Rovey's Needle • Hike • Arizona • All Triplogs • HikeArizona.COM

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Jan 23 2026

LindaAnn

Guides 112
Routes 2,385
Photos 9,508
Triplogs 2,736

45 female

Joined Dec 24 2007
Ahwatukee, AZ

Rovey's Needle

Northwest, AZ

Rovey's Needle

Northwest, AZ

Hiking		Jan 23 2026
		LindaAnn • Triplogs 2,736

Hiking	4.26 Miles	758 AEG

Hiking	4.26 Miles	1 Hour 55 Mns	2.32 mph
	758 ft AEG	5 Mns Break

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trekkin_gecko

Route Recorded on Route Scout | Pop | Map | Popup | MapDEX

Warmup hike for the day. Got started a little after 0700 and it was just light enough to not need headlamps. Headed up the wash, which is easy hiking. There are three spots that have bypasses around some steeper sections of rock. One is at the one mile mark, where you have to make sure to turn right to stay in the correct drainage. There is a bypass to the left of the pouroff.

Farther up, there are two more bypasses to the left of the scrambles, but both Kelly and I thought the bypasses were unnecessary and more work than simply scrambling up or down the rocks. I suppose the bypasses might be more helpful if there was water in the wash.

After that, the wash opened up and the needle came into view. We scramble up to both sides of the base of the needle, looking thru the eye, marveling at the abundant tafoni, and enjoying the views. After a few minutes at the needle, we headed back down the wash. In estimating our drive/hike schedule for the day, I figured we’d get this hike done in two hours, and we came in five minutes ahead of that.

Fun little hike while in the area, and it’s definitely worth checking out.

Wildflowers Observation Moderate
Lots of suncups on the hillsides

_____________________

Stop crying and just go do the hike.

Mar 02 2024

LindaAnn

Guides 112
Routes 2,385
Photos 9,508
Triplogs 2,736

45 female

Joined Dec 24 2007
Ahwatukee, AZ

Rovey's Needle

Northwest, AZ

Rovey's Needle

Northwest, AZ

Hiking		Mar 02 2024
		LindaAnn • Triplogs 2,736

Hiking	4.32 Miles	716 AEG

Hiking	4.32 Miles	2 Hrs 24 Mns	1.99 mph
	716 ft AEG	14 Mns Break

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Route Recorded on Route Scout | Pop | Map | Popup | MapDEX

Second hike of the day was Rovey’s Needle about ten miles southeast from the SARA hike. The most difficult part of this hike is getting parked on the shoulder of the highway.

We immediately dropped into the washbed and followed it up. Easy walking, and the sand wasn’t too soft. Eric was happy to see saguaros, which hadn’t even registered with me. I guess the Vegas hikers notice them more. Most of the rocks in the wash were easy to walk up, but there were a couple of pouroffs that had detours around them. The largest pouroff has a detour on the left side of it, and you have to make sure to turn right up that wash instead of going straight. The wind was starting to pick up while we were in the wash.

Eventually, Rovey’s Needle became visible, and there are a couple of paths that lead over to it. The rock itself is incredible—completely weathered into a honeycomb pattern. You can climb up a ledge on both the west and east sides of the rock, and look through the eye of the needle, which connects both sides. We did not climb through the eye, but opted to walk around to both sides. The west side had an old bench and the more interesting views, the east side had a garbage can full of paper and trinkets. The shade on both sides was great since it was warm. Very windy while we were at the needle.

Once done, we headed back to the wash and retraced our steps down. Even windier at this point, and it felt like we were getting sandblasted. Definitely gusts over 40 mph. At least it didn’t feel as warm. Easy hike back down to the highway.

This hike was also better than expected. Not worth a long drive, but great to add if you are going to be in the area.

Geology

Geology [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Tafoni

_____________________

Stop crying and just go do the hike.

Feb 07 2018

azbackpackr

Guides 30
Routes 528
Photos 5,943
Triplogs 899

72 female

Joined Jan 21 2006
Eagar AZ

Rovey's Needle

Northwest, AZ

Rovey's Needle

Northwest, AZ

Hiking		Feb 07 2018
		azbackpackr • Triplogs 899

Hiking	4.85 Miles	773 AEG

Hiking	4.85 Miles	4 Hrs 8 Mns	1.23 mph
	773 ft AEG	12 Mns Break

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This is a fun hike, worth doing a description for. I went with a small group which included two good hikers besides myself, plus two people who could barely function on rough ground. So, it went very slowly because these women had to negotiate a number of small dry waterfalls, etc. Plus, we got slightly lost, and had to backtrack a short distance to go up the right wash. There is a cairn, and you have to watch for it. You make a right turn at a junction of washes. I got rid of a bunch of useless cairns that don't mark the turnoff. Undoubtedly someone will come along and put them up again.

The destination, a small butte called Rovey's Needle, seems to be a hunk of sandstone (in a volcanic desert?) if I am not mistaken. The weird rock formations there are really cool. The "needle" itself is a hole all the way through the butte that you can easily climb through. There are big ledges suitable for camping in on both sides of the eye of the needle. However, the area is also reachable via rock crawler Jeeps or ATVs, so it is not exactly pristine.

This is almost the northern and western extreme of saguaro habitat, although there is a good bunch of them on the west side of the Hualapais, further north. It was fun seeing the "nurse tree" taking care of the baby saguaros. We don't see that around here too much.

On the way back to the two cars, we redivided the group, a couple of us went on ahead, so that I could get to work on time. Otherwise it was going to be a very long slog, waiting for the others. We were out of there in 40 minutes, whereas it had taken well over 2 hours to get there.

_____________________

There is a point of no return unremarked at the time in most lives. Graham Greene The Comedians
A clean house is a sign of a misspent life.

3 archives

WARNING! Hiking and outdoor related sports can be dangerous. Be responsible and prepare for the trip. Study the area you are entering and plan accordingly. Dress for the current and unexpected weather changes. Take plenty of water. Never go alone. Make an itinerary with your plan(s), route(s), destination(s) and expected return time. Give your itinerary to trusted family and/or friends.

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