Route Editor
Route Scout
Canyons are inherently risky. Flash floods occur without notice on sunny days. Technical skills & surrounding topography knowledge required yet does not eliminate risk.
desert river expedition by Droog  The Agua Fria is accessed here from the Badger Springs trail head. Badger Springs will take you almost a mile in before you see the Agua Fria. This is the north end of the Agua Fria National Monument. To the south is a much longer and more difficult path. In the wet season this hike may not be possible without taking a dip and being potentially dangerous. In the dry season there is around 200 yards of rock hoping before the terrain flattens out and is mostly sandy or grassy river bottom the rest of the way. Obviously depending on weather this terrain can go from 100+ degrees and no water to at least class III rapids. Sometimes the transformation can take moments so keep your wits about you. After the initial rock hopping the sheer canyon walls begin to transform into more gentle slopes. Occasionally transitioning from high grass to some mild bolder scrambles. Around 3.8 miles into the hike there is an old filled in mine on the right bank. This is also a good area to make higher ground if necessary. As you get closer to the Bishop Creek the vegetation should start to get thicker. The water if there is any is most likely on the far east side of the canyon towards the Bishop Creek confluence. On the west bank around five miles in is another old mine this time with a warn out creepy one room cabin to explore. At just 5.5 miles Silver Creek and the associated canyon will come up on the east side. There is a small trail on the south side of Silver Creek leading to the outhouse another half mile away. North of this junction can be hiked to where the Agua Fria crosses Bloody Basin near the bird sanctuary sign. This will add another 1.5 miles but take you by some good crayfish hunting grounds. Warning Subject to seasonal flash floods. Watch the weather and come prepared. Check out the Official Route and Triplogs. Leave No Trace and +Add a Triplog after your canyon trip to support this local community.
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WARNING! Hiking and outdoor related sports can be dangerous. Be responsible and prepare for the trip. Study the area you are entering and plan accordingly. Dress for the current and unexpected weather changes. Take plenty of water. Never go alone. Make an itinerary with your plan(s), route(s), destination(s) and expected return time. Give your itinerary to trusted family and/or friends.
Most recent Triplog Reviews
Badger Springs to Silver Creek Outhouse
Did this one for the wet dry mapping of the Agua Fria. We ate dinner in town Friday night and headed up to drop a car at Badger Springs, then off to Bloody Basin road for a low-key camp out. We camped right down the road from the Horseshoe ranch and right by the Agua Fria, found a few nice trees to hang up the hammock on. Hit the trail by about 7 after a leisurely breakfast and pack up. We headed south from the outhouse over to Badger Springs, mapping the visible water as we went. There was a substantial amount of moisture in the Fria, not too surprising with all of the May precip we got. After we finished up the hike, we had a victory beer under a big Sycamore and headed to Black Canyon city and the Heritage Park to drop off our data and pick up a free t-shirt. Good stuff, worth doing again next year!
2015-06-20 The_Dude
Badger Springs to Silver Creek Outhouse
Summer Solstice wet/dry mapping trip for the BLM/Friends of the Agua Fria.This was the first year I took part in this event. Luckily we were assigned an area that we wanted to do a through hike. On the 14th we went to a 4 hour introduction meeting. We went over the area, process and equipment. All in all it was not rocket science. Basically dropping pins around water sightings.
We started early so we could drop off a vehicle at the silver creek outhouse and make our way back to badger springs before the sun came up. We were close enough as the weather was still cool. We expected 100+ weather and as the BLM guys told us, statistically the hottest and driest day of the year, woohoo! Badger Springs to the Agua fria is almost exactly a mile. Once you get to the AF it is ladies choice so we just started picking our way north. In this direction the rock hopping is only a few hundred yards. After that it is mostly flat open desert when the river is dry. When it is not dry you might have to do some route finding so you don't get wet and at times there are cliffs on either side so depending on the flow you might be getting wet.
Nothing extremely noteworthy other than the lack of water. From the data we seen from the orientation meeting there should have been more deeper pools. This is not a good sign. My very conservative hiking partner refuses to believe there is anything we can do and little cause for concern. I on the other hand subscribe to some, as he would put it, "suspect" science. We saw a few pools with a vast population of crayfish and bullfrog tadpoles and a few birds but not much else. There were signs of critters but actual sightings. On that note I wanted to make a point about bringing a dog. This trail would be pretty dog friendly. It is the heat and exposure that is not that friendly. Take that into account and what time of year your making your journey.
The real fun was about 100 yards from the end point when my hiking partner remembers that he left the shuttle cars keys in his shoes...in my truck...7 miles back that way. Good thing we were on official business. BLM came down from Cortes Junction and shuttled us back to badger springs. This added an hour to the trip easily. As this is our fist shuttle hike I will excuse the indiscretion.
I highly recommend exploring out this way in all seasons. I would also request that next year some more people join us on this adventure. Next year I am going to lobby for Badger Springs south to Sunset point through hike. Some awesome rock hoping in that direction.
Wildflowers
A few flowers around some of the pools. Much more between Baby Canyon and silver creek where most of the water was.
We started early so we could drop off a vehicle at the silver creek outhouse and make our way back to badger springs before the sun came up. We were close enough as the weather was still cool. We expected 100+ weather and as the BLM guys told us, statistically the hottest and driest day of the year, woohoo! Badger Springs to the Agua fria is almost exactly a mile. Once you get to the AF it is ladies choice so we just started picking our way north. In this direction the rock hopping is only a few hundred yards. After that it is mostly flat open desert when the river is dry. When it is not dry you might have to do some route finding so you don't get wet and at times there are cliffs on either side so depending on the flow you might be getting wet.
Nothing extremely noteworthy other than the lack of water. From the data we seen from the orientation meeting there should have been more deeper pools. This is not a good sign. My very conservative hiking partner refuses to believe there is anything we can do and little cause for concern. I on the other hand subscribe to some, as he would put it, "suspect" science. We saw a few pools with a vast population of crayfish and bullfrog tadpoles and a few birds but not much else. There were signs of critters but actual sightings. On that note I wanted to make a point about bringing a dog. This trail would be pretty dog friendly. It is the heat and exposure that is not that friendly. Take that into account and what time of year your making your journey.
The real fun was about 100 yards from the end point when my hiking partner remembers that he left the shuttle cars keys in his shoes...in my truck...7 miles back that way. Good thing we were on official business. BLM came down from Cortes Junction and shuttled us back to badger springs. This added an hour to the trip easily. As this is our fist shuttle hike I will excuse the indiscretion.
I highly recommend exploring out this way in all seasons. I would also request that next year some more people join us on this adventure. Next year I am going to lobby for Badger Springs south to Sunset point through hike. Some awesome rock hoping in that direction.
Wildflowers
A few flowers around some of the pools. Much more between Baby Canyon and silver creek where most of the water was.
2014-06-21 Droog
