Peak 1732 - Swansea Wilderness, AZ

Overview
The Swansea Wilderness sits astride the Bill Williams River, between Alamo Lake and the Bill Williams River National Wildlife Refuge. A 4x4 road leads down to the river in a corridor surrounded by wilderness, where you can access the river and a wash that gives you easy hiking into the heart of the wilderness.


Access
From Swansea Ghost Town, drive or walk the 4x4 road down to the site of the old pumping station, which must have provided water for the mining operation. If you walk from the mine, it will add 4 miles to the one-way trip.

Hike
From the road end at the Bill Williams River, walk back up the road 300 yards and enter the dry wash to your right. At first, there are a lot of fist-size rocks to walk over, but as you get further up, the walking gets pretty easy as it turns to sand and pebbles. Pay attention to the rights and lefts at wash intersections, following the GPS track of the Official Route.


Hiking right, left, or center in the wash is mostly a matter of personal taste. The burros travel this wash a lot, and they usually know the preferred route for easy walking. Follow their shortcuts across meanders and their hard-packed trail along the banks. There is one point they will lead you astray, though. The wash narrows to a 30’ deep ditch. You want to be in the bottom of that ditch, and not up on the bank following the burro track. See the waypoint in the official track.

Eventually, look for a side canyon, and follow it up to a saddle, and then up to the summit of the small peak, where you can admire the many distant peaks to the north, east, and south, as well as marvel at the wilderness just before you. The most obvious peaks are nearby Clara Peak and Potts Mountain. Wabayuma and the Harcuvar Mountains can be seen in the distance.

Check out the Official Route and Triplog.

Leave No Trace and +Add a Triplog after your hike to support this local community.

2022-11-11 GrangerGuy