Pine trees along the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service (FS) Bob Bear (formerly Fossil Springs) Trail or Trail Number 18 which descends approximately 1400’ for four waterless miles to the cool water springs in the Fossil Springs Wilderness, in the Tonto National Forest, AZ, on Sept. 25, 2019.
The Bob Bear trail starts wide and smooth but becomes progressively rockier as this strenuous trail winds its way down into the canyon and the cool water of the springs. Here a variety of tall trees line the riparian areas. Hike a few miles further, and you reach the trail’s end at the remains of a historic decommissioned dam.
Fossil Creek Dam was built as a diversion dam to divert water from Fossil Creek via a flume that ran down the canyon. The 1908 dam, flume, power plant, and other facilities were decommissioned in 2005, allowing Fossil Creek to run free for the first time in nearly 100 years. The creek was granted the designation “Wild and Scenic River” in 2009, one of only two rivers given this special designation in the state of Arizona (the other being the nearby Verde River). The site is in Fossil Springs Wilderness was established in 1984. The pool below the dam is affectionately known as “the toilet bowl” by visitors who trek nearly five miles on strenuous desert trails to this swimming hole.
Over the years, these calcium laden waters have laid down huge deposits of a type of limestone called travertine. That rock-like substance encases whatever happens to fall into the streambed, forming fossils and the Creek’s name.
The Bob Bear Trail name honors the prominent cultural figure Robert “Bob” Bear, a Korean War veteran, and Desert Conservationist and Explorer with the Sierra Club (1946-1978). Bear was born and raised in Fossil Creek and recognized as knowing the most about Fossil Creek.
The Bob Bear trailhead is frequently mistaken for one of the several other trailheads that go to Fossil Creek, further down from the spring. Unlike the other eight parking lots and their trailheads in the Fossil Creek, the Bob Bear Trailhead parking lot DOES NOT provide direct access to Fossil Creek’s water and Flume Trail! See map at fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd492963.pdf
For more information on how to continue the adventure in Fossil Creek, see fs.usda.gov/recarea/coconino/recarea/?recid=75356. More photos at flic.kr/s/aHskzXcaZn.
usda.gov
USDA photo by Lance Cheung. Original public domain image from Flickr