Little Hackberry Wash

LITTLE HACKBERRY WASH

Prescott National Forest

Prescott National Forest views from FR9004J

The willows aren’t visible from the paved access roads that bleed into the dirt tracks leading to Little Hackberry Wash.

Sacred datura bloom along Little Hackberry Wash

Nor do the sunbaked, semi-desert grasslands of Prescott National Forest south of Camp Verde look like the kind of place the wispy, water-loving trees would thrive.

A bee collects pollen from a prickly poppy

Corral on FR 323 near Little Hackberry Wash

They’re there, though, and plenty of them, with roots augured into sandy soils that collect rain water and the issue of springs tucked into the hills that cradle the cloistered watershed.

Semi-desert terrain hides its willows

Surrounded by acres of scrub, cactus and spotty stands of junipers, Little Hackberry Wash feeds a slender green corridor of lush mesquite, hackberry and desert willows, many entwined in morning glory and scarlet creeper vines.  Getting to the isolated green-zone is a visually inspiring park-and-walk outing.  Here’s how to do it.

Storm clouds loom magnificently over Prescott NF

From any of the dirt parking aprons near the junction of Cherry Creek Road and Forest Road 323, the trip begins by hiking 1.2 miles west on FR 323.  

View from FR 9004J in Prescott National Forest

Following a rutted 4x4 road, the route makes an easy uphill climb, unwrapping gorgeous Verde Valley vistas. 

Willow and hackberry trees drape over FR 9004J

The heavy- on- the- earth- tones viewsheds are disrupted by showy summer wildflowers including sacred datura and prickly poppies that add pops of white among a gray-green fringe of scrub oak and cliff-rose while attracting clouds of pollinators. 

Shrubby purslane bloom July - September

At the half-mile point, the road crosses a major wash, veers left and ascends the face of a boulder-lined hillside.  

Windmill at the Little Hackberry Well site

Soon, the first of the willows appears where Little Hackberry Wash spills over the road in view of a small corral area and cattle guard.  Just before the cattle guard, a rough road spins off to the right. Although it’s unsigned, this is Forest Road 9004J, which traces the wash, for the second stage of the hike.  

Water pools at Little Hackberry Well

The ragged road makes a gradual climb, crossing the wash several times. It’s in the sandy crossings where the willows make their best showings, drawn out in linear clusters that drape over an understory of colorful wildflowers. Abert’s creeping zinnia, foxtail dalea, devil’s claw, red spiderling and spots of somewhat rare shrubby purslane are a few of the species that bloom from summer through fall. As the hills close in on the road, desert hackberry trees, although present as mid-size shrubs earlier in the hike, suddenly appear as robust trees. 

The 3-mile point raptor nest high in a hackberry tree

The source of the size burst lies ahead. At the 2.5-mile point, the metal blades of the Little Hackberry Well windmill reach above the canopy of the hike’s granddaddy hackberry.

Woolly morning glories and scarlet creepers twine around shrubs

At least 20 feet high, the massive specimen hangs over the windmill and a small enclosure with water tank and concrete well.  The weed-encroached site is a haven for birds, wildlife and the domestic cattle that roam the surrounding rangeland. 

Abert's creeping zinnia

Lush environ along Little Hackberry Wash

Tiny red spiderling bloom April - November

While the well makes for a good turnaround point, the road continues for about another mile-and-a-half, passing by yet another hackberry tree with a huge raptor nest at the 3-mile point before terminating at Little Walnut Spring at the head of a shallow canyon.

Devil's claw sprout woody "claws" post bloom

LENGTH: 6 miles roundtrip (to the raptor nest tree and back)

RATING: moderate

ELEVATION:  4,706 – 5,299 feet (870 feet accumulated elevation gain)

GETTING THERE:

From Interstate 17 about 8 miles south of Camp Verde, take the Dewey-Humboldt exit 278 for State Route 169. Go 5.5 miles west (left) on SR 169 to Cherry Creek Road (a.k.a. Forest Road 372, County Road 75). Turn right onto FR 372 and continue 1.2 miles to Forest Road 323 on the left. Park in any of the dirt turnouts.