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| Hiking | 5.00 Miles |
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| | Hiking | 5.00 Miles | 4 Hrs | | 1.25 mph |
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| no partners | | There is an endless web of dirt roads and hiking opportunities north of Lake Pleasant, for this trip I used a combination of Jeep and Feet to go from China Dam to a cluster of petroglyphs north of china dam, but if I didn't have the jeep or younger kids with me this could have easily worked as a longer hike, following cow creek north and south.
Start: Take Castle Hot Springs road north to cow creek road, towards the coordinates listed in the description (of China Dam). Drive as far as you are comfortable in your vehicle, then hike the rest of the way. The Dam (presumably built by Chinese in late 1800s) was interesting to see from all angles, under & above, but most interesting was walking east over the dam, then south through the cave, which was the water overflow that followed miles of aqueduct that are mostly filled in with mud/rocks today, but are still supported by sizable stone walls in many places. Hiking south along this path will eventually take you all the way to Lake Pleasant a few miles south (varies by time of year).
When done exploring the aqueduct which follows the east side of cow creek, head north back to the dam and either hop back in your jeep to get closer to the petroglyph area, or just stay in the creekbed and walk north...less than a mile north of the dam when the creek bed splits, stay left/west and head another 2+ miles north before walking up the hills on the west to clusters of petroglyphs, then return the way you came.
Note that as of late Feb there was running water in the creeks but crossing it was possible in most areas.
Your hike could be longer or shorter based on your vehicle's clearance, and abilities, photos will include geo tagged for you to map your own routes as needed. Castle hot springs road and cow creek road are both dirt roads that most drive in truck, jeep, or atv, but some are able to make it in passenger cars...all other side roads are typically for off road capable vehicles only.
Also not far from this area, are the black caves, which I will include a few photos on (natural caves, also listed on topo map, as are the glyphs on the post, which is probably why only one potsherd was seen between both sites...that said the caves and glyphs were in good shape overall with almost no litter at either site; you may be the only one there, unlike china dam which will have frequent ATV visits until you head south on the aqueduct). |
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Wildflowers Observation Moderate
clusters of poppies around the area, especially on hills west of glyphs |
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