Aravaipa Canyon East Trailhead, March 27, 2019

Mary Ann and I went to Aravaipa Canyon, east trailhead, on March 27. The canyon was gorgeous! It’s Mary Ann’s favorite place on the planet.

It was a spur of the moment trip. Mary Ann had some days off, and we thought about Aravaipa, but there were no permits available (a permit is required to enter the canyon). On Sunday Mary Ann checked again, and two permits opened up on the east side trailhead, for the following Wednesday! So we bought them, and made plans.

We haven’t been to the east side trailhead before. It’s quite a bit longer drive to get there. We decided to drive to Safford after MA got off work on Tuesday, spend the night, and head to the canyon in the morning. It’s about a 2hr 45m drive to Safford. We stayed at the Quality Inn and Suites, which we were happy with. The cost was $95/night, with nice amenities and a hot breakfast. I was surprised how much Safford has grown, with a lot of options for motels.

From Safford it’s a 1.5 hour drive to the trailhead. It’s about 15 minutes on Highway 70 to Klondyke Road, which is a dirt road that is well graded. About 5 miles from the trailhead you enter the Nature Conservancy land, and the canyon itself is under the Bureau of Land Management. A high clearance 4WD vehicle is required for the last several miles. You have to make quite a few creek crossings (approximately 6), and the water was running strong. I guess it was about 12″ deep for some crossings. About 1.5 miles before the trailhead, there is a parking area and a bathroom. They ‘recommend’ parking there and hiking in, and there is a sign that says a 4X4 is required the rest of the way. We decided our Forester would be fine, and it was. We drove to the Turkey Creek campground, which is where the trailhead is, with several more creek crossings along the way.

You can drive along Turkey Creek, where there are primitive campsites. Creek crossings are also required. We drove up to the Turkey Creek Cliff Dwelling, which dates from about 1400 AD. It was pretty cool.

We then drove back to the trailhead and hiked about 2.5 miles into the canyon (the hike from the east side to the west is about 10.75 miles). There is no trail, and much of the hike is in shallow water (up to your ankles, mid-calf at the highest).

It was a beautiful day! The weather was nice, wildflowers were in full bloom, Canyon Wrens were calling, and the canyon walls were impressive.

The next morning we went to Gila Box National Conservation Area, which will be the topic of a future post.