Arizona trails · Cottonwood Mountain

Cottonwood Mountain

A 8.7-mile out-and-back in Arizona, with 3,580 ft of climbing. Reaches Sand Tank and other lake/spring/summit destinations. Managed by U.S. Forest Service.

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Length

8.7 mi

Elevation gain

3,580 ft

Difficulty

Expert

Max grade

59%

Steepest mile

+1,307 ft

Tread at ≥10% grade

4.8 mi

Shape

out-and-back

Managed by

U.S. Forest Service

Elevation profile

The climbing leans toward the first third: 51% of the ascent falls between mile 0.0 and mile 2.9. It gives back about 2,100 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.

3-D terrain

USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5

Reaches

Sand Tank (lake)
Kane Spring (spring)
Fourmile Spring (spring)
Cottonwood Mountain (summit)

Heads up

Stream ford: expect at least one unbridged crossing.

Getting there

Cottonwood Mountain access. About 1 h 52 min drive (41 mi, 17 of them unpaved) from Safford. 32.93581, -110.19036 · directions

Daylight at the trailhead

On October 14, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 5:59 a.m., the sun rises at 6:24 a.m. and sets at 5:48 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 6:13 p.m. (MST) — 11 h 25 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 17.3-mile round trip takes roughly 10 h 00 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 4:24 p.m. — 1 h 25 min before sunset.