Feature – Bloody Basin Trek (Part 1)
Native Americans to modern frontiersmen
We entered the Agua Fria National Monument via Bloody Basin
Road and began our trek in the dirt. This monument contains about ten major
Indian ruin complexes within its boundaries. Some of the sites consisted of as
many as 300 rooms constructed by their ancient inhabitants.
Bloody basin gained its gruesome name from the numerous
skirmishes between the U.S. Army and Apaches here, most notably from a battle
that occurred at Turret Peak north of Cave Creek, Arizona. In March of 1873,
Army Scouts closed in on a group of Apaches at this site during the night and
then attacked them at dawn. Nearly all were captured or killed during this
raid.
Bloody basin gained its gruesome name from the
numerous skirmishes between the U.S. Army and Apaches here, most notably from a
battle that occurred at Turret Peak north of Cave Creek, Arizona.
We set out one mild winter day to explore this area and put
some more dirt between our tire treads. Our group of five vehicles entered the
Agua Fria National Monument on the Bloody Basin Road. The monument is a
70,900-acre expanse of high desert perched north of Phoenix. It has been set
aside for preservation of wildlife, riparian areas, and some significant Indian
ruin sites.
Hohokam Indians lived in this area from about 800 to 1400
A.D. Apache Indians and, later, Spanish explorers followed them in the 1500s.
For those who choose to do some research, there are substantial ancient ruin
sites that can be visited on foot, but may require hiking a fair distance.
There are many remains of pueblos that were constructed from native stone using
a method where gathered stones were stacked to build walls and then stabilized
with mud mortar. Roofs were typically constructed from timber and straw.
Visitors can also observe many pottery shards at these sites, along with petroglyphs
carved on rock faces.
We covered about 80 miles on dirt during our long day in the
Bloody Basin area, but barely scratched the surface of this diverse outdoor
environment. We visited several old cabins along the way and made a trip down
to the Verde River, a historic sheep herding route.
We covered about
80 miles on dirt during our long day in the Bloody Basin area, but barely
scratched the surface of this diverse outdoor environment.
There are many other 4WD and dirt roads in the area, along
with outstanding hiking opportunities in the canyons and riparian areas along
the water paths. There’s still much more for us to explore.
We followed Bloody Basin Road for a good distance through the
monument and then onto Tonto National Forest. We were mostly at elevations between
3,500 and 5,000 feet. The area contains semi-desert grasslands punctuated with
exposed rock having a wide variety of color.
We encountered only minor water crossings on this winter
day. A few of the road crossings have concrete barrier spillways, while others
are natural sandy bottom. Substantial rains can make some of these spots
impassable without a major dunking. Chad Bellis drives this ‘10 Jeep JK on
37-inch Goodyear MT/Rs.
Chad Bellis drives
this ‘10 Jeep JK on 37-inch Goodyear MT/Rs.
