Length: 8 miles roundtrip

Difficulty: Moderate

Wilderness Area: Miller Peak Wilderness

Journal: "The Huachucas" and "Buzz in a Box"

From the Coronado National Monument visitor center, go W for 6 miles to FR 771. Turn N on 771 and follow the road to a gate. Park here if you do not have very high clearance. If you do have a high clearance vehicle, go through the gate and go 1 mile to a fork. Take the right fork and follow it to the end. A small parking area is at the end.

Trail Description:

We did this trail as part of a loop with the Ida Canyon Trail, so this description is from the top down.

From the intersection with the Crest Trail #103, the Oversite Canyon descends gently through a forested area. The views of Mexico are good, but not nearly as unobstructed as those on the Ida Canyon Trail. After one mile you will reach a ridgeline and will cross that to begin a series of switchbacks. These are probably the worst switchbacks I have seen. Steep and washed out, there were several areas where keeping your footing was nearly impossible. I would dread being on these if it was raining or had just rained.

After 3/4ths of a mile of switchbacks, you will reach the creek in Oversite Canyon. From here, the trail follows along on the west side of the creek, quite a ways above the stream bed. Another 1/2 mile downstream and you reach an area where you cross to the east side of the stream. This is where we had gotten lost the first time we tried to do this hike.

After several creek crossings, the trail returns to the east side of the creek. A quarter mile from the end the trail becomes a jeep road and goes past some abandoned mining buildings.

If you did this hike as a loop with Ida Canyon, follow the road back to the fork and then to the Ida Canyon Trailhead.