HikeArizona.COM

From the AZ Daily Sun:

The Coconino National Forest plans periodic midday road closures into Fossil Creek this month and in September, when traffic becomes gridlocked.
Fossil Creek has become so congested that the Forest Service is urging visitors to avoid it on big weekends and in the middle of the day.
Closures would be along the access road heading into Fossil Creek from Strawberry, Forest Road 708, and near the junction of 708 and Forest Road 502, (near Childs).
Traffic is sometimes becoming so heavy in the middle of the day that emergency response vehicles would not be able to get in and out, said Connie Birkland, a spokeswoman for the agency.
Closures would mainly occur between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. and additional vehicles would be allowed to enter the area as some left.
There are camping and fire restrictions in Fossil Creek.
The Red Rock Ranger District is at (928) 203-7500.

Read more: http://azdailysun.com/news/local/period ... z1UI1x6XY4

That dosnt suprise me. Was up there a couple weeks ago, and traffic was bad. Worth the hike to the springs. I have never seen water the color in any AZ streams.

Coconino FS: http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coconino/news/2 ... oads.shtml
http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coconino/recrea ... wild.shtml

A permit system (free) must be implemented limiting the number of people who can use the area each day. Both at the springs and downstream where the road accesses the creek. It's the only way. :SB:

man am I glad I did that in 2005. I actually spent about a half hour at the bottom without seeing anyone. I would imagine that's a rare experience these days.

If you get there before 7am-8am on a Tuesday, you can have scenes like this: http://hikearizona.com/photo.php?ZIP=201615 - my girlfriend and I were the only ones there for about an hour!

I can imagine that the area is getting trashed from the over visitation.

Haven't yet seen any graffiti (unlike the painted lower Salt), and honestly pretty clear of trash (unlike the landfill lower Salt).

Another article from the Payson local newspaper: http://www.paysonroundup.com/news/2011/ ... ar-limits/

A lot of the business operators in Pine/Strawberry want the heavy traffic---restaurant sales, gas, etc. Some in Strawberry want to barricade the road.

They won't need a barricade to keep me away. Crowds are deterrent enough.

The Stillernator wrote:I would imagine that's a rare experience these days.

We went in December. Not another soul or car to be seen the entire day. A little cold for swimming, but great for enjoying the solitude and photography.