Roper Lake and Dankworth Pond, May 3, 2022

Mary Ann and I made our annual trip to Aravaipa Canyon. We went to the east side trailhead, and, as in previous years, we decided to go to Safford, spend the night, and go to Aravaipa the next morning. We took advantage of that first day by visiting Roper Lake State Park, which is near Safford. We left at 7:30 AM and got to Roper Lake State Park at 10:30 AM.

The thing that struck me about Roper Lake State Park was how well developed and maintained it was, especially being in such a sparsely populated area. There were lots of paved trails, picnic areas, cabins for rent, parking spaces, and a visitor center. The park ranger at the visitor center was very nice, and she was a birder. She said that Roper Lake is the best ebird hotspot (i.e. the most birds) in Graham County. The lake itself is pretty small and easy to walk around – about 1.5 miles.

While we were there we saw lots of Yellow Warblers – more at one time than I’ve seen before.

The ranger told us that the price of admission ($10) was also good for Dankworth Pond State Park, which was just 4 miles down US-191. So that was our next stop.

Dankworth Pond is a man-made pond about 1/2 mile around. It is fed by a warm spring. We walked around the pond, but didn’t see much. There were some other trails there, which we didn’t take, but might be fun on a future trip; the Dos Arroyos Trail, which is about 2 miles, and goes to a recreated Indian village, and the Dankworth Village Trail, which is about 1 mile.

We left at around 4 PM, and then checked into our hotel. We stayed at the Best Western Desert Inn, and were happy with it. On past trips we stayed at the Quality Inn & Suites, but their prices had gone up quite a bit. We ate dinner at Casa Mañana, which was typical Mexican fare.

My next post will be on our trip to Aravaipa Canyon the next day.