Aravaipa is a wet, slow, off-trail creek hike.
There is almost no elevation gain, but don’t mistake that for easy walking. You’ll spend much of the day crossing the creek, walking directly in the water, picking your way across rocks, and finding the easiest line through the canyon.
Here’s what to expect.
You will get wet
The creek is the trail.
You’ll cross it constantly, and in many places the easiest route is directly through the water. Expect depths of roughly 4–18 inches during normal conditions.
On a warm day, the water feels great. On a cold day, repeated immersion can make your feet very cold.
Plan on wet feet from the beginning rather than trying to keep them dry.
See our Aravaipa footwear recommendations for what works well.
Flat does not mean easy
Aravaipa has very little elevation gain.
But the footwork can be surprisingly demanding.
There is no maintained trail. You’ll walk over cobbles, loose gravel, sand, uneven rock, creekbed and occasional game trails. Some surfaces are wet and slippery.
We strongly recommend trekking poles.
And if you have unstable knees or ankles, Aravaipa may not be the right hike for you.
Expect to move slowly
Our normal hiking pace on a good trail is around 3 miles per hour.
In Aravaipa, we usually average closer to 1.5 miles per hour.
That matters when planning your day.
A six-mile hike here can take much longer than a six-mile hike on a normal trail.
There really isn’t a trail
This is one of the most important things to understand about Aravaipa.
There is no single route through the canyon.
Sometimes you’ll walk in the creek. Sometimes along a gravel bar. Sometimes on an obvious game trail. Sometimes you’ll cross the creek three times in a few hundred yards because that happens to be the easiest line.
Don’t expect a continuous hiking trail.
Don’t try to follow somebody else’s GPS line
Because there is no fixed trail, following an exact track from AllTrails or another GPS app usually isn’t very useful.
The person who recorded that track simply followed whatever route made sense to them that day.
Use your eyes.
Look ahead. Pick the easiest terrain. Cross the creek when the other side looks better.
Navigation is actually quite simple: the canyon is a narrow corridor.
You are either traveling upstream or downstream.
The canyon changes
Floods regularly remodel Aravaipa.
Gravel bars move. Game trails disappear. New channels form. Old routes become awkward and new ones become obvious.
A line that worked perfectly on your last trip may not exist anymore.
That’s part of the experience.
Don’t try to force the canyon to match your map. Look at what’s in front of you and find the best route through it.
It’s shadier than you might expect
Aravaipa looks like a desert canyon on the map, but much of the canyon feels surprisingly lush.
The perennial creek supports a substantial canopy of cottonwoods, sycamores and other vegetation, while the canyon walls provide additional shade as the sun moves across the sky.
You’ll still get plenty of Arizona sun, but this is not an exposed desert hike from beginning to end.
Campsites are usually obvious
Good campsites tend to look like campsites.
They’re flat, elevated above the creek, shaded, and usually covered in smooth dirt or duff. Many established sites also have obvious fire rings.
If you find yourself staring at a rocky patch and wondering, “Is this a campsite?”
Probably not.
Keep walking. The good sites are usually obvious when you see them.
Wildlife is part of the experience
Aravaipa is very wild.
Bears, rattlesnakes, other snakes, scorpions and plenty of smaller animals live in the canyon.
You may encounter them.
For us, that’s one of the best things about Aravaipa. But if seeing a bear or rattlesnake would ruin your trip, this probably isn’t the hike for you.
Wildlife here isn’t an attraction separated from the hike.
It’s part of the place.
