Hassayampa River Preserve



Hassayampa River Preserve
 One More Time

Road Trip #-13 day started out at the McDonald's in Wickenburg Az.
McDonald's is the leading global foodservice retailer with more than 31,000 local restaurants serving more than 58 million people in 118 countries each day. More than 75% of McDonald's restaurants worldwide are owned and operated by independent local men and women.

The Nature Conservancy
 Protects Earth's most important natural places
for you and future generations
through great science and smart partnerships.
They protected more than 119 million acres of land and
5,000 miles of rivers worldwide and
they operate more than 100 marine conservation projects globally.
They have more than 1 million member.
They work in all 50 states and more than 30 countries.

In Arizona, the Conservancy has helped protect more than 1.5 million acres. Included in those acres are the Conservancy's 12 preserves in Arizona. Six of the preserves are open to the public.
The Hassayampa River Preserve has been a nature lover's and birder’s paradise since it was purchased by The Nature Conservancy in 1986. Once part of the Frederick Brill Ranch, the Preserve is now listed on Arizona’s State Register of Historic Places.

The preserve features desert cottonwood/willow riparian forest, desert fan palms, plus Sonoran Desert species such as saguaro, barrel and cholla cactus, mesquite, paloverde, and spring wildflowers. The Preserve provides habitat for more than 280 resident and migratory bird species.

The Colorful History of the Hassayampa Preserve

On the preserve grounds you will encounter a former ranch house and stagecoach stop and a family grave site with a tragic story to tell. The Hassayampa River Preserve and headquarters was once a part of the Frederick Brill Ranch, now listed on Arizona’s State Register of Historic Places. The adobe core of the Visitor Center was built in the 1960’s. Brill raised cattle and operated a stagecoach way station, raised fruit from extensive orchards, and raised carp in the spring-fed pond.

In 1913, the ranch became one of Arizona’s first guest ranches. Travelers stop into the Visitor’s Center with tales to tell. One talked of playing poker in the center’s kitchen with ranch hands from the guest ranch and being allowed to ride palomino horses along the clear, cool river. Another told stories of a trailer park that used be on the property and of people water-skiing on the pond in the 1960’s

In the mid-1800’s the area around Wickenburg was considered untamed with raids by bandits and Apaches quite common. One unsolved murder remains attached to the preserve property. In 1886, the Martin family, after threats and unfair business practices of a competitor in the mercantile business, packed up their belongings and left their home to resettle in the Phoenix area. The family was ambushed just south of Wickenburg. The entire family was murdered and their bodies burned. Ranch hands from the Brill Ranch went to investigate. The owner of the ranch asked that the family’s remains be brought to the property for a proper burial. The burial site of the Martin family remains on the preserve property today. Look for it on the right as you drive down the entrance road.


Along the river live such species as Gilbert's skink, zone-tailed hawk, Mississippi kite, yellow-billed cuckoo, willow flycatcher, mule deer, javelina, and ringtail; over 230 species of birds have been recorded at the preserve


Location 49614 N. U.S. Hwy. 60
Wickenburg, AZ 85390
Call (928) 684-2772 or e-mail bmccollum@tnc.org

Palm Lake where waterfowl, otherwise uncommon in the desert, are a major attraction

The well-preserved cottonwood-willow gallery (Frémont cottonwood and Goodding willow) is one of the most threatened forest types in North America

Palm Lake


At Palm Lake, a four-acre pond-and-marsh habitat, live five species of rare desert fish: bonytail chub, Colorado River squawfish, razorback sucker, Gila topminnow, and desert pupfish


Desert Fan Palm-Washingtonia filifera
The Fan Palm is the fastest grower of all.
They can grow 1-2feet per year.
But then they can get up to 100 feet,

Tree Fungus

The Preserve depends upon entrance fees to carry out its conservation activities. Enetry fee is $5 per person; Conservancy members $3; children under 12 are free. Visitors can purchase an annual pass for $25 that allows access to the Hassayampa River Preserve as well as Ramsey Canyon and Patagonia-Sonoita Creek preserves in southeastern Arizona.

Wiped Out

1 comment:

SHEEPS CROSSING TRIP



Federal Aviation Administration



Humboldt Mountain is a mountain summit in Maricopa County in the state of Arizona (AZ). Humboldt Mountain climbs to 5,125 feet (1,562.10 meters) above sea level. Humboldt Mountain is located at latitude - longitude coordinates (also called lat - long coordinates or GPS coordinates) of N 33.981149 and W -111.798481.





The Arizona Hang Glider Association







DIRECTIONS:

In Carefree, AZ, take Cave Creek Rd. north 15.1 miles to
campground sign. Turn left at sign into campground.

NOTE: After 5.9 miles, Cave Creek Rd. becomes dirt, narrow, rocky
and irregular.

GENERAL COMMENTS:
The elevation is 3,300 ft.
The campground is pack it it, pack it out and was built by the
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1934. Stonework found
throughout the campground is example of enrollees workmanship.

Campground is adjacent to the flowing Seven Springs Wash under
large Sycamore and Walnut trees. It is scenic and a good example
of a Riparian environment below hills of a Chaparral environment.

There is no understory or ground vegetation.

An excellent day trip from the campground is a visit to the
Sears-Kay Ruin, located about 10 miles south on Forest Rt. 19.

The site, comprised of about 40 fortified rooms in 5 compounds,
was first occupied by the Hohokam tribe around 1050 A.D. It was
first discovered by soldiers on patrol from Camp McDowell. The
site is located on top of a hill about a mile from the trail
head. There are picnic tables, ramadas and grilles at the trail
head.



