I am a bird photographer who delights in photographing birds in the wild as opposed to attracting birds to feeders or, otherwise baiting birds. Photographing wild birds requires patience and a location rich in bird life. With these thoughts in mind, my wife, Marsha, and I made an early May, 2007 "fact finding" trip to the Agua Fria National Monument located approximately 40 miles north of Phoenix, Arizona, USA. To reach the Agua Fria National Monument take Interstate 17 north from Phoenix to the Bloody Basin Road exit, exit 259. Immediately after turning east on the Bloody Basin Road you enter the Agua Fria National Monument.

This is the first view of the Agua Fria River, pictured at right, approximately 3 miles east of I-17 on the Bloody Basin Road. The river, actually a perennial stream at this location, flows through a relatively easily accessed canyon. As you can see, it would be easy enough to hike the moderately graded sides of the canyon to reach the river bottom. Marsha and I, however, did not have enough time to do this at this location. Besides, it was threatening rain!

At about the 4 mile mark from I-17, one encounters the Horseshoe Ranch (pictured at left) which is built along the Agua Fria River. The ranch is absolutely gorgeous! I've not seen too many ranches in Arizona that have their own swimming pool as well as their own "duck pond"! In conversation with a Bureau of Land Management employee (the BLM manages this particular monument) we were told that the owner of the Horseshoe Ranch has tried to get the BLM to purchase the ranch as part of the Agua Fria National Monument. I can only imagine what may be the asking price!

In the distance you can see some of the rain that was falling intermitently during our recent trip. Surprisingly, the day was very, very windy and cold; very unseasonable weather for early May in this part of Arizona. Normally, temperatures would be approaching mid-90°F or higher at this elevation. The cold and rain was just an added bonus to our trip.

I did manage to get out and try to shoot a little, however, it was just too dark from the heavy overcast and the windy conditions. Did I mention it was cold, too? HaHa! On the east side of the river there is a fairly large corridor that makes for easy access (see image, top left). On the west side of the river (not shown) is a fairly dense mesquite bosque that makes for tough going but held the most birds. I didn't make any bird photos but I did photograph a very cold Canyon Tree Frog (image, below left).

I firmly believe this area has great potential as a site to photograph wild birds. I think a photographer could "spot and stalk" along the stream and, also, make good use of a portable "bag blind" in areas away from the stream. Here are just some of the birds I saw on our trip this early May: Cardinals, Bullock's Oriole, Yellow Warblers, Black and White Warblers, many unidentified warblers, various species of flycatchers including Cordilleran's and Ash-throated Flycatchers, and various species of wrens.

Drive another half mile on Bloody Basin Road past the Agua Fria River crossing and there will be a small tributary stream, Silver Creek, and a restroom. The restroom was exceptionally clean, BTW. This is as far from this end of the Bloody Basin Road as folks with low clearance passenger vehicles should travel. Beyond this point the road becomes rougher and a high center clearance vehicle will be needed. The Bloody Basin Road continues across the Agua Fria National Monument, enters the Tonto National Forest, and becomes Forest Road (FR) 269. FR 269 continues east for approximately 10 more miles where it will meet FR 24. Continuing east 12 miles on FR 269 past the junction with FR 24 will take you to a crossing over the Verde River, Sheep's Bridge, where you can gain access to the Mazatzal Wilderness area. Turning right on FR 24 at the junction with FR 269, FR 24 travels south for 38 miles to the small town of Cave Creek, Arizona, USA. The road becomes very rough in several places but, if you have a high clearance vehicle, the scenery along the way is spectacular

The image to the right is a copy of the USGS topographic map for the area presented in this article. Click on the map to view a larger version.

Note: Should you decide to make the trip to Cave Creek via FR 24 you will travel much of the way through the remnants of the Cave Creek Complex Fire that scorched 243,800 acres on 03 July 2005. Though the burn area is recovering surprisingly well after only 2 short years, do heed all travel restrictions, road closures, fire warnings, and campfire restrictions so this area continues a successful recovery.

Enjoy the trip!