Trail conditions were very good, except for a brief area around 3.4 miles into the hike, where there was a fair amount of overgrowth. The first 1.5 miles are pretty easy with steady, mild uphill grade. After that, the trail does become more steep, but no more than moderate. I decided to take the Benham Trail because I came upon it first while driving up the Perkinsville Rd. from Jerome. Also, it seems as though this is a lesser-used trail to get to the summit. I was the only hiker on the trail this afternoon. The trail does cross the gravel road 3 times before it terminates at the road about 0.5 miles from the Lookout Tower. I would not recommend taking this trail on a weekend because I suspect there would be a lot of vehicle traffic on the FS Road. On this Friday, I didn’t encounter any vehicles on the road while hiking the final segment to the summit. I did hear traffic earlier in the hike. The trail is often in close proximity to the road. Overall, this was an enjoyable hike, though not the most challenging. The views from the summit are great, but limited to about 270°, from east through south and around to the northwest. There are only occasional views of the San Francisco Peaks to the NE. The trail offers a decent amount of shade from trees.