Gisela Ruins • Hike • Arizona • All Triplogs • HikeArizona.COM

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Nov 16 2024

scout22

Photos 83
Triplogs 5

65 male

Joined Nov 20 2005
Chandler, AZ

Gisela Ruins

Payson, AZ

Gisela Ruins

Payson, AZ

Hiking		Nov 16 2024
		scout22 • Triplogs 5

Hiking	3.25 Miles	240 AEG

Hiking	3.25 Miles
	240 ft AEG

no routes

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no linked trail guides

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no partners

First time hiking to Gisela Ruins, ventured up Cocomunga Canyon to the dry fall before making our way up to the ruins overlooking Tonto Creek and the Box. While up in the ruins 2 helicopters flew by below us following the creek and did a sharp bank in The Box. The fall colors along the creek were very pleasant. Saw about 15 Javelina cross the creek south of the box and had 4 deer pop out of the brush along the creek as we were heading back along with several cows roaming along the creek.

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Jan 17 2020

MountainMatt

Guides 3
Routes 202
Photos 3,513
Triplogs 530

male

Joined Jan 24 2016
Arizona

Gisela Ruins

Payson, AZ

Gisela Ruins

Payson, AZ

Hiking		Jan 17 2020
		MountainMatt • Triplogs 530

Hiking	3.12 Miles	280 AEG

Hiking	3.12 Miles
	280 ft AEG		55 LBS Pack

no routes

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none

no linked trail guides

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partners

BethMarie

Spur of the moment side trip after seeing the “The Box Indian Ruins” on a old topo map while taking a lunch break after a morning stroll around nearby Rye Creek.
Mid sized vehicles with decent clearance and 4WD or AWD can drive all the way to the Box with no problem besides one little steep section at the beginning of the spur road.
Creek crossing was easy and tame as water levels are back to normal giving glistening glory to the calm cool waters of the mighty Tonto.
Ruins were neat, the main large room was impressive and the views were great, not bad for a little afternoon stroll.

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May 30 2018

kenjacobsen

Photos 116
Triplogs 18

male

Joined Feb 13 2003
Tempe, AZ

The Ruins Near Gisela Ruins, AZ

Hiking		May 30 2018
		kenjacobsen • Triplogs 18

Hiking	2.50 Miles	240 AEG

Hiking	2.50 Miles
	240 ft AEG

no routes

Linked

linked

Gisela Ruins

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none

no partners

I wanted to see the actual 'Gisela Ruin' [ [ Gisela Ruins ] ], but didn't bring my Jeep and the water was too high, so I wandered around on the plateau on the west side of the river and found the ruins of a whole pueblo there! I've attached pix. I suspect everyone in the area is well aware of it, but it was news at least to me.

I suspect that the ruin Preston Sands visited was both a lookout and a refuge for all the people living below, to which they could flee if under attack. There are a LOT of such forts, from here all the way over to the area north of Lake Pleasant and areas to the north as well, and they usually have line-of-sight connections with similar forts.

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] HAZ - Selfie

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1 archive

Jun 01 2014

neilends

Guides 8
Routes 16
Photos 183
Triplogs 144

53 male

Joined Jan 29 2008
Paradise Valley/

Gisela Ruins

Payson, AZ

Gisela Ruins

Payson, AZ

Hiking		Jun 01 2014
		neilends • Triplogs 144

Hiking	2.50 Miles	240 AEG

Hiking	2.50 Miles
	240 ft AEG

no routes

Linked

none

no linked trail guides

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no partners

For a hike that featured trash and litter for most of its duration, this will prove to be one of my more memorable ones, because of the ruins. The litter only stopped as I made my way up the hill. It took me some stumbling around, but once I turned a corner and the ruins appeared before me, I was speechless. At least two "rooms" are clearly definable, including the apparent ceremonial chamber that is the largest one. There is a fire pit in the ceremonial chamber. There are at least two entries to the ceremonial room that can easily be spotted.

