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| Hiking | 1.00 Miles |
700 AEG |
| | Hiking | 1.00 Miles | | | |
| 700 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | I hiked up to the New River ruins with two friends using the directions from Dave Wilson's book, "Hiking Ruins Seldom Seen, 2nd ed". We drove east on the dirt road (Table Mesa rd) from exit 236 on I-17 for 0.9 mi and then turned left through a gate. There was some confusion at this point because Dave Wilson's book says there is a sign at this gate marking the entrance to state trust land and that you are supposed to have written permission from the State Land Department to enter. There was no sign and we thus assumed no permission was required, just close the gate after you pass through. The road was in good condition through the New River bed upto a rock quarry. From that point on it started getting progressively worse with a deeply rutted section and some very rocky sections. High ground clearance and possible 4 wheel drive are required from this point on. We parked at a parking area on the southeast side of the ruin mountain approximately 5 road miles from I-17 where there is a Tonto National Forest information kiosk. GPS N33.96282/W112.05980. I posted a GPS track for the drive from I-17 to this location which may reduce some confusion at road intersections.
There is no trail to the hilltop so you must pick your own route up the hill through a dense thicket of the dreaded Teddy Bear Cholla. There were thousands of Cholla puff balls littering the ground which would get stuck to the side of your boot and then get transferred to the calf of your opposite leg as you step forward. If the barbs make it through your pant leg into your skin they can be very painful to remove. Long pants are a must. However, if you take your time and are careful at picking your path you can avoid direct contact with these spined monsters. The Cholla thins out as you get nearer the top.
The flat hill top is surrounded by a cliff which can look somewhat insurmountable if your not in to rock climbing. However there is a notch in the cliff on the south west side visible from the parking area which can be climbed with careful selection of hand and foot holds by those of us who are unskilled in rock climbing. There are supposed to be some petroglyphs on the rock walls along this notch but we were running short of time so I only glanced at the rock walls and all I saw were modern petroglyphs/graffiti. The ruins have a number of rock walled rooms. The walls have mostly grumbled down to a height of a couple of feet. There is one complete four walled room with doorway approximately 3 to 4 feet high but the top 1 to 2 feet appears to have been from a restoration. The views were fantastic as they usually are from these Hohokum fortified hilltop sites. I was surprised at how close we were to the northern Phoenix - Cave Creek area. |
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