This hike started at the Rucker Forest Camp Campground. This campground is many miles off any paved road. The CG is at the end of the road, above the old Rucker Lake, lake bed. On my hikes, I encountered forest service personnel(1997). They hiked up Rucker Canyon to survey the stability of the ground, after the Rattlesnake Fire. They stated, once everything had stabilized, the Forest Service would reconstruct Rucker Lake. I can only imagine how beautiful Rucker Lake would be in that canyon.

A hint here. Some of my mapping software shows Rucker Lake off the end of the road, and in the Chiricahua Wilderness Area. My National Geographics Topo accurately shows this. Take water, as there was none when I visited. The Coronado Website has these trails in their "hikes" part of the website.

Bear Canyon starts past the water tank, at the east end of the campground. This is a fairly steep hike with switchbacks until you exit the canyon. You will intersect the Raspberry Ridge Trail which leads to Monte Vista Peak. I didn't go to Monte Vista Peak this day. It was the end of monsoon season, and storm clouds were gathering to the south.

It is possible to make a long, circuit hike over Monte Vista Peak, into North Canyon, and back to Rucker Canyon Road. Didn't encounter a bear, but all the campsites have bear boxes. I heard something scratching in the streambed one evening. I'd rather not know what it was. I did run into a brown snake I couldn't ID. Another, was a California King Snake.

I was there the end of September/early October. Still a few monsoon storms around. I grew up in NE Ohio, and those dirt, forest roads were as slick as any snow/ice covered road when wet.

I cannot tell you the experience of being in some campground, at the end of the road. I spent 3 days here before the weekend, and other campers showed up.