Yes the title is a mouth full.
It was the end of a busy day that included a hike to see some petroglyphs, and two outstanding visits to historic missions. But I still saw the opportunity to squeeze in a little more study of the American Southwest. The website for the Tumácacori National Historic Park mentioned a couple of hiking trails with trailheads on their campus and I was intrigued with the Clark River Crossing Trail, as it ran along and crossed the Santa Cruz River in several places. I thought that the flowing water of the Santa Cruz River, something that we had not seen during our 5 days in Arizona, might attract an abundance of wildlife in this dry piece of Earth.
The Clark River Crossing Trail is actually a 4 mile segment of the 1210 mile Juan Bautista de Anza Trail that goes from Nogales, at the U.S.-Mexico border, to San Francisco. The Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail follows the route of the 1775-76 Spanish expedition, led by Juan Bautista, that took settlers from Sonora, Mexico to the furthest reaches of the Spanish lands. They would be the first settlers of San Francisco. The trail travels through Tucson, to Los Angeles, and up the California coast to San Francisco. It passes through the historic lands of over 30 indigenous tribes and recalls the pioneer history of the region. Along the route there is excellent signage that outlines the history, enriching the hiking experience.
Our hike began at the trailhead that is on the campus of the Tumácacuri National Historic Park, site of one of the missions that we visited.
It was late afternoon and the sun sets early in this part of Arizona. We headed out at a bit of a rushed pace, trying to get in as much in as we could. The first part of the trail wove across a plot of land with herbaceous plants and numerous Mesquite trees that provided a tunnel effect.
The soil had more organic matter than we had seen on the other trails that we had been on in Arizona. I suspect that it had been used as a flood plain agricultural field in the past. This part of the trail segment delivered us to the riverside de Anza Trail. A grouping of large Cottonwoods told us that we were entering a more moist habitat.
As we headed north, the trail initially did not provide views onto the river. There were columns of large Cottonwood trees that told us that we were in a riparian (waterside) setting, but we were not actually seeing water.
The trail was open and interesting as at times it dropped down to cross dry creek beds – it seems all creek beds in Arizona are dry.
Eventually we got to a river crossing. In reality it was just a 12 foot bridge over a thread of meandering water that delivered us to a flood plain on the east side of the river.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Santa Cruz River.
History reflects that in past times the Santa Cruz had greater amounts of surface water and the indigenous villages and the missions were located at sites that offered year round water supply.
The flood plain, with its comparative abundance of water, hosted large trees and more herbaceous plants.
We hiked on the open trail of the plain for a short time, but with light fading had to head back.
This hike was fun for me as I got to see two tree species for the first time. The large Fremont Cottonwoods are different from our Eastern Cottonwoods, primarily in its leaf shape, having larger teeth along its margin.
Because Cottonwoods are generally big trees with their canopy high in the air, it is rare that you get to see their seed pods so closely, but I was able to do so here. The capsules will dry and then open to release the “cotton” tipped seed floating on the wind.
Another new tree for me was the Canyon Hackberry, which is found in the Southwest. Like the American Hackberry of the eastern U.S., it has a very textured bark, especially lower down on the trunk. Higher up on the trunk the bark is generally very smooth. The fruit is a small orange berry that is consumed by wildlife. Indigenous peoples ate them as well.
The range map for Canyon Hackberry is fascinating in that it is so widely dispersed, occurring in pockets from the state of Washington to lower Mexico.
One fun sighting was this Scarlet Flycatcher that the photographer captured in a Mesquite thicket. I have since read that Clark’s Crossing is considered a birding hotspot in Arizona, especially during migration season.
And lastly, while we did not see any Mountain Lions, it is exciting to be in the remote areas they call home.
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Photo credits to Peggy Juengling Burns and Ellen Burns. The range map image is from the U.S. Forest Service.
Overview:
Location – 1891 I-19 Frontage Road, Tumacacori-Carmen, AZ, fifty miles south of Tucson.
Parking – large gravel lot. The trailhead is at the gate at the northern end of the parking lot.
Facilities – at the Welcome Center for the Tumácacori Mission.
Trail Conditions – bare dirt and gravel. It is very flat. We hiked a little over 2 miles on this outing.
Print Trail Map Link – https://www.anzatrail.org/trail-status/
Benches – a few.
Picnic Tables – elsewhere on the campus but not on the trail
Kids – four and over should do well but please note the presence of rattlesnakes.
Dogs – welcomed on a leash.
Paired Hiking Trails – none
Links: