Arizona trails · Railroad Grade
Railroad Grade
A 19.1-mile out-and-back in Arizona, with 412 ft of climbing. Reaches Railroad Tank and other lake/spring destinations. Managed by U.S. Forest Service.
Elevation profile
Most of the climbing sits in the first third — 66% of the ascent, between mile 0.0 and mile 6.4. It gives back about 493 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Reaches
- Railroad Tank (lake)
- Sheep Tank (lake)
- Cold Spring (spring)
- Sheep Spring (spring)
- Colter Reservoir (lake)
- Bull Pasture Spring (lake)
- Draw Tank (lake)
Getting there
Railroad Grade access — parking nearby. About 1 h 04 min drive (39 mi) from Show Low. 34.05419, -109.56821 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On October 14, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 5:57 a.m., the sun rises at 6:22 a.m. and sets at 5:45 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 6:10 p.m. (MST) — 11 h 23 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 38.1-mile round trip works out to roughly 14 h 32 min of walking — more than a single day of daylight here, so plan it as an overnight or hike it in sections.
Loop options
- East Fork + Railroad Grade + West Baldy — 10.4 mi loop, 1,116 ft gain
Nearby trails
- Overland — 15.6 mi