Coronado National Forest · Arizona

Brown Canyon

4.2 mi of trail, end to end · native material surface · trail No. 115 · trail class 3 · typical grade 8-10% · tread 18-24 inches wide · hiking

Begins at the forest's mile 0, 31.4730, -110.3002 - no trailhead mapped Drive to where the trail begins

Brown Canyon #115 the Forest Service's write-up

Day-use: $8 per vehicle Weekly: $10 per vehicle Buy a pass online, or purchase a pass on site with cash or check. Proof of payment, or a valid Coronado National Forest Annual Pass or Interagency (America the Beautiful) Pass, including the Annual, Senior, Access, or Military Pass, must be displayed on the driver's side of vehicle dashboard. Learn more about accepted passes. · season Year-round to

Brown Canyon Trail
Photo: US Forest Service

Brown Canyon Trail leads into a scenic little canyon with good views and high desert vegetation. A spur trail, the Pomona Mine Trail , leads to the site of an old tungsten mine while the Brown Canyon Trail continues on into Ramsey Canyon. Brown Canyon is a relatively shallow, open canyon carved among rolling hills covered with grass, oak, and mazanita. Its upper reaches provide excellent views of the sheer cliffs of the Dragoon Mountains’ western face, as well as of the Chiricahuas in the distance to the east and the Whetstones and Galiuros to the north. Some people use this trail as an alternate route into beautiful, bird-filled Ramsey Canyon. Using this route means you don’t have to park at the Nature Conservancy’s Ramsey Canyon Preserve visitor center where, if you didn’t remember to get the required parking reservation in advance, you’ll be turned away. Brown Canyon Trail can also be combined with the Hamburg Trail #122 in Ramsey Canyon to make a fine day trip loop. No shuttle is required if you walk the 1.5 miles of road between the Brown Canyon Trailhead and the Ramsey Canyon Visitor Center. You will need a permit to cross Nature Conservancy property on the Hamburg Trail, and you’ll have to leave your horse at home. No horses are permitted in the Preserve. The best direction in which to travel this loop is up Ramsey Canyon and back down Brown Canyon. Another feature to visit along this trail is the old Pomona Mine high on Scheelite Ridge. A side trip of 1.4 miles will take you to the remains of that old tungsten mine and more fine vistas.

Map

Click to download or print.

Restrictions Motorized equipment and equipment used for mechanical transport are prohibited. This includes the use of motor vehicles, motorboats, motorized equipment, bicycles, hang gliders, wagons, carts, portage wheels, and the landing of aircraft including helicopters and drones&nbsp;unless provided for in specific legislation.&nbsp;<br /><br />Horses are permitted on the Brown Canyon and Pomona Mine trails, but not on the trails within the Nature Conservancy Preserve.

This hike on fs.usda.gov

All 392 trails in Coronado National ForestFind a trailForest on fs.usda.gov

About this trail's facts

The lines are the US Forest Service's National Forest System trails layer (public domain), read 2026-10-16 and simplified for the map; the length is the line's, end to end, and the class, surface, grade and tread width are the forest's own entries where it publishes them - a forest that publishes the centreline alone has none. The trailheads and the points along the way are the Service's recreation points, and the write-ups its own recarea text, unedited. Heights come from USGS 3DEP through Terrain Tiles on AWS (Mapzen/Tilezen), read along each line and rounded; a short trail on steep ground can be off by a few tens of feet. Closures change: check the forest's own site before you go.