Dinosaur Wash, AZ

The hiking path started out at 2300. The trail descended down to the Hassayampa River bed and proceeds southward. Where the water puddles were outside of the flowing water and had been in the shade all morning, the water was frozen. At 0.7 miles we took a side canyon to view our escape route; up 200 feet, for the first 50 feet, a rope was provided. Nobody elected to test its strength. We returned to the riverbed the elevation dropped to 2200’ after 1.1 miles. We then left the Hassayampa River and entered the famous Dinosaur Wash. According to the available information, there is no evidence of any dinosaur… no fossils. The path was the dry bed of the wash. It gradually proceeded up the wash to mile #3 where we had climbed to 2500; 300’ in two miles is a gradual climb. There is no evidence of where we exited the wash, but it is a narrow path that leads upward to the jeep road on the ridgeline.


At milepost 3.7 we had reached the highest point of the trail 2700’ we were on the ridge hiking along an old jeep trail. If you look southward across the wash below on the horizon is a rock formation atop a mountain that might, with some imagination, be a dinosaur.We had seen several mines along the path including near this jeep road. But there was one site with lots of trash; was this the remains of Hippie Colony or of one of the nearby vertical mine shafts? Until mile 5 the path slowly descended to 2600’. But now the warning was given proceed with care until we reach the Hassayampa River bed, the path was very steep; it dropped 400’ is 0.5 miles; it was loose rocks and small pebbles.
We meet a horsewoman with a second horse on a leash. We had seen several motorized dirt bikes & jeeps in the Hassayampa River bed.

When we returned to the icy puddles on the riverbed, they were still frozen. If rain is likely or it has rained recently, this path should be avoided.

Water Sources
Albeit listed as open to backpacking, the perennial river is just within the first mile.

2014-01-04 TrekSafari