Six Mile Crossing at Burro Creek

A 29-mile Drive to and From Six Mile Crossing on BURRO CREEK Reveals Diverse WILDLIFE

LIKE MOST FOLKS WHO LOVE ARIZONA, I have a soft spot for hard places. I offer no apologies for this affection. I've learned that even the most forbidding landscape holds beauty at its core. Appearances, particularly in the Arizona desert, are meant to deceive. Seen from the highway through the shimmering heat, the terrain does not beckon many. Those who are drawn off the pavement and into the distance, however, always discover some thing, some place of beauty that changes forever their perceptions. Six Mile Crossing on Burro Creek is such a place.

On a good Arizona map, trace down the line in northwest Arizona that separates Yavapai and Mohave counties. Where that boundary line intersects Burro Creek, you'll find Six Mile Crossing.

Burro Creek is a perennial stream that begins in the rocky southern reaches below Mount Hope on the 100,000-acre Spanish land grant, Luis Maria Baca Grant Float No. 5, south of Seligman, in Yavapai County. The creek flows southerly unchecked for 40 miles, then joins the Big Sandy River above the townsite of Signal in southern Mohave County. For 9 miles, the creek flows through the heart of the 27,440-acre Upper Burro Creek Wilderness.

To reach Six Mile Crossing, drive approximately 118 miles northwest from Phoenix on U.S. Route 93. At Milepost 132, a dirt road turns to the right with a sign that reads "Burro Creek Crossing Road," which is another name for Six Mile Crossing Road, as it appears on some maps.

This is as good a time as any to confess ignorance about the origin of the name Six Mile Crossing. My reliable references for name origins are mum on the matter.

From the dirt turnoff, the distance to the crossing is 14.5 miles. Another route to the crossing is the sandy track behind Nothing, Arizona, but that route is too soft for anything but a four-wheel-drive vehicle. And although it looks shorter on the map, the sand track is not graded, and Bureau of Land Management recommends the longer route for travel to Six Mile Crossing. The trip from Burro Creek Crossing Road is safer and more scenic.

Another sign greets you as you turn off the highway asphalt, and it quickens the pulse. “Primitive Road. Use at your own risk. This surface is not regularly maintained. Rough Road next 14 miles.” It’s a clean and smooth dirt road. Any high-clearance vehicle should have no problem making the trip in about 40 minutes at a leisurely pace, unless it has rained recently. With rain, the road gets sticky in some spots, sloppy in others. Other times it can be rough.

Volcanic activity defined much of the area’s landscape 7 million years ago. Scientists describe the resulting jumble of metamorphic and sedimentary rock formations as “complicated geology.” Cowboys just call it rough country.

The elevation at Milepost 132 is 2,600 feet. The dirt road climbs for the first 7.5 miles to an elevation of 3,400 feet near a basaltic formation called Red Knob. There the road branches. The route heading north goes to a place called Sycamore Camp at the edge of the Upper Burro Creek Wilderness. Take the east fork, which continues toward the crossing.

The narrow road cuts into the hillside and winds down through paloverde and mesquite trees; saguaro, cholla and prickly pear cacti; thorny wands of ocotillo; spiky yuccas and grasses such as bush muhly and black grama. Take it slow and watch for approaching dust. Somebody may have to back up on narrow parts of the road if you encounter travelers heading the other way.

The massive flat-topped mountain a couple of miles to the west is called Hells Half Acre. With annual precipitation of less than 10 inches and daily temperatures regularly above 100 degrees, it may not technically be hell’s half-acre, but I bet you can see it from there.

Around every turn, the landscape widens into open space, revealing terrain unchanged except by nature and time. Archaeological findings-grinding stones and projectile points-suggest that Indians lived in the Burro Creek vicinity, probably during seasonal migrations, beginning as early as A.D. 600.

“One lane cattle guard ahead. Bicycles cross with caution.” One can only admire the perceived necessity of such a sign so far from pavement.

You pick up the subtle scent of water before the tops of dozens of cottonwood trees that shade the creek become visible around the last bend. There are several places to camp near the crossing, but none have improvements, such as portable toilets.

You can see the tailings dam of the Phelps Dodge-Bagdad copper mine approximately 8 miles away, but in the environmental parlance of our times, the dam’s visual impact is minimal. You may spot other small mining efforts along the way to the crossing, but these were abandoned due to their unprofitable yields.

Since the 1870s, cattlemen who lived along Burro Creek have worked their tough cow ponies up and down the rough terrain, moving their herds with the seasons. As a result of the riparian improvement project underway at the crossing—a joint project with the Bureau of Land Management, the Arizona State Land Department, the Byner Cattle Company and the Phelps Dodge-Bagdad Copper Corporation—there are no cattle in the area.

Wildlife abounds here. Mosquitofish and longfin dace swim in the pools. From javelinas to herons, toads to soft-shelled turtles, raptors to rattlesnakes, this perennial and ancient stream attracts all the life that abides here.

For hiking upstream, you’ll want to wear river sandals. The creek’s braided channel runs through the banks of cottonwood and willow trees, so you’ll get your feet wet eventually. If you spend the night, don’t sleep directly on the ground. Ants run rampant, so watch where you put your feet and hands.

Return to the highway along the same route. Whether you go for a day of birding and a picnic or for a long weekend campout, Six Mile Crossing on Burro Creek will remind you of what it is you love about Arizona. AH