| |
| Summary: |
Devils Canyon is
a technical canyon trip located east of the town
of Superior, AZ near Oak Flat (a popular
climbing area). The canyon involves route
finding, hiking, climbing rappelling and
swimming. To complete this hike you will need:
harness, descending and ascending gear, webbing,
dry bag, 3-4 ropes (we used 2x50' and 1x80') and
a wet suit if attempting this hike during the
colder months of the year. I describe the route
entering via Hackberry Creek. According to
Williams (reference below), it is also possible
to enter from Rancho Rio Creek, but this will
add several miles to your route (the author has
not tried the approach).
Note: This Queen Creek
area in which Devils Canyon is located is
threatened with closure by the Resolution Copper
Mine who have plans to extract copper ore
located 7000 feet below the surface. Check out
the
Friends of Queen Creek
for news, information and tips to take action. |
| Directions: |
From Phoenix,
drive east on Highway 60 through the town of
Superior. Continue east another 4 miles to the
top of the hill and sign for Oak Flat
Campground. Turn right onto the paved Magma Mine
Road and head towards the campground which you
will pass after 0.4 miles. Continue past the
camp another 1.1 miles to a left branching dirt
road which leads through a gate. The road is
suitable for a high clearance vehicle for the
first mile or so, then becomes a very rough 4-WD
road, the last hill before the car park at
Hackberry Creek being the most challenging. Park
next to the windmill in a small valley at the
bottom of the hill.
GPS Coordinates for the car parks:
Rancho Rio Creek: 495138mE, 3682750mN (route not
described here)
Hackberry Creek: 496251mE, 3681763mN |
| Road Conditions: |
High Clearance Vehicle
- if entering via Rancho Rio Creek
4-WD ONLY! - if entering via Hackberry Creek |
| Navigation: |
Moderate |
| Length: |
6-8 hours |
| Date Hiked: |
January 2004 -
most would prefer to do this hike when it's
warmer!! |
| Weather Conditions: |
Sunny and cool |
|
Required Skills: |
None |
| Hike Description: |
From the car park
at the windmill, walk across the road and follow
another jeep road east. After about 5 minutes
leave the road on the right side and enter the
stream bed of Hackberry Creek. The canyon is
wide and scenic with some interesting rock
formations lining the walls. The only obstacle
you will face is one 25' drop off that you can
descend by doing a fairly easy 10 foot down
climb on the left side (note: directions in this
report are given as though you were facing down
stream), then following stepped rock to the
bottom. Just before reaching the junction with
Devils Canyon you'll pass by a large pool. Once
in Devils Canyon, turn right and begin working
your way down stream. The canyon is not as
scenic as Hackberry and is somewhat overgrown
making progress slow. About 1.5 miles of rock
hopping down Devils Canyon will bring you to the
Five Pools area and the purpose of the trip. At
the Five Pools, the canyon narrows into a series
of pour offs, each ending in a deep pool. If
you're lucky, the stream will be flowing and
each of these pour offs will have a nice
waterfall. The first pour off has 2 glue in
bolts on the left and a fixed hand line which
will enable you to down climb a short distance
to a ledge on the left of the pool below (or you
could just jump). If you've managed to stay dry
to this point, your only avenue to proceed is to
do a short swim to the top of the next small
pour off. This one can be descended by either
climbing around on the left, or better yet, if
water is flowing, slide on your butt down a
slick rock slope just to the right of the water
course into the pool below. Climb out of the
pool and rig a short 20' rappel off the bolts on
the left at the top of the drop (leave this rope
in place, you may need it on the way back out)
and swim the large pool beneath. The rest of the
technical section can be bypassed at this point
by climbing and scrambling around on the left
(though the author did not take this route
others in his party did). On the other side of
the pool is the longest rappel of the trip
(about 60 feet, we used an 80 foot rope which
was plenty) into the largest plunge pool the
author has ever seen. Your anchor points are two
bolts on the left (there are also two old,
crappy bolts on the right hand side, which you
should ignore). After swimming the big pool you
will find yourself standing at the top of
another 40 foot drop. Climb down this drop on
the left to a ledge (if the rock is slick, as it
was when I was here, a small tree on the left
can be used as an anchor for a hand line (~30ft
of webbing or rope should do it). Work your way
all the way to the left on the ledge below where
you'll find several dissolution holes in the
rock that can be used to thread webbing through
as an anchor for a 30' rappel into the pool
below (you'll need at least 50' of rope). You
can either rappel directly into the water or
stay to the left and climb around the pool on
the side. The remainder of the Five Pools
section can be descended without rope by
climbing down on one side or the other. When
ready you can return the way you came by either
climbing back up all the ropes you left in
place, or taking the bypass route around on the
left (left side of the canyon when facing down
stream) back up to the top of the big rappel,
then either climb the rope up the 20' rappel or
carefully route find around on canyon left.
Retrace your steps the remaining way back up
Devils Canyon and Hackberry Creek to your car. |
| Rating (1-5 stars): |
The author and his wife completed this with a
group of 6 others in 8 hours. We fixed ropes in
place at all drops and returned by ascending the
ropes. The trip was done on a cloudy day in
January after several days of rain. All
waterfalls were flowing nicely, making for great
scenery. |
| Maps: |
A map of the hike can be found
here - 587KB. |
| Books: |
Canyoneering
Arizona -
Tyler Williams |
| Photos: |
Click picture for larger view, click your browser's 'Back' button to return to this page. |
|
|
