Weekend Warriors Arizona Hiking Guide

BEN AVERY TRAIL

If an easy and secluded hike though a desert wash to an old spring and petroglyphs appeals to you, then you'll like this hike.

HOW TO GET THERE

This hike is located near Buckeye, AZ.

To get to the trailhead: from the Phoenix area, take I-10 West towards Quartzite, AZ. About 68 miles from Phoenix, exit the I-10 at the Harquahala Valley Rd exit (exit #81) and make a left (South). Stay on the Harquahala Valley road by making a quick right turn after crossing the overpass. Drive 5.0 miles south to the intersection of Harquahala Valley Road and Courthouse Rock Road (also Centennial road). Turn right onto Centennial road, which is good graded dirt. Follow this road for about 7 miles until the road splits at a natural gas pipeline road. There is an information sign for the Eagletail mountains wilderness area here to mark this split. Take the natural gas pipeline road another 4.0 miles to well signed FR013 and make a left on to this road. Drive the final 1.5 miles to the trailhead. Because the road is crowned here and crosses desert washes in places, a high clearance vehicle is a good idea.     

RATING

Be Aware of: Route finding.

30 yr old Recommendation: Easy walking through the desert. It was tricky trying to find the spring. The out and back described here is an Easy hike. 

DETAILS

Elevation change: About 120 ft elevation gain.

Distance: The hike described is 6.0 miles round trip to Indian Spring and back.

Time: It took us 3.5 hours hiking to complete this hike, with a 15 minute stop for a snack.

Time of year: November to March. This is a good hike to do when the weather is cold or cloudy.

Solitude: Very good. We only saw one other hiker all day.    

There is some peaceful and pristine desert west of the Phoenix area. The Eagletail Mountain wilderness area contains plenty of Saguaro, Cholla, Palo Verde, and all those other wonderful desert plants. The hike starts in the shadow of the majestic Courthouse Rock. I've included a more detailed description because there are a number of jeep trails in this area and it's easy to take the wrong one. I've also included GPS coordinates (in parenthesis) in case you are having problems finding the spring. A topo map would be a good idea here.

Miles   Description

0.0     Start of Trailhead via an old jeep road.

0.9     The jeep road enters a wash. Hike in the wash from here

1.6     After crossing a cattle fence blocking the wash, leave the wash and return to a jeep trail on your left.        (N33.46101 W113.38020)

2.2     The jeep trail returns to a wash and follows along side the wash.

3.0     The wash splits here. Follow the left and immediately start watching the right bank. (N33.44550 W113.39761)

After reaching the 3.0 mile mark, follow the wash to the left while keeping your eye on the right bank. Hidden under some brush is the old spring (picture below). On the left of the bank are some rocks with petroglyphs on them. This is a good turn around point for this hike.  

If you accidentally make your way right at mile 2.2 along another jeep trail (like we did), you may run into a game tank. While the game tank is interesting, it's also a good sign you turned the wrong way.

Return by the same route. 

[View of Courthouse Rock]

[View of Indian Spring]

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