GENE PERRET'S WIT STOP

hike SINAGUA INDIAN Ruins Await Hikers Along TOWEL CREEK Trail Near Camp Verde

A CLUSTER OF SOUTHERN Sinagua Indian ruins that once served as an outpost for prehistoric trade routes along the Verde River can be explored today along Towel Creek Trail, about 85 miles north of Phoenix, in the Coconino National Forest.

The 700to 900-year-old ruins, reachable by a 5.5-mile one-way day hike on Forest Trail 67 from Forest Service Road 708 southeast of the town of Camp Verde, are among several sites spaced along the river between Phoenix and the Mogollon Rim.

There's another, shorter route to the Towel LOCATION: About 85 miles north of Phoenix.

GETTING THERE: From Interstate 17, take the General Crook Trail, State Route 260, into Camp Verde. Follow SR 260 across the Verde for 7 miles, then turn south on the graveled FR 708 for 8.5 miles to Needle Rock. Parking is limited to a clearing east of the road just past Needle Rock. Don't block the ranch road on the west side.

GROUND POSITIONING SYSTEM [GPS] UTM COORDINATES: Verde Road trailhead, 436864mE, 3809957mN; Towel Tank, 435022mE, 3807699mN; first ruin, 5430721mE, 3807907mN.

TRAVEL ADVISORY: Leave all historical and archaeological artifacts in place. October through May is the best time to hike this trail. Carry water and a walking stick; wear sturdy footwear.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Red Rock Ranger District, (928) 282-4119.

ruins that involves fording the Verde River from the west. Spring high water and summer cloudbursts make this way a gamble, however. Hiking in from FR 708 lets you keep your feet dry to the ruins-all accessible by an easy climb from the main trail. Watch for a yellow fence gate along Verde River Road, about 500 yards south of Needle Rock, that marks the trailhead. A brown sign on the east side of the road, readable only from the opposite direction, offers another clue. There's a wire livestock gate for riders.

Cross the wash, follow the old jeep road for 2.5 miles to Towel Tank, where nearly yearround water provides a haven for Gambel's quail. The trail from the tank to the ruins descends 1,000 feet in 2 miles over tipsy rocks and loose gravel that kept me dancing for balance. I encountered only one other set of footprints on the May hike.

The hump of 5,831-foot Hackberry Mountain appears over your right shoulder and 5,546-foot Towel Peaks over your left. Towel Creek in springtime forms clear, cool pools, but local springs prove unreliable for drinking water, so carry what you need.

Two of the Towel ruins remain wellpreserved beneath sandstone bluffs. The first one you'll spot forms a wall of mudmortared rock across the mouth of a 60foot cave that in summer shelters bats and stinks of guano. Another, slightly smaller, bat-free habitat just to the west features a chimney slot near the roofline.

Rubble from structures that may have stored food is found in other caves. From the ruins, looking southwest, a former ranch building nicknamed the "Salt Shack" for the salt licks once stored there now serves as a hiker's storm shelter.

Rancher Clifford Finch of Camp Verde, who maintains a headquarters near Needle Rock, says hikers stand a chance of seeing cougars, coyotes and mule deer. Towel Creek Trail, rated moderate, proves generally easy to follow. In places where it's vague, hikers have erected rock cairns.

After the hike, head for Cottonwood. Where the town stands was probably a stop for Sinaguans passing northward along Towel Creek, and it is the site of the major ancient settlement of Tuzigoot, now a national monument. Al For families, novices and experts, Arizona Hiking: Urban Trails, Easy Paths & Overnight Treks features a trail mix ranging from urban-area preserves to the Grand Canyon. The book brims with how-to and where-to-go information on more than 70 hikes, plus 120 color photos. To order ($16.95 plus shipping and handling), call (800) 543-5432. Or use arizonahighways.com.