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Portal to Paradise

Creekside Glens, Rare Birds and Fall Splendor Await

This Heavenly Loop Drive

One source says the name comes from the Spanish language, another says it's English. Whatever its origin, El Portal or just plain Portal means "door" or "entrance." Indeed, the tiny village of Portal, on the northeastern flank of the 40-mile-long Chiricahua Mountains, serves as the gateway to magnificent Cave Creek Canyon, Arizona's "mini Yosemite." Heading west from the village, paved Forest Service Road 42 penetrates the canyon's heart, crisscrossing Cave Creek between cave-pocked, multihued rhyolite cliffs. Sycamore, canyon grape, black walnut, Arizona cypress, cottonwood and piñon trees, as well as yucca, dominate the riparian corridor. Black bears, bobcats, coatimundis, Coue's white-tailed deer, ringtail deer, mountain lions, cliff chipmunks, gray foxes, raccoons, rock squirrels and fourspecies of skunks roam the Forest Service campgrounds strung along the creek. And among southeastern Arizona's popular birding hot spots, Cave Creek may be the hottest. Birders from around the world flock to the canyon to fatten their "life lists" with rare species, including the blue mockingbird, berylline hummingbird, Aztec thrush and elegant trogon.

Portal to Paradise

species of skunks roam the Forest Service campgrounds strung along the creek. And among southeastern Arizona's popular birding hot spots, Cave Creek may be the hottest. Birders from around the world flock to the canyon to fatten their "life lists" with rare species, including the blue mockingbird, berylline hummingbird, Aztec thrush and elegant trogon.

Of all the rare birds that live in Cave Creek Canyon near Portal, 86-year-old Sally Spofford may be the rarest. Each morning for more than 20 years she has risen before dawn, summer and winter, to clean and refill dozens of nectar, seed, suet and mealworm bird feeders. More than 215 avian species have been sighted in her yard. On mornings after a midnight marauder a coatimundi or the occasional black bear - has rummaged the feeders, broken jars and tipped feeding trays, Sally puts in extra time repairing the damage. Sometimes, after hosing out birdbaths and tidying up around brush piles, she might pop back into bed for an hour or so. But when the first bird-watchers arrive around 7:30 A.M., Spofford's shady backyard, a wildlife oasis along the banks of Cave Creek, is all in order.

The small sign at the end of her driveway announcing "Birders Welcome" seems unnecessary; bird-watchers worldwide know about Spofford's Rancho Aguila ("ranch of the eagle"), a name that memorializes the golden eagle research of Sally's late husband, Walter Spofford. Most visitors sign her guest register; a few do not, but Sally tallies the numbers from her desk by a window overlooking the yard. "It's been running between 4,000 and 5,000 a year," she says. "But one year, when a rare berylline hummingbird came to the same hole in the same feeder every half-hour all day for five weeks, we had 1,500 that month alone. About 600 pounds of sugar annually go into the feeders for hummingbirds, orioles and nighttime siphoners like the nectar-feeding bats that empty what's left if the coatis and black bears don't beat them to it. Spofford purchases sunflower and other seed varieties in 50-pound sacks. Mealworms - thousands annually she orders by mail. The cost? No matter. For Spofford, who earned a Ph.D. in ornithology from Cornell University, it's a labor of love. Not even a big black bear that wreaked havoc every night for weeks could stop her. Birds, bears, bats, coatimundis and people, too, as long as they're well-mannered are welcome in Spofford's yard.

You can't say you've seen Cave Creek Canyon until you've strapped on your boots and hiked the trails that follow lovely riparian corridors of the creek and its tributaries or climb away from the canyon for spectacular views. Situated on the cusp of the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts, where Rocky Mountain, Sierra Madrean and Great Plains species of plants and animals intermix, Cave Creek Canyon represents a rare treasure of biological diversity. The unique canyon draws researchers who come to the Southwestern Research Station of the American Museum of Natural History. Three short trails offer a good introduction to the area. The Cave Creek Visitor Nature Trail loop begins across from the Cave Creek Visitor Center, about 1.5 miles west of Portal. The Nature Trail, less than a quarter-mile long, runs through the forest alongside Cave Creek to provide an introduction to riparian-zone plant life. As I walk the path, a half-dozen white-tailed deer calmly observe me from trailside thickets.

We see a white-crowned sparrow, red-naped sapsucker, painted redstart, blue-throated hummingbird and a cedar waxwing.

Don't forget your camera for the quarter-mile Vista Point Trail, which climbs to a great spot for viewing Cathedral Rock and Cave Creek Canyon. The 1.25-mile Sunny Flat Nature Trail begins 3 miles west of Portal at the Sunny Flat Campground and winds along the creek past the Stewart and Idlewild campgrounds to the visitors center.

The nearly 2-mile South Fork Trail to Maple Camp rates highly with bird-watchers and seekers of fall color. This path begins at the picnic area at the end of South Fork Road, then follows the south fork of Cave Creek to Maple Camp so named for its bigtooth maples, the only native Arizona trees that produce scarlet leaves in autumn. The relatively easy South Fork Trail crisscrosses the stream through walnut, cypress, Arizona madrone, sycamore, pine and fir trees.

A longer and more strenuous hike up the Silver Peak Trail - rising 3,000 feet in 4.6 miles one-way-proves tough but worth it for its great sights, especially from the summit of Silver Peak. The trailhead lies near the visitors center. Ascending from desert grassland to Douglas fir trees near the burned-out Silver Peak Lookout at the top, the trail affords a panoramic view of Cave Creek, Turkey Creek, the South Fork, valleys and distant mountains to the east.

