Hassayampa River Preserve

If you are a frequent visitor to this blog, you know that we do love history and this area around Wickenburg is rich with history! There are the first people, first settlers: the Yavapai. Then there is "recent" history, the 1860's, in the Congress area, when a massive gold deposit was found in a place they named Rich Hill. This brought many gold seekers to the Valley of the Hassayampa which continues to this day! Many residents of North Ranch spend their time out in the hills to the north east gathering buckets of dirt which they bring back and run through their temporary wash--hunting for gold dust.... We just enjoy the scenery!

So, after traveling by this Preserve, part of the Nature Conservancy, many times these past two years, we finally stopped mid January for a visit! It was a treat! See for yourselves! Here are some pictures of our visit. Its history goes back to the "recent" history of this area--after the gold seekers settled down to ranching in the late 1800's. Then in the 1920's to 1930's, tourism picked up, and this ranch became a "resort", the spring-fed lake was expanded to enable water skiing on the lake! Thankfully, all settled down as the conservancy took over, allowing Palm Lake to return to its four acre pond and marsh habitat, where over 280 species of birds nest within or migrate through the cottonwood-willows in the preserve. It is a bird watcher's paradise! We learned to identify a javelina footprint from the visitor's center, and located several javelina tracks as we walked the trails at the preserve. So in our recent trips around North Ranch in the Blue Buggy, we knew what to look for! There are other animals to find at the preserve:  mule deer, raccoon, bobcat, ring-tailed cat, and even mountain lion!

Main building--at one time the Ranch House

The Trail, heading around the "lake"--man made when a resort in the 20's - 30's

Palm trees planted during the "Resort" Phase of the facilities

More of the "main" trail

Main trail....

Hassayampa River through the Preserve

The Hassayampa River Preserve is a riparian habitat of the Sonoran Desert, where a cottonwood-willow forest supports some of the desert's most spectacular wildlife. The river flows 100 miles through the desert, mostly underground except within the preserve.

We saw a blue heron by the river. He stood very still, thinking we did not see him...! You can see his reflection in the water almost better than actually seeing him!

There is much to see and do here, depending on your interests! We enjoyed the coolness of the shade as we were walking along the water. We noticed many side trails, offering the visitor several options for exploration, depending on time and schedules. Since no dogs are allowed (rightfully so!), we kept our visit within three hours.

The Hassayampa River Preserve is now part of the Vulture Mountain Recreation Area, in partnership with the Maricopa County Parks and Recreation Department. Stop by if you are in the area! Don't wait as long as we did for a visit!

Later! Paws and Friends--SWIRVIN around the Northern Sonoran Desert!