Badger Brawl-Cliff-Walk-Esplanade Loop

Badger Brawl-Cliff-Walk-Esplanade Loop

Phoenix Sonoran Preserve

Mountain views on the Esplanade Trail

If the human brain has a “dangerous things archive”, an image of a roaring desert wash ought to be seared into it. 

This hike exposes the power of running water.

For Arizonans especially, the fear of running water should rank right up there with snakes and heights.  Although storm water raging through usually-dry channels solicits choirs of oohs and ahhs, the flows are definitely not something to mess with.

Creosote smells wonderful after rains.

They can go from trickle to torrent in minutes.  Driving, riding or hiking through them is extremely risky and potentially deadly. Need more evidence? Next time you’re hiking by a creek or wash, look up into the trees. Those wads of debris dangling high above mark where the water was.

Wash and creek bed crossings are key features of the hike.

That’s why it’s always smart to steer clear of trails that cross waterways until the swells subside. It only takes a day or two for the trails and crossings to dry out enough to pass through safely. Also, not using trails when they are wet and soggy helps prevent the kind of damage that ruins drainage systems, creates dangerous conditions and encourages the blazing of “work around” paths that destroy native vegetation.  

Skull Mesa framed by greenery around Apache Wash

A good place to observe the force of water in a desert landscape is in the north sector of the Phoenix Sonoran Preserve. Hedged between the Carefree Highway and Sonoran Desert Drive east of Interstate 17 in north Phoenix, the chunk of pristine desert holds many surprises.

The trails here offer a diverse menu of options including moderate ridgeline rambles, barrier-free strolls and easy explorations of the wily water alleys that permeate the area. 

A healthy saguaro on Badger Brawl Trail.

A hike on the easy-rated Badger Brawl-Cliff Walk-Esplanade loop on the preserve’s far east end is one of the best ways to explore the transformative powers of water.

Using trails when they are wet causes damage like this.

The circuit begins with a short walk on the Apache Wash Trail which traces a ragged drainage fringed with greenery.  Soon, the trail dips into the first of several wash crossings where signs warn not to attempt when water is running. 

Ironwood trees dot the desert plains.

The circuit is flat and easy.

Above the washes, sunny stretches of classic desert are dotted with saguaros, cholla and isolated patches of mesquite and Palo Verde trees that throw bits of shade on a flatland littered with basalt lava blobs and milky quartz.

Filaree or Stork's Bill grows along the trails.

Where the route wanders through open desert, mountain views--dominated by Skull Mesa and Black Mountain to the north--bolster the horizons.  

Heed this warning.

The  2.9-mile Cliff Walk Trail tethers the three legs of the loop with a traverse of the banks above the Cave Creek river channel. Scattered boulders, plant dregs and frazzled edges of the waterway document the ferocity of flash floods.

Phoenix Sonoran Preserve Trails are well-signed.

The return leg of the trip follows the level grade of the Esplanade Trail--an unfettered space of quiet beauty safe from the sporadic deluges of creeks and washes.

Black Mountain (right) seen from Apache Wash Trail.

LENGTH:  8.56 miles

RATING: easy

ELEVATION: 1720 - 1910 feet

GETTING THERE:

Apache Wash Trailhead, 1600 E. Sonoran Desert Drive, Phoenix.

From Loop 101 in north Phoenix, take Cave Creek Road exit 28 and go 4.5 miles north to Sonoran Desert Drive. Turn left (west) and continue 3.5 miles to the trailhead on the right. The preserve is open daily from sunrise to sunset. There are restrooms but no water at the trailhead.

HIKE DIRECTIONS:

From the trailhead, follow Apache Wash Trail (AW) 0.5-mile to Badger Brawl Trail (BB). Continue 1.55 miles on BB to Cliff Walk (CW) and hike it 2.9 miles to where you’ll swing back on the Esplanade Trail (E).  There’s a shortcut roughly halfway up CW that cuts 2.25 miles off the big loop. Follow Esplanade 3.4 miles back to AW, veer left and hike 0.73 mile back to the trailhead.

INFO & MAPS:

https://www.phoenix.gov/parks/trails/locations/sonoran-preserve/trails

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