Trekking in the Southwest can bring about a twisting change of opportunities of when is the best time to go. Hiking during the winter season can be slim in many parts of the country, but in the Southwest, it offers for the most part, your best opportunities to get out within mild temperatures, with clear skies, and soak in the therapeutic benefits of Mother Natures Southwest Wonderland.

The streams of our dry southwest mountains are often seasonal as they appear and disappear, dependent on our ever-changing seasonal weather. But, during the late winter and early spring our creeks and rivers are often swollen from snow melt, from bank to bank, as they thread their way through a twisting course of rocky gorges beginning high in the mountains beneath a lush canopy of riparian trees and shrubs.

These mountain streams can produce spectacular and dynamic landscapes and Wolf Creek Falls is just more of Mother Natures eye candy to take in. From its beginning high on Spruce Mountain, it cuts a dramatic passage through granite channels to its confluence with the Hassayampa River. Soon Wolf Creek cascades down a ninety-foot granite bluff to create a wilderness gem.

The Wolf Creek Falls Trail Loop (Trail # 384 also known as the Groom Creek Outer Loop Trail), has approximately a 550 foot elevation change, so traveling the loop clockwise or counter clockwise makes little difference. I started my trek after finding a parking spot on FR 707, where Trail 384 crosses the main County Road 101. Trail 384 is part of FR 707, so parking anywhere on this road is a good jump off point. From here I followed the road (trail) Northward in a counter-clockwise direction.

As you travel northward along FR 707 (Trail 384) you will soon reach a four way intersection of fire service roads and trail marker #383. Follow the trail marker westward for a short distance till you reach Trail marker 384 at which point the trail will descend in a southwest direction till you reach County Road 101. The trail continues on the other side of the road through a steel gate.

The trail descends until you reach Wolf Creek just above the falls. You will hear the falls prior to reaching the creek. After crossing the creek, you enter a wide-open area (this is Wolf Creek Falls Campgrounds), in which there are several side trails to the top of Wolf Creek Falls as well as the middle and bottom of the falls. Venture out and explore. After all, this is what you came for.

After jumping boulders and taking pictures, return to the wide-open area and search for a side trail that will traverse to a granite rock out cropping. At this location you will be rewarded with magnificent vistas of the Hassayampa River gorge and the timbered mountains of Maverick Mountain to the west and Mount Tritle to the southeast. Click, click, snap, snap. There goes the shutter again.

Another side trail will lead to an unknown creek that also empties into the Hassayampa River. This trail to the creek appears to be a continuation of Trail 384, but it is not. So be certain to locate trail marker 384 prior to your side trail ventures. It is located on a single tree in the middle of the open area.

After leaving Wolf Creek Falls Campground, Trail 384 will start a gradual ascent above the Hassayampa River. During this time you will again have opportunities to enjoy vistas up and above the river drainage. After you reach FR #74, the trail ‘T’s’ at this junction, turn southeast (Right) along the Fire Road and continue until you reach the Hassayampa River on its north banks. Another fine place to take pictures.

Continue along the trail and enjoy a shady canopy of Ponderosa Pine and an occasional Douglas and White firs. In this area the river flows through some dramatic granite gorges, lined with a variety of deciduous trees, giving evidence of the cool, moist nature of this drainage. No doubt that this is a nice trek during the spring and early summer.

Soon your trek will reach a junction of FR 79B and Trail 384. At this time your trek will turn northward and ascend sharply for about three-quarters of a mile before starting to somewhat level out. Take your time, like a slow moving trucker climbing up and over a mountain pass. This part of the trek can be a heart pump.

Once you reach about 6,120-foot elevation level, the trail starts to level out. Soon you will come to a fork in the trail with no discernible trail markings. At this point there is no indication if Trail 384 continues straight or bares to the west (Left). To the left, at a distance there is a ‘blaze’ on a tree, (a trail marker), that would indicate that the main trail leads westward. Don’t follow it. This trail leads to a dead end and about one miles worth of wasted time. Continue straight.

After this point the trail continues along and meanders through the cooling forest and finally climbs to County Road 101 in which it crosses and continues along FR 707. For the most part you have completed your loop depending where you have parked. But my jump off point was further up the trail, so I will continue on.

Along the way you will notice a twelve-inch diameter pipeline, which at one time used to carry water from Hassayampa Lake to the Prescott City reservoir. Soon the trail will reach a fork in which Trail 384 will continue northwest (Left) until you reach you destination, end of the loop and your ride home.

Loop trails I believe are the best ways to trek in the wilderness. You are never seeing the same thing in the same way. There is something new around every bend, up every ascent or descent. Trekking a loop trail in the wilderness offers far more adventure then you could with any ‘one way’ trail.

So step into the wilderness and seek out the therapeutic benefits that only creation can provide. The solitude, peace and quite that soothes the nerves, calms the soul and clears the mind of the cobwebs of a modern life. The wilderness offers that gentle hug of comfort that is only found in the grasp of ‘Mother Nature Wonderland’.