Trail Review: Gold Canyon 

Trail Review: Gold Canyon Trails
We hit the Gold Canyon trail system fro the Baseline access, and went clockwise, (Gold Canyon - Cougar - 2Doo - Lost Goldmine - Gold Canyon DT east - K Trail - Vortex - Gila Monster - 2GM - and back to Gold Canyon).
With all the rain we've had over the last winter and spring, a "super bloom" occured. About 6 different plants and catus were all blooming at the same time. They usually bloom at different times with some overlap between two or three variaties of plants. But this year was different. We caught it just right this year to witness a mass convergence, creating a kelidescope of colors. That's a rarity that happens once every ten years or so. You might have a one, maybe two week window at best.
For the most part the trails were not rough, but somewhat rocky, with chicken head to baseball sized rocks lying loose on the trail. It was not uncommon to lose traction up some of the steeper inclines. Several of the rougher sections reminded me of the White Tanks and Estrella competitve loops.
The trails were overgrown with cactus and low lying plant life. We were dodging cholla cactus quite a bit on the west and north sections of our loop. I picked up a couple hitch hikers along the way and had to stop several times to dislodge a little cholla ball from my pack and shoes. Brittle bush almost obscured the trails on the south sections, hiding hedgehog and prickly pear cactus that grew along side of the trails. It took a bit of concentration to keep on the trail and dodge both rocks on the trail ,and cactus hiding on the sides. Occasionaly, we'd hit a rock that would kick us over to one side of the trail or the other, usually into a cactus hidden under the brittle bush.
It was a great ride in total with lots of great scenery of the souh side of the Superstitions and multicolored blooms all around us. I definitely want to go back and do some more exploring.