Red Creek Re-visited

[welikecamping2]

So, there was a recent thread about missed adventures in your region- maybe adventures you planned but never got around to or some that you may get to someday...

Anyway, that got me to thinking about a trail that I've tried to run but have failed twice. I always planned to return, but didn't get to it in time. Red Creek is fed from a variety of springs and minor (very minor) tributaries up in the Pine Mountain Wilderness of Tonto National Forest (Cave Creek District). It is a popular trail for it's challenges as well as riparian beauty. The good news is that the trail is still open, but no longer to Motor Vehicles. In October of 2021, TNF published their final Travel Management Plan. This trail is not on it. As a side note - neither is Cherry Creek Road in the Sierra Ancha's because a part of the historic road goes through a wilderness area. Anyway, I decided to see if it is possible to get down to Red Creek and see what it looks like now.

I left the city early on a weekday morning and traveled to a known starting point. The corner of Cave Creek Road and Bartlett Lake Road once held a huge Microwave tower. Back in the day this was a popular make-out spot for the remoteness and nighttime views of the city. Often it is a meeting place for people recreating in the Verde River basin. I started my track from here, heading north on Cave Creek Road.


According to OnX, it was 35 miles from this point, so I set my odometer and set off...

At 2.8 miles, you pass Sears-Kay Ruin, an ancient Hohokam hilltop fort.
At 4.5 miles, you hit the end of the pavement, but there will be a couple more patches
At 5.5 miles, you drop into the Camp Creek drainage and there are some cabins that have existed on 99-year leases. It's a cool little spot with about a half mile of pavement. After this you come across the road to Humboldt Mountain L.O. at 9.6 miles.

It is a steep, narrow road, and it's been years, but the last time I went up there, the road was paved. The drive is only 5 or so miles and well worth the effort. The Lookout is historic, built by the FAA in 1940, originally a stone building, then upgraded to a steel tower. It sits next to a giant radome that serves regional Air Traffic Control. From the top, immense views of the Verde Valley across to the Mazatzals, north to Bloody Basin, south to the valley and etc. Anyway, a great view. Sometimes, the lookout will let you climb up, but I've never been up this one. At 11.4 miles, you drop into the Seven Springs Recreation area. There is about a mile of asphalt through this canyon.

 

[welikecamping2]

The Seven Springs recreation area is a small riparian canyon at the junction of Seven Springs wash and Cave Creek. The original campground/picnic area was built in 1934 by the CCC on a raised flat that was protected from floods by channeling the creek through rock walls. It is a pretty spot, with Sycamore, Juniper Oak and a variety of other riparian vegetation. It was closed to camping in 2005 because the access roads kept getting washed out. A new campground was built about a half mile upstream, where the original CCC crew camped while building the campground.


New CCC campground:

The new campground is okay if you need a quick overnight getaway, but not much good otherwise. On the weekends it tends to get overrun and often people who visit are confused about things like how to dispose of their refuse, put out campfires and etc. I tend to avoid areas like this.
Further down the road, the bit of pavement ends for the final time. From here, it's bump and grind...

You should heed this sign if you not at least in a pickup truck. While you can get further up this road in a pv, this is the only way out for you without a shovel and a lot of pain. This is at 12.4 miles and you start a climb up to around 4000'.

From this point, you are on your own. On this day, I got super lucky, as a grader was smoothing out the bumps a bit..


I followed along behind him for a mile or so, until there was a spot wide enough to pass. This was the last person I saw at 15.7 miles
where the New River trail connects

 

[welikecamping2]

Leaving the grader behind, the road got a bit rougher, but still not bad. I had just installed Bilstein 5600 shocks and steering stabilizer, so maybe that had something to do with it. From here, it's miles of winding dirt road, with big views all around.

a few miles later, you hit the first of two big drops. Each a mile plus narrow winding drop into 51 Ranch at mile 24.



51 Ranch was established in early AZ history and the story goes that the rancher was facing a drought, losing all his stock and maybe the ranch too. He decided to make Cowboy Art, and that saved the ranch. This stone building has always been here, though not always looking so dapper.

At about 30 miles you open up into Bloody Basin. From here, you can go left to the interstate about 27 miles away, right to Tangle and Red Creek and further 12 miles to Sheep Crossing on the Verde River. There is a low-water crossing at Sheep Crossing, but the path changes often and it's best to know what you are doing. Remember, no services.

On down the road, you follow Tangle Creek for a bit, a nice riparian area with a perennial flow

Climbing out of Tangle Creek, the road becomes significantly rougher and about a mile past, at 33.1 miles, you come to Red Creek Road, that's it on the left.

From here, the road degrades significantly, to where it is basically a rough two-track

I've always found the camera never does justice to just how rough it is. This was a nasty, washed out off-camber section. I made it to the end of my track at 35 miles. The road goes on, but I stopped for a couple of reasons...

Like I said, the image does not do the difficulty justice. At this point, the road drops for another quarter-mile into Red Creek. This curve hides a nasty washout, off-camber and deep ruts. With my SxS, no sweat. With a lifted truck, no sweat. With a spotter, piece of cake. Without any of that and being solo, I decided prudence was the better approach and backed out. No, I mean, I backed out. There was no turning around here. Anyway, down in that valley, off in the distance is Red Creek. I thought about hiking down to it to get some pictures, but I was too lazy, and besides, I have lot's of pics at home. Unfortunately, I could not locate any of those pics, so, sorry. At this point, I backed out and found a nice camping spot to spend the night.

Had some dinner, a few beers and called it a night.

 

[welikecamping2]

 

[EX121]

Thanks for the trip report.