Not having explored or even found any ruins on my own during my lifetime of hiking in Arizona, I was completely mesmerized and it was hard to tear myself away and go home. The imagination runs wild while standing there in the room, with its expansive views. I assume that the location was strategic, because of the expansive views and proximity to water. The effort to build just the portions of the structure that are still intact was a significant group task, given the hundreds of rocks used and their heavy weight.

I did spot a pair of bluish-grayish herons or cranes on Tonto Creek.

The general advice of hiking along the east bank of the creek is still good. Most of the hike to the base of the hill is on a 4x4 path. I walked for about 10 minutes through unmarked brush to the point where Cocomonga Canyon intersected. If there's a clear path up the hill, I didn't find it.

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"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." --John Adams

Sep 08 2012

TheNaviG8R

Guides 1
Routes 38
Photos 3,193
Triplogs 467

55 male

Joined Jul 26 2008
San Tan Valley,

Gisela Ruins

Payson, AZ

Gisela Ruins

Payson, AZ

Hiking		Sep 08 2012
		TheNaviG8R • Triplogs 467

Hiking	1.60 Miles	240 AEG

Hiking	1.60 Miles
	240 ft AEG

no routes

Linked

none

no linked trail guides

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none

no partners

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Aug 28 2012

Charger55

Guides 4
Photos 542
Triplogs 573

46 male

Joined Oct 19 2010
Mesa, AZ

Gisela Ruins

Payson, AZ

Gisela Ruins

Payson, AZ

Hiking		Aug 28 2012
		Charger55 • Triplogs 573

Hiking	2.50 Miles	240 AEG

Hiking	2.50 Miles	2 Hrs 30 Mns	1.00 mph
	240 ft AEG

no routes

Linked

none

no linked trail guides

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no partners

The reason these ruins are so seldom seen is because they're not that easy to get to. This was my second time here and my first successful attempt at seeing the ruins. Working my way up the hillside left me bloodied and scarred. The rock walls are impressive with good views of the surrounding region including Mt. Ord and some of the other peaks in the Mazatzals. It looks like it might be easier to approach the ruins from the south, if you could work your way through The Box in Tonto Creek. Speaking of which, I wanted to go for a swim but the water was muddy and murky. Instead I just waded ankle high. I worked my way back to the car by sticking to the rock shelf on the west side of the creek, which was much easier than the recommended east side.

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"I've driven across deserts, driven by the irony, that only being shackled to the road could ever I be free"
- Frank Turner "The Road"

Jan 22 2011

Wild Bill

Guides 2
Photos 56
Triplogs 9

65 male

Joined May 18 2009
Deer Creek Az.

Gisela Ruins

Payson, AZ

Gisela Ruins

Payson, AZ

Hiking		Jan 22 2011
		Wild Bill • Triplogs 9

Hiking	2.50 Miles	240 AEG

Hiking	2.50 Miles
	240 ft AEG

no routes

Linked

none

no linked trail guides

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no partners

Let me start off first by sayingI don't post all my hikes, so don't let my lack of posting make you think I'm not out in the. It was a nice cool morning we drove my old jeep across the river and parked, we workedour way along the river bed past the CoComunga Canyon and started our climb no real trail to be found we worked our way up the side of the slope finally coming to the ruins, nice veiws, looking south you could see the Eagle nest in the closed section near Indian farm well, looking north you can see the Diamond point towers and the Mogollon rim

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Salado Structure - Unknown Function

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Oct 25 2010

Charger55

Guides 4
Photos 542
Triplogs 573

46 male

Joined Oct 19 2010
Mesa, AZ

Gisela Ruins

Payson, AZ

Gisela Ruins

Payson, AZ

Hiking		Oct 25 2010
		Charger55 • Triplogs 573

Hiking	2.50 Miles	240 AEG

Hiking	2.50 Miles	2 Hrs	1.25 mph
	240 ft AEG

no routes

Linked

none

no linked trail guides

Partners

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no partners

We attempted to do a trifecta of Tonto Basin Ruins that included Jake's Corner and Black Mountian Ruins. Unfortunately, we came up short on the Gislea Ruins.

