Picacho State Recreation Area, CA (Not to be confused with Picacho Peak, AZ)

   What do Hueco Tanks (State Park) and Picacho Peak (State Park) have in common?  Hueco means Tank, and Picacho means Peak.  Interesting redundency in the names.





18 mile road into Picacho Rec. Area, CA

 Anyway, Picacho State Rec Area has nothing to do with Picacho Peak State Park, except they both were named for the "picachos" within the park.  To access Picacho Recreation Area, we had to drive down an 18 mile, twisty, gravel road.  It was kind of like driving in snow for 18 miles.  Luckily we didn't need 4 wheel drive, because we don't have it!  Obviously this park is very remote, and had the typical "self-registration" booth where you put the money in an envelope to pay the park access fee. 



Colorado River from the trail

    In the 1800s there was a small town located here, and a lot of gold has been taken out of these hills.  Access was by way of the Colorado River which runs through the park.  Once the river was dammed, there was no more access for large vessels, and the town slowly dwindled away, like so many others.
   We did two hikes here-The Stewart Lake trail, and the Stamp Mill Trail, for a total of about 5 miles.





wild burros



Coyote along the trail



 The Stamp Mill trail was a dissapointment to Paul, since the ruins have not been cared for and are pretty much gone, including all of the remains of the small town.    We did see a fair amount of wildlife, including hawks, jackrabbits, several coyotes, and some wild burros.  In between hikes we came back to the truck to have lunch, and found a note on our windshield.  When I saw it I thought we had parked somewhere we weren't supposed to, but it was actually a thank you note from the ranger, thanking us for paying the entrance fee, and helping to support the state parks. 







     Once we had skated back down the 18 mile road, we headed home for dinner.

The RV Park we are staying in this week is pretty amazing- but I'll save that information for another day.