Mike Seven Springs Wash




Welcome to the Great Western Trail

GREAT WESTERN TRAIL ARIZONA SECTION

Cave Creek-Skunk Creek loop, Cave Creek

The area around Cave Creek, north of Phoenix, offers outdoor folks a terrific variety of trails to explore. A loop of the Cave Creek and Skunk Creek trails leads first alongside Cave Creek, lush with vegetation, then climbs up and over rocky desert hills, giving hikers panoramic views.


The Cave Creek Trail begins at a large parking area about a quarter-mile beyond the Seven Springs Campground. Check out the large wooden map of the area's trails before you start, making note of trail numbers, as well as names; some of the signs along the way list only numbers.

The first section of trail is fairly level and well shaded, leading through stands of Arizona sycamore and cottonwood. As you progress, the trail begins to meander up and down, but never strays too far from the creek.

This is really the best part of the hike. Not only is it cool and shady, you're serenaded by the constant burble of the creek.


After crossing the flow, the trail climbs high, providing good views of the area you 've just traversed. Across the way stands a rare crested saguaro, its distinctive topknot easy to make out even from a distance. Eventually, the trail bends to the south and meets the Skunk Creek Trail (No. 246), not quite four miles from the trailhead.

From the junction you can return to the trailhead the way you came or loop back on the Skunk Creek Trail. (Note: At least one guidebook refers to this as the Skunk Tank Trail, and it does indeed pass by Skunk Tank.)


As the trail switchbacks steeply away from the creek, gaining about 1,000 feet over the next mile-and-a-half, it quickly changes character, leaving behind the rich, riparian corridor and leading into typical Sonoran desert. The vistas open up considerably as you ascend, allowing great views of the surrounding areas.

A little more than two miles along the Skunk Creek Trail, you reach the junction to the Quien Sabe Trail (No. 250), which comes in from the south. Stay on the Skunk Creek Trail, which veers left down an old minin g road, wide but rather steep in places.

About 2 and 1/2 miles beyond the Quien Sabe junction, you reach the Cottonwood Trail (No. 247), which leads about half a mile back to the trailhead.

In some places the signage is a little sparse or confusing. If in doubt, remember that Trail No. 4 is the Cave Creek Trail. Allow five to six hours for the moderately strenuous 8.9-mile loop

Where: From downtown Phoenix go north on Interstate 17. Take Exit 223 and proceed east 11.7 miles on the Carefree Highway. Turn north on Tom Darlington Road. (Scottsdale Road goes south at this point.) Continue two miles to Cave Creek Road, then turn east. The turnoff to Bartlett Lake is 6.3 miles beyond Tom Darlington Road; the pavement ends 4.5 miles beyond that turnoff. Continue on the graded but washboardy gravel road seven miles to Seven Springs Campground. The trailhead is about a quarter-mile beyond the campground.


When: Spring, fall and winter are best.
Difficulty level: Moderately strenuous.
Length: 8.9 miles round trip.
Details: (480) 595-3300.




CARTWRIGHT RANCH




Old recked blazer



Sheeps Crossing in Yavapai County, Arizona, USA.

Latitude: 34.67083 : Longitude: -111.93778 : Elevation: 3200 ft
Sheep’s Bridge is a footbridge that crosses the Verde River approximately 25 miles northeast of Cave Creek, AZ (about 50 miles northeast of Phoenix, AZ). Shepherds use the bridge to move their flocks between the high country and the desert

















Road Kill Jack Rabbit

Agua Fria National Monument
Agua Fria National Monument covers an area of high elevation desert around the boundary between the Sonoran cactus lands and the grass-chaparral belt, one third of the way from Phoenix to Flagstaff, alongside interstate 17. The monument is only 10 x 20 miles in extent and like other new preserves in Arizona such as Ironwood Forest there are few signs of its existence, just a few notice boards at the start of the 3 dirt tracks that cross into it from the west. The centerpiece is the deep canyon of the Agua Fria River, which is bordered by two grassy mesas, split by various smaller valleys. As well as the protection of the abundant natural life sustained by the river corridor, the monument was established to preserve hundreds of ancient sites - ruins, pictographs, etc. - which are found dotted around the hills and along the river. Visitor activities include camping, bird watching, general exploration and in particular, hiking down the canyon.

Horseshoe Ranch of Bloody Basin
 The far-flung Horseshoe Ranch of Bloody Basin is one of the largest and finest cattle ranches in central Arizona, and dates to the early 1880s when its cattle roamed all the way from the Bradshaw Mountains to the Verde River. As seen today, the ranch headquarters--fields, pond, trees, and buildings--appear as a valley oasis poised on the edge of the spectacular rugged semi-desert mesa country that surrounds it.


The beauty of this region coupled with an abundance of significant prehistoric sites caused the President of the United States, in January 2000, to set 71,000 acres of it aside as the Agua Fria National Monument, a unit of the Bureau of Land Management's National Landscape Conservation System.

This easygoing trail passes through some spectacular, remote scenery east of the Agua Fria River as well as in the Agua Fria National Monument. In dry weather it is suitable for highclearance vehicles, but in wet weather it becomes impassable, as signs at the start and finish of the trail warn. In addition the ford through the Agua Fria River near the western end of the trail can be temporarily impassable after heavy rain. Special Attractions: Access to the Verde River; Easy, scenic trail along Indian Spring Wash. High-clearance vehicles are preferred, but not necessary. This trail is dirt roads, but may have rocks, grades, water crossings, or ruts that make clearance a concern in a normal passenger vehicle. The trail is fairly wide, so that passing is possible at almost any point along the trail. Mud is not a concern under normal weather conditions.

MORE PHOTO'S OF ROAD TRIP #-12

The End!
3 comments: