Verde River Falls From the East

Fourteen Skyliners hiked to Verde River Falls on Saturday, 26 November 2011. We met in the Cottonwood Safeway parking lot and loaded into four-wheel drive vehicles. Leaving Cottonwood on Hwy 260, we drove through Camp Verde and turned on Fossil Creek Road. We turned off Fossil Creek Road onto FR 500 and followed it for about three miles before turning right onto FR 9244, which we followed until it ends on the bluff on the east side of Verde River in the area of the falls. FR 500 and FR 9244 are four-wheel drive roads and the going is very slow. After parking at the end of FR 9244 we passed through the gate shown below to hike down to the river.

Trailhead leading from the end of FR 9244 down to the river

About a tenth of a mile ahead the trail splits and one can go right to descend the canyon wall upstream of the falls or left to descend below the falls. For this hike we chose to go left and followed the trail down into a wash, reaching the bottom of the Verde River Canyon where the wash empties into it. It was a gradual descent all the way. However, the riverbank at this point is overgrown with thick vegetation and it is impossible to go upstream close along the stream bank. We instead stayed close against the cliff wall where the going was somewhat easier, but still required us to force our way through brush in places. About a tenth of a mile upstream from where we entered the canyon, we came to an old meander (obviously still used by the river during high water, but containing only a few pools of water now) and crossed over to stop for a snack on the rocky divide between the meander and the stream proper.

Stopped for a snack on the rocky divide between a meander and the 

main stream

After our snack we continued on upstream toward the falls, passing a well-camouflaged Salt River Project measuring station on the way (below).

Salt River Project measuring station with solar panels embedded in the top

There are three noticeable falls along this stretch of the river; I think the middle one is Verde River Falls. I suppose it is possible that all three may really constitute the falls. If that is true, I am at least approximately accurate when I call the middle one the falls. Approaching from downstream, I stopped to take a picture of the lower of the three.

Lower of three falls along this section

Between the lower and the middle falls we passed a couple of canoeists on their way from Clear Creek to Fossil Creek. This was the second day of their journey.

Canoeists on their way from Clear Creek to Fossil Creek

Soon after passing the canoeists we came to the middle and most impressive of the falls. We paused here for a short time to take pictures and listen to the roar of the water.

Middle and most impressive of the three falls

A short distance further upstream is located the third fall. We paused there to enjoy the view then posed for a group photograph.

Upper of the three falls located along this stretch of river

George used the time delay feature on my camera, mounted on his small, lightweight tripod, to take the following group photograph.

Left to right: Mery Womack, Gordon Bice, Lila Wright, Jan PreFontaine 

(front), Dolly Yapp (rear), Virginia Driscoll (middle), Daisy Williams (front), 

Donna Goodman (rear), Betty Wolters (second from rear), the author 

(second from front), Linda Tovar (front), John McInerney, George Everman 

and Jim Manning

According to my GPS the distance from the Cottonwood Safeway parking lot to Fossil Creek Road is 23 miles, the distance on Fossil Creek Road to FR 500 is 1.1 miles, the distance on FR 500 to FR 9244 is 3 miles and the distance on FR 9244 to the parking area is 1.3 miles. The actual hike distance, shown below, was only about 1.3 miles.

Showing the actual hike from the parking area to the river and back

The actual hike from the parking lot and back was 1.3 miles, the highest elevation was 3099 feet and the total ascent was 495 feet.

The included map (below) shows the route to the falls from the Fossil Creek turnoff from Hwy 260. Fossil Creek Road is shown in dark red, Forest Road 500 is shown in dark magenta and Forest Road 9244 is shown in dark yellow. The hike itself is displayed in red.