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| Hiking | 8.00 Miles |
1,200 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.00 Miles | 4 Hrs 30 Mns | | 2.00 mph |
| 1,200 ft AEG | 30 Mns Break | | | |
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| no linked trail guides |
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| no partners | | Humid day to hit the trails, especially for this desert dweller, but the high temperature only got to the low 80s and a breeze at the high points helped matters a bit.
I hiked pretty much everywhere accessible from the visitor's center/lodge area. Currently there are many closed trails and the entire eastern 3 miles of the park trail system (anything east of LaSalle canyon) is currently cutoff (perhaps accessible through an alternate trailhead?) The state park website will list all these trail closures, though it doesn't actually provide a map showing the closures.
There was still some nice waterfall action in St Louis Canyon, but even after some heavy rains earlier in the week, all other waterfalls in the park I could access were already dry, with just plunge pools remaining behind.
Eagle Lookout provided the best area to catch a breeze and a nice spot to eat lunch and listen to action of the boats going through the lock system.
Crowds were not terrible, but you will not find solitude here. Thins out a bit once you get a mile from the visitor center in any direction. Didn't see too much trash (only a small bit in relatively inaccessible places), but there is graffiti on just about every surface as mentioned in other triplogs, luckily none of it is in spray paint and can be mostly ignored.
Significant wildlife is tough to ask for in this narrow state park corridor with the lock system in the adjacent river. Saw chipmunks, squirrels, and a few birds including a great blue heron and pelican that were making use of the river. A few flowers were in bloom, but being well past spring, I wasn't expecting anything more.
All in all a nice day of hiking on well maintained trails, boardwalks, and lots and lots of stairs. |
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Wildflowers Observation Light
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French Canyon |
Dry |
Dry |
| | | Dry at all trail crossings, a stagnant plunge pool exists below the (famous?) upper grotto. |
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LaSalle Canyon |
Pools to trickle |
Pools to trickle |
| | | La Salle canyon was not flowing but had large pools of water throughout most of the canyon |
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Saint Louis Canyon |
Medium flow |
Medium flow |
| | | Nice flow of cool and clear water along the whole canyon and the only waterfall action in the park today. |
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Starved Rock Pool |
76-100% full |
76-100% full |
| | | The dam system supporting the lock was releasing water from substantial rains earlier in the week. Maybe 100000 gallons per minute? Hard to estimate accurately in rivers this large. |
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Tonti Canyon |
Pools to trickle |
Pools to trickle |
| | | Tonti (or Tonty) Canyon is closed to hiking, but I could observe that the canyon is mostly large stagnant pools, with no flow observed where the river trail crosses near its mouth. |
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Wildcat Canyon |
Dry |
Dry |
| | | Dry at all trail crossing and at the waterfall. A plunge pool was observed below the waterfall. | | _____________________
http://hikearizona.com/garmin_maps.php
Hike Arizona it is full of sharp, pointy, ankle-twisting, HAZmaster crushing ROCKS!!
Hike Arizona it is full of sharp, pointy, shin-stabbing, skin-shredding plants!
Hike Arizona it is full of striking, biting, stabbing, venomous wildlife! |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
. Place is OK and some views are great, but way too much human involvement and restrictions. Wooden or paved trails which you can't leave, no swimming, climbing etc.... Also big minus- Trash is everywhere, kinda makes me proud that we don't have it in AZ. Overall: I would not make special trip there, but if you are in the area, why not to stop and see