Cave Creek Ranch, just a stone's throw upcanyon from Sally Spofford's place, also rates as a nature lovers' retreat. Managed by retired university professor Larry Gates and his wife, Terrie, a nature videographer, the ranch consists of rental cottages, cabins, a common room with lecture and dining facilities, a gift shop and a library. Informal nature walks are a regular activity at the ranch. Eager to learn more about the canyon's natural history, I join a group of friends for a morning walk along McCord Trail.

It's fall, not the best birding season, yet we see a white-crowned sparrow, red-naped sapsucker, painted redstart, blue-throated hummingbird and a cedar waxwing. Ubiquitous acorn woodpeckers scold from oak tree branches. I explore the soft creekside sand for animal spoor. "Is this from a mountain lion?" someone asks about a large paw print. "No, that looks like Border collie to me," someone else responds with a laugh. Farther on we find the delicate imprint of a ringtail's paw and the scat of a gray fox, positioned exquisitely deadcenter on a rock.

Crossing the creek, we climb McCord Trail to a ledge above the canyon that provides a panorama of Cave Creek clearly showing the succession of natural habitats rising away from the creek's forest to the grassy uplands where we stand.

The day after hiking the Silver Peak Trail, my weary legs need a rest, so I decide to drive the Portal-to-Paradise Loop. The loop covers about 17 miles, all but a few of them on gravel, but most passenger cars can handle it except when it's icy, snowy or muddy.

The route begins at Portal, traveling west from the village on FR 42. During the first mile, I stop and chat with a group of mountain bikers from New Mexico, here for a day's cycling in Cave Creek Canyon.

At the next stop, the Cave Creek Visitor Center, which closes for the winter, I check bulletin-board postings out front. "Bear Country" reads the headline on a notice warning that a "fed bear is a dead bear." Habituated to food handouts from humans, these creatures become "nuisance" bears and often have to be destroyed by the Arizona Game and Fish Department. No warnings are posted about weather or road conditions, so I proceed.

Deer-hunting season has filled campgrounds along the roadway. I drive through one of them, stopping to fill a bottle with cold well water. Campgrounds here come equipped with bear-proof garbage containers, although by now most bears have denned up for winter. I drive at a leisurely pace, stopping often to check out campgrounds, picnic areas and scenic points.

The road winds up toward Onion Saddle and a connecting spur to one highlights the bright side, the other, the dark.

Two stories circulate about the christening of Paradise Portal to Paradise

(LEFT) Early morning hikers in the Chiricahuas may be rewarded with sightings of shy, white-tailed deer.

(BELOW) Before heading into the backcountry, travelers can pick up such last-minute essentials as cold drinks, insect repellent or local history books at Portal's only store.

Rustler Park. A favorite mountaintop campground, Rustler Park deserves another day's exploration, so I turn onto FR 42B about 3 miles below Onion Saddle. A few miles from the turnoff, along Turkey Creek's oak-juniper woodland, lies Paradise, home to 12 year-round residents.

The Walker House, built there in 1902 by newlywed George Walker, now operates as an inn. It's one of the few original town structures still standing.

Two stories circulate about the christening of Paradise one highlights the bright side, the other, the dark. In the bright-side tale, honeymooners George and Lula Walker, blissfully happy, named their new home Paradise. The other story involves the settlement's short heyday as a mining boomtown boasting hotels, bars and even a red-light district. The hamlet became, according to a 1932 Arizona Daily Star article, a "paradise" for rough customers.

About a mile outside Paradise, the town cemetery sprawls on a slight rise off 42B. The headstone inscriptions include townsfolk who had traveled far from Paradise but returned home to be buried.

The natural habitat here differs from Cave Creek's, and returning to Portal through piñon-juniper forests and desert grassland terrain, I spot a few birds better adapted to a somewhat more arid environment: a scrub jay, cactus wren, black-throated sparrow and an Eastern meadowlark.

At 2 P.M., the lunch crowd has cleared out of the Portal Cafe. I order a sandwich and cool drink and settle by a window to watch a blue-throated hummingbird dart to a nectar feeder in the side yard.

WHEN YOU GO

Location: 264 miles southeast of Phoenix.

Getting There: From Tucson drive 139 miles east on Interstate 10 (beyond the New Mexico border) to U.S. Route 80. Turn south 28 miles to the Portal turnoff (Forest Service Road 42) and turn west. Proceed 7 miles to Portal.

Lodging: Cave Creek Ranch, P.O. Box 16554, Portal, AZ 85632; (520) 558-2334; www.cavecreekranch.com. The George Walker House (in Paradise), HCR, Box 74, Portal, AZ 85632; (520) 558-2287.

Attractions: In addition to the hiking trails mentioned, other noteworthy trails in Cave Creek include the Snowshed Trail, Greenhouse Trail, Ash Spring Trail and Herb Martyr Trail.

Travel Advisory: Carry the Forest Service map covering the Chiricahua, Peloncillo and Dragoon mountain ranges. Topo maps are available for trails.

Additional Information: Trail information may be obtained at the visitors center or at the Portal Store and Cafe. Cave Creek Visitor Center, P.O. Box 16126, Portal, AZ 85632; (520) 558-2221. Douglas Ranger District, Coronado National Forest, RR 1, Box 228-R, Douglas, AZ 85607; (520) 364-3468.