Part Of My Hike Of The Blackjack Peak Trail and Old Maverick Peak Trail

I hiked the New Maverick Peak Trail as part of my hike of the Blackjack Peak Trail and the Old Maverick Peak Trail.

The same trailhead (the Maverick Trailhead) leads you to all of these trails.  There is a fork in the trail where you can branch off to the left to Blackjack Peak or bear right to continue to the Old and New Maverick Peak loops.  The New Maverick Peak Trail is the same trail as the Old Maverick Peak Trail, only a longer, extended loop.  All of these trails are lollipop-shaped.

The Blackjack Peak Trail was a beautiful, enjoyable hike.  I had to cross a shallow stream 5-6 times.  The water was running strong after the previous day's rain.  The Blackjack Peak Trail takes you back into an area with some very scenic, rocky cliffs (no climbing allowed).  The trail was fairly well-marked with red diamond blazes on the trees or rock cairns on the ground, except where the trail loops back.  That section of the trail could have been better marked.

The rest of this log will discuss the Old and New Maverick Peak Trails.  After finishing the Blackjack Peak Trail, I decided to continue my hike of the Maverick Peak Trail since I was already on the mountain.  You will not see any "New" or "Old" Maverick Trail signs.  The "old" trail used to be a shorter loop, but the "new" trail has now been extended to a longer loop.  This is a Class 2 trail so there is a lot of elevation change involved.  It is a good workout.  The weather improved as I hiked and it became very scenic.  I saw some falcons and wild turkeys, as well as a horny toad lizard.  At the far end of my hike, I did a little exploration of a dirt logging road, but eventually turned around after a short while because I did not know where it went.