Weekend Warriors Arizona Hiking Guide

POLAND CREEK

If a secluded walk into a remote desert canyon with seasonal water appeals to you, this is your hike.

HOW TO GET THERE

This hike is located near Crown King, AZ.

From the Phoenix area, take I-17 North to the Bumble Bee exit (#248). After driving on a paved road for a bit, this road (FR259) becomes good graded dirt. About 22 miles from I-17 (and 3 miles from the town of Crown King) just before and within site of mile marker 25, there is a pullout on the left side of the road. It may be difficult to see the trail here right away, but within about 100 yards of hiking, there is a sign and trail registration.

RATING

Be Aware of: Rattlesnakes, bounder hopping, swimming opportunities

30 yr old Recommendation: The solitude is great on this hike and the opportunity for secluded swimming is a real bonus. This is a Moderate hike.

DETAILS

Elevation change: about 1000 ft decent into the canyon

Distance: 3.0 miles round trip.

Time: It took us three and a half hours with a 30 minute stop for lunch.

Time of year: Fall, Spring, Summer (hot, but swimming available)

Solitude: Great solitude here. Once we got off of the very popular FR259 road, we were all alone with the desert critters.  

It's a pretty drive (and long) to get here, but once you start hiking off the FR259 road, the solitude quickly surrounds you. The trail drops 1000 ft into the canyon home of Poland Creek. Within the first few hundred yards, you will pass a few signs and a trail registration. The signs tell you that you are on the Algonquin Trail. The trail doesn't appear to get much use, but is easy to follow. We stumbled upon a happy sleeping rattlesnake who was napping right in the middle of the trail. Since there was no way around him, we had to ask him politely to move to another bed, which he did, but not without letting us know (via his rattle) that he wasn't happy about it.

After walking down about 1.5 miles, the trail crosses Poland Creek. The trail continues up Horsetheif Canyon and deeper into the Bradshaw mountains, but we left the trail here and headed downstream. Here the hiking turns to boulder hopping. During the spring, you can find pool after pool here, all looking inviting for a swim. We found what we thought was a nice swimming hole here and were about to dive in when we noticed a large bee hive in the tree overlooking the pool. We quickly relocated. Not to worry, there were plenty of pools to choose from.

After a lunch and a refreshing swim, we headed back up the 1000 ft climb to the car.

[One of the many seasonal swimming holes in Poland Creek]

[More pools in Poland Creek]

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