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Weekend Warriors Arizona Hiking Guide
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If shimmying up limestone narrows appeals to you, Matkatamiba is your hike. This hike is accessed from a river rafting trip on the Colorado River. The mouth of Matkatamiba is located at river mile 148.5 on river left. Be Aware of: Climbing up the narrows requires some scrambling techniques. This is an easy hike. 35 yr old Recommendation: Matkatamiba is my favorite hike on the Colorado river. You have to stop here and enjoy playing in the narrows. Elevation change: About 100 ft of climbing. Distance: 0.5 miles round trip (to the patio and back) Time: It took us about 1.0 hours total. Time of year: Spring, Summer, Fall. Solitude: Not here. Matkatamiba is one of the most popular attractions on the river. Map: Click here for map Matkatamiba is great fun for those of us that enjoy narrow slot canyons. The limestone here makes the elusive 'perfect' narrow to explore, at least for a little while. For those who want to see the patio area without the narrow gymnastics, there is a high walk around trail on river right (looking upstream of Matkatamiba). The eddy at the mouth of Matkatamiba is tough to catch with boats, so be ready. Alternatively, there are two places downstream of the mouth to park a boat and still do this hike, although with a longer approach. This time, we were able to enter the mouth without problem. From the mouth of Matkat, simply head upstream. The limestone narrows are the treat here, as stemming up the walls and scrambling through mini waterfalls is lots of fun. Expect to take more time than normal to truly enjoy these unique narrows. When you reach the end of the narrows, you will have found the patio. The area opens up a bit here (although still obviously a canyon) and you can enjoy the peacefulness of the creek through this lush area. You can explore further up canyon or turn around here like we did.
[narrows of Matkatamiba]
[stemming in the narrows]
[after the narrows in the patio]
[Having fun in the patio area]
We did this hike in October 2007. |
