Take a Hike!

Unlike nearby Rock Hound & Spring Canyon State Parks, Mahoney Park is not a recreational area, it gets it's name from the vernacular of the Rocky Mountains, a Park is defined as  "a lofty well watered plain or prairie shut in on all sides by mountains"  Mahoney Park is nestled between the main range and a series of smaller mountains, It is named after J.A. Mahoney, merchant and mining magnate, who once owned the property.  Mahoney in partnership with others or by himself, owned and operated mines through out the county, the majority of which were productive.

My first stop was the Park/Hill Top Claim mines, having heard that there were twin adits dug into the hillside, I was eager to find them. What I found did not disappoint, even if it didn't live up to expectations. My goal on this day was to hike up the ridge road that rises high into the Florida range in a series of switchbacks and inclines.   I started at the Park Mines, elevation 5240 ft, the road climbs to 6600 ft.  Working my way up the road at a slow but steady pace, I followed a set of mule tracks (had to be a mule, I don't think a horse could make it all the way up),  the road gets steeper and rougher as you go, ruts & rocks are the rule not the exception.  This road is the only path to the Mahoney Mines (located on the eastern slope, just below the ridge.  Longing to reach the mines I plodded upward,  before  I finally gave out at 6200 ft., just one long torturous incline from reaching the crest.