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| La Milagrosa Canyon Loop, AZ | |
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| | La Milagrosa Canyon Loop, AZ | | | |
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La Milagrosa Canyon Loop, AZ
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| Hiking | 4.65 Miles |
944 AEG |
| | Hiking | 4.65 Miles | 3 Hrs 42 Mns | | 1.29 mph |
| 944 ft AEG | 6 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | I have wanted to check out the lower La Milagrosa Canyon for some time. My curiosity was peaked while hiking the La Milagrosa, Agua Caliente Loop hike. Rather than just walk up the creek from the junction with the Agua Caliente Creek I headed up the ridge between the La Milagrosa and Agua Caliente Creeks. From the ridge I could see the falls which are quite impressive even though they were dry. I was also able to see the route that would allow me to get to an area above the lower falls and the upper. Access to the creek above the upper falls doesn’t look possible (at least for the average hiker that doesn’t do rock climbing). Getting to the upper portion of this canyon can be from the creek using the La Milagrosa Ridge Trail. Rock climbers use lower La Milagrosa Canyon because of its cliffs and typically use the creek bed for access.
We started the hike from the La Milagrosa Trail head and continued to the Agua Caliente Creek. From the creek bed we went up La Milagrosa Canyon and soon found a user trail that leads up to the ridge between the two canyons. This is a fairly well defined route up to the ridge. There are some good views of both canyons from this ridge. From this peak the route further up the ridge is a little vague but quite doable. After about ¼ mile along this ridge you are above the falls and the route to the falls is visible. We saw a fairly easy route to an area above the first falls and below the second. Really neat area and would be even more interesting if there was water flowing. From the ridge it would be awesome if you were able to witness a flashflood coming down this canyon. From the falls to get above the choke point in the creek we headed back out and up along the hillside on the east side of the creek. This is totally off trail. Once above the choke point we head back into the creek and head down to the point above the choke point.
This was a fun hike and exceeded any expectations I had. The creek was dry with the exception of pools but hopefully with continued storms it will be running soon and at that point I want to come back again maybe this time just follow the creek bed up to the falls. |
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