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Arizona trails · Painted Bluff

Painted Bluff

A 10.5-mile out-and-back in Arizona, with 2,467 ft of climbing. Reaches Lower Cottonwood Spring and other lake/spring destinations. Managed by U.S. Forest Service.

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Length
10.5 mi
Elevation gain
2,467 ft
Difficulty
Expert
Max grade
27%
Steepest mile
+650 ft
Tread at ≥10% grade
4.1 mi
Shape
out-and-back
Managed by
U.S. Forest Service

Elevation profile

4,164 – 6,630 ft12345678910

The climbing leans toward the middle third: 51% of the ascent falls between mile 3.5 and mile 7.0. It gives back about 1,240 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.

3-D terrain

3-D terrain view of Painted Bluff

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

Reaches

Heads up

Stream ford: expect at least one unbridged crossing.

Getting there

Painted Bluff access — parking nearby. About 1 h 51 min drive (61 mi) from Safford. 33.17212, -109.37270 · directions

Daylight at the trailhead

On October 14, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 5:56 a.m., the sun rises at 6:21 a.m. and sets at 5:45 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 6:10 p.m. (MST) — 11 h 25 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 21.0-mile round trip takes roughly 10 h 15 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 4:36 p.m. — 1 h 09 min before sunset.

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