Directions to the trailhead are easy enough to follow and it's accessible to smaller vehicles. There is a lot of trash near the trailhead as apparently the area is used as an unofficial junkyard.

From the trailhead we followed the trail until it emptied out at Tonto Creek with a large bare rock area on the west side of the creek. After crossing over we followed the old jeep road until it ended at a spot overlooking the creek.

From here we were uncertain if we went up the rocky slope or down to the creek bed. Since we didn't see a way down we chose to follow the barbed wire fencing up the hill. Wrong choice! And we didn't realize it until we got to a spot that overlooked Cocomunga Canyon. So we back-tracked down to the jeep road and found a spot to drop down to the creek.

From there we walked the bare rock along the creek and to the mouth of Cocomunga Canyon but couldn't find a easy way up the slope to the ruins. With the skies looking threatening, the fear of flash flooding and a little frustrated from our wrong turn we decided to call it a day. Maybe next time...

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"I've driven across deserts, driven by the irony, that only being shackled to the road could ever I be free"
- Frank Turner "The Road"

Oct 04 2009

andy_ellarby

Photos 25
Triplogs 3

70 male

Joined Sep 04 2005
Scottsdale, AZ

Gisela Ruins

Payson, AZ

Gisela Ruins

Payson, AZ

Hiking		Oct 04 2009
		andy_ellarby • Triplogs 3

Hiking	2.50 Miles	240 AEG

Hiking	2.50 Miles	2 Hrs 2 Mns	1.23 mph
	240 ft AEG

no routes

Linked

none

no linked trail guides

Partners

none

no partners

We (my wife Pat and 2 Yorkshire terriers) decided to do this hike as we had just bought a weekend home in Payson and wanted to do some local hikes. The weather forecast said it had a good chance of rain so decided to get out a bit early (for us) and had a few spots of rain getting there but really no rain on the hike, but it did get very windy. This hike ended up being more a Tonto Creek hike rather than a hike to the Gisela ruins which we had a hard job finding. Setting out we followed the directions on the website and parked just after the houses on the right hand side. It looks like there could be more than one way to the creek but we followed the 4x4 trail straight on and found the creek which was a lot larger than we thought it would be, not sure if there had been a lot of rain but looked more like a river than a creek. Anyway we found a spot to cross over without getting too wet, there seem to be a lot of small boulders to go over (not too difficult) before getting to the 4x4 trail again.

Now on the east side of the creek we headed downstream and we saw a large insect carry back a (presumably dead) other large insect. Check the photo out as I have no idea what either of these two insects were. While on the 4x4 trail a large deer ran out right in front of us, not time to get a photo unfortunately. We further wandered down the creek and could see that this had not been hiked for a while, the path (that we took) was not particularly clear, we looked for a better trail could not see, we ended up going down to the creek again as there did not seem to be a way forward, so we walked across many boulders, etc and took some pictures, got the GPS out and found out we had gone too far and the ruins were back a little and way above us. So as it was windy and rain threatening we decided to go back rather than try to find a way up the side of the mountain.

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Tarantula Tarantula Hawk

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Mar 27 2006

PrestonSands

Guides 170
Routes 148
Photos 5,914
Triplogs 2,097

48 male

Joined Apr 12 2004
Tucson, AZ

Gisela Ruins

Payson, AZ

Gisela Ruins

Payson, AZ

Hiking		Mar 27 2006
		PrestonSands • Triplogs 2,097

Hiking	2.50 Miles	240 AEG

Hiking	2.50 Miles	1 Hour 30 Mns	1.67 mph
	240 ft AEG

no routes

Linked

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no partners

I did this hike on my lunch break, on a warm, rainy day. I would have liked to explore The Box area, but I had to get back to work.

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Yellow-flowered Devil's Claw

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Salado Ceremonial Structure Salado Habitation Salado Structure - Unknown Function

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"…you never know when a hike might break out" -Jim Gaffigan

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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