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Has anybody been to the Verde River around the town of Rio Verde? You take Dynamite rd until it ends around 160th st or something and then go north a few miles. I went there a couple years ago and had a blast. We jumped off the cliffs, attempted to throw up a rope swing and just had a few beers and had fun. We cleaned up our stuff and left everything better than we found it since it was a nice place and there was probably only one other family there. Just yesterday I went again and there was at least 50 people and it seemed a quad for every person, which was used primarily to tear the hell out of the shore and spew dust, mud and water on everything around it (they were driving them through the river where it was only a couple feet deep). The sound of mariachi music from somebody's truck was still audible for at least a half mile upstream, the trash was spread out a little farther than that, and to top everything off, my friends shoes got stolen by some little kids.

I'm tempted to go back and explore farther upstream because there were some cool little rapids and some awesome rock formations jutting out of the water, but I'm afraid to park my car there for longer than an hour or so when I'm not around. In case anybody has heard anything good about this spot, just don't go. Very sad that something so nice could be ruined so badly.

The area that you are refering to is called Needle Rock. I was there a few years ago, more or less by accident, on a weekday evening. There was a guy fishing in the river, and it was a beautiful place. I was scouting locations to shoot pictures of Four Peaks for a friend's wedding invitation. It was even used as a location in a Quest TV commercial.

I took my girlfriend at the time to Needle Rock as recently as a year ago, and pretty much found it to be in the condition that you describe. I was really embarrassed, because I spent all week hyping the place up and she was excited to go. We ended up leaving within 5 minutes of getting there. It's a shame.

That's funny you say that because I was pretty much in the same situation with my friends. I hyped it big time for at least a few days and was completely embarassed when we got there. I even feel pretty responsible for those scumbags stealing my friend's shoes...