a great trail for getting an idea of the lay of the land. Next time we know how to plan a hike in this area that incorporates the hike up Granite Mountain and some time for some rock scrambling!

Thanks for reading our article about hiking Little Granite Mountain Loop!

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