Trailhead / site map
Picacho Peak State Park
A 1,500-foot desert landmark on I-10 between Phoenix and Tucson that travelers have steered by since prehistoric times. It's also the site of the Battle of Picacho Pass on April 15, 1862, which the park calls the largest Civil War clash in Arizona.
Access
Arizona State Parks, public, fee area. Hours (as of Oct 2026, check the park site): the park is open year-round, 5 a.m.–8 p.m. (gates close); trails are open sunrise to sunset; the Visitor Center and Park Store are open 8 a.m.–5 p.m. from Sept. 26 to May 1 and 9 a.m.–3 p.m. from May 2 to Sept. 25. Entrance fees (as of Oct 2026, check the park site): $10 per vehicle with one person, $20 per vehicle with 2–4 people, $5 per individual or bicycle.
Safety & respect
This is the Sonoran Desert. Carry more water than you think you need, start early, and be off the trails by sunset, when they close. The routes up the peak are steep and strenuous, so check the park's current trail guidance and conditions before you start, and turn back early. Don't dig or use metal detectors anywhere on the battlefield or the rest of the park; it's state land.
Lore note
The park's history says the peak's shape has been a travelers' landmark since prehistoric times, and that the Anza Expedition recorded it in the 1700s. The Mormon Battalion built a wagon road through Picacho Pass in 1846, and the Butterfield Overland Stage carried passengers past it in the late 1850s. On April 15, 1862, Confederate and Union scouting parties met here in the Battle of Picacho Pass. The park calls it the largest Civil War clash in Arizona. The ledger found no sourced ghost story here and doesn't add one.
Map links
Official / public map link · Approx. 32.6460, -111.4012 (public reference only — verify on official maps before travel)
Sources
- Arizona State Parks — Picacho Peak State Park (hours, fees; checked 4 Oct 2026): https://azstateparks.com/picacho
- Arizona State Parks — Picacho Peak park history (C. R. Eatherly; read 4 Oct 2026): https://azstateparks.com/picacho/explore/park-history
- Arizona State Parks — Picacho Peak maps (GPS coordinates to park entrance, 32.645952, −111.401153 WGS84): https://azstateparks.com/picacho/explore/maps
Picacho Peak is hard to miss from I-10: a 1,500-foot hook of rock standing alone between Phoenix and Tucson. Arizona State Parks says it isn’t a volcanic cone. It’s what’s left of a volcanic flow after most of it eroded away. In a good wet winter the slopes turn gold with Mexican poppies in spring.
History, not haunting
The park’s own history gives the peak a long record as a road sign:
- Prehistoric times to the 1700s. Travelers used the peak’s shape as a landmark, and the Anza Expedition recorded it as it passed in the 1700s.
- 1846–1850s. The Mormon Battalion built a wagon road through Picacho Pass. Forty-niners bound for California used it, and by the late 1850s the Butterfield Overland Stage was running through.
- April 15, 1862. Confederate and Union scouting parties met in the Battle of Picacho Pass. The park calls it the largest Civil War clash in Arizona.
- May 30, 1968. The state park opened on Memorial Day. The opening ceremony honored the known dead and wounded of the 1862 fight.
A battlefield attracts ghost talk. The ledger didn’t find a sourced haunting at Picacho, so this page doesn’t carry one. If one turns up in print, it’ll be filed as modern folklore with its source.
Safety callouts
Desert heat. Carry plenty of water, start early, and finish before the heat of the day. Trails close at sunset.
A strenuous summit. The routes up the peak are steep and hard work. Check the park’s current trail guidance and conditions first, and turn back early if you’re short on water, time or energy.
This page is for curiosity and trip planning. It isn’t safety or navigation advice, and Anomaly Ledger accepts no liability for your visit. Check the park site for current hours, fees and closures before you go.
Archivist’s margin
Picacho’s story is that it was always on the way somewhere. The anomaly is a peak this famous having so little folklore attached to it.