Phantom Waterfall

For centuries they came for the water, driven by arid heat into a hidden

box canyon where the sweet trickling of a Sonoran Desert waterfall graces granite and gneiss boulders. They lived just outside the mountains, a testament to the waterfall's importance to the Hohokam people's fight to survive in a dry land. They left behind 1,000-year-old petroglyphs, a record of their lives amid the creosote and saguaros of the White Tank Mountains, just 25 miles northwest of downtown Phoenix. Fed by seasonal runoff and rainwater, the 75-foot waterfall adorns the outcrop of rock formed by uplift some 60 million years ago. At the waterfall's base, a year-round shaded pool in a narrow canyon offers a refreshing respite.

Over the years, heavy rains caused flash floods to rush through the canyons to the valley below. Here, where the momentum of the water slowed, depressions or "tanks" created small ponds in the white granite floor, giving the White Tanks their name. It's no wonder researchers have discovered 11 archaeological sites in the boundaries of the White Tank Mountain Regional Park.

The largest park in the Maricopa County Parks and Recreation system with almost 30,000 acres of protected Sonoran Desert, the White Tanks jut 2,500 feet from their base with peaks as high as 4,000 feet. Looming on the western border of metropolitan Phoenix, the weathered rocks' depiction of ancient figures recall long-ago struggles in the harsh Sonoran Desert.

The 1-mile hike to Waterfall Canyon winds through a landscape studded with cholla, prickly pear and saguaro cacti. Paloverde, creosote and ironwood trees rise from hard desert soil. The trail, a level, barrier-free surface, accommodates wheelchairs and strollers for the first half of the hike.

Near the halfway mark of the trail (.4 miles), stands Petroglyph Plaza, the largest collection of rock art in the White Tanks, carved into the rock by strong, weathered hands more than 1,000 years ago. The abstract images of circles, grids, wavy lines and crosses possibly served as location markers, storytellers, prayers and maps. The petroglyphs-etched memories of the people who carved them-stare boldly from the open face of the granite.

The same hands that carved the images into stone farmed the hard soil in the canyons of the White Tanks, using seasonal rains to grow crops. The Hohokam made their homes mostly in the large canyons leading out of the mountains, which gathered rainwater from the peaks. Seven habitation sites have been discovered in these canyons, one covering 75 acres.

Evidence of irrigation check-dams suggests the Hohokam resided year-round. Pottery shards scattered along the nearby Agua Fria and Hassayampa rivers match pottery found in the White Tanks, indicating the Hohokam traveled to these places as well.

After Petroglyph Plaza, the trail turns to desert flooring, narrowing and snaking around boulders with some rocky scrambles, especially in the last few yards. It follows a wash filled with smooth boulders until it dead-ends at the canyon. Even a child could make the necessary climb up the rock wall barrier to the canyon falls.

After a heavy rain, the falls run at full speed and the cool pool at the bottom rises. The pool offers a retreat for toads, lizards and tarantulas. In the night, coyotes, mule deer and other desert mammals scramble through the rocks to drink. Waterfall Canyon is only one of 10 hikes covering 25 miles of the park. Ford Canyon Trail requires a scramble up slick rocks and uphill switchbacks, but rewards hikers with a close-up look at an old abandoned dam and some remote inner areas of the canyons.

Mesquite Canyon and Goat Camp trails bestow sweeping views of the valley on anyone who braves their rugged paths of ankle-twisting loose rock. Most trails also welcome mountain bikes and horseback riders, but Waterfall Canyon trail is for pedestrians only.

Picnicking and camping facilities as well as playgrounds for children round out the park's treasures, and a stop at the White Tank Visitor Center illustrates the area's ancient inhabitants, plant and animal life, and even several species of snakes staring slit-eyed from their aquariums.

But the hike to the hidden waterfall remains the great treasure of the park, proving that the scent of water in the desert draws moderns as surely as it did the ancients. All The Grand Canyon Lures Dreamers, Schemers and Even a Horse Whisperer

over the edge