Fish Well - windmill
Written: October 11, 2023
This hike is described on pages 126 to 131 in Tomasi's guide. Elevation at the top end is 5750, at the lower end is 5300. One way distance is 2.2 miles, with an elevation gain of 450 feet.
The hike boiled down to walking FSR-4039 from end to end and back again, along with a bit of wandering along the way. FSR-4039 goes from FSR-4113 at the southeast end to FSR-165 at the northwest.
You should of course be asking, "where the heck is FSR-4039?" (Not to mention FSR-4113.)
On our visit we drove I-19 to the Continental road exit then drove southeast as if going to Madera Canyon, but turned off onto FSR-62 and drove through Box canyon and nearly to the route 83 highway. We could equally well have driven I-10 to 83 then south on 83 to FSR-62. Just as FSR-62 turns to pavement, the Greaterville road (FSR-229) turns to the right and immediately becomes dirt again. We continued to the confusing 4 way junction where FSR-165 is the right turn and goes rather steeply uphill. We continued on this into Ophir Gulch, watching for where FSR-163 branches off to the left. This FSR-163/FSR-165 junction doesn't look like any big deal, but it is a useful reference point when driving in this area.
To get to the upper end of FSR-4039, drive another 1.4 miles past the 163/165 junction. This is pretty much where the road first gets to the top of the ridge and where you can get views of the big radio antennas on Melendrez Pass. FSR-4039 is marked and there is a good sized parking area along with a number of appealing campsites.
Getting to the lower end of FSR-4039 is harder to describe. It involves finding FSR-4113. Here is one way. Drive Highway 83 to the Gardner Canyon road (FSR-92). Drive 0.7 miles to the junction with FSR-163 and turn right onto FSR-163. Drive on FSR-163 about 6 miles where you can turn right onto FSR-4113, then drive 1 miles to the FSR-4039 junction. At the time of our visit, FSR-4039 was not marked at this junction.
I'll repeat Tomasi's advice to not drive FSR-4039 unless you have a good 4x4 vehicle and know what you are doing. The road in general is in good shape, but there are some terrible steep and rocky sections that few would enjoy. Hiking is more enjoyable (unless perhaps your game is challenging yourself on 4x4 roads). It is only 2.2 miles and we are hikers, not drivers, right?
To be honest, if I did this hike again, I would do it from the lower end (FSR-4113) and not bother hiking the upper part of FSR-4039. The upper part of FSR-4039 is steep and not all that interesting. The most interesting parts of the hike are the windmill at Fish Well and the ancient 140 year old corral there. Some might find the dam interesting that you can visit with a bit of a side trip.
We began at the upper end and down the road we went. The road is pretty steep, steep enough to make you pay attention to keep your footing. After about 0.5 miles you reach a junction. If you go right, you will drop down into the canyon and end up on top of an interesting silt filled dam. If you go left you will continue down along the top of the ridge and into Fish Canyon. Just as we got to the Canyon we noticed a couple of bright green cottonwood trees and these are near the well and windmill.
We got to FSR-4113 (which is marked as such) and did our about face. Tomasi describes a wet marshy area, but it was entirely dry on our visit. There is a bypass road on the right that exists apparently from the days when such a bypass was advisable. The windmill is about 0.5 miles from FSR-4113. It has water perhaps 20 feet down the well, but is not functioning. Who knows why this is no longer of interest to the rancher working the area.
About 0.2 miles beyond the windmill, the canyon forks with the main canyon on the left and tributary on the right. The road goes up the ridge between these two. We decided to follow the left canyon (easy cross country hiking) to take a look at the mine Tomasi describes (the Royal Mountain mine). We never found it. It is supposed to be 0.2 miles and a 15 minute hike from this fork to where the mine is located. The mine should be on the right side and tailings begin 6 feet above the canyon bottom.
What we did find is a fork in the canyon after maybe 0.2 miles. We explored the left fork, following it to a fair sized waterfall. My guess is that the mine is before this fork and we just missed it.
The right fork eventually leads to a silt filled concrete dam that is over 10 feet tall. Beyond the dam is level area and a road which leads up to FSR-4039. I suspect that if a person with a 4x4 vehicle wanted to drive to the dam, it would be easier to do it from below than from above. Maybe so, maybe not. This would involve driving 1.4 of the 2.2 miles to the junction with the road leading down to the dam.
A landmark along the way is a big outcropping of white quartz on the left. A good sized mine is on the hillside across from the road here.
Fish Well and the dam are marked on the USGS topo. What might make an interesting hike would be to start at the lower end, visit the windmill, go to where the canyon forks and go cross country on the left branch, visit the dam, find the road above the dam, then to up the road to the junction and back down 4039 to return.
The lower end of FSR-4039 is the junction with FSR-4113. To explain the maze of roads involved with the south end really demands a decent map, and none is generally available. I was a bit surprised reading Tomasi's description as he usually does such a good job. Even after a visit, I have not made sense of it all. See what you can make out from the following paragraph:
What about FSR-4113? FSR-4113 connects FSR-163 from south of Granite Mountain to FSR-4085 in the bed of Fish Canyon. Starting at FSR-163, drive on FSR-4113, which immediately climbs a small hill, for 0.4 where 4039 comes in from the north. At 0.9 miles, 4039 will branch off to the right heading directly up the bed of Fish Canyon. So what exactly is going on? Does 4039 run alongside 4113 for 0.5 miles. I don't think any of this will make sense until I get out there and drive this. After 1.5 miles you will have reached FSR-4085 and the end of 4113. FSR-4085 is what Tomasi calls the Snyder Mine Road. The 4113/4085 junction should sport a sign indicating 6 miles to Aliso Springs, 4 miles to Gardner Canyon.
So we have a "domino effect" of perplexing roads at the lower end. 4039 runs into 4113, which runs into 4085 (the Snyder Mine road), which branches off of 4084 (the road to Aliso Springs).
You could do this. Drive FSR-92 (the Gardner Canyon road) past the Sawmill Creek crossing (which is a distinctive landmark). Watch for a 4 way junction. FSR-4084 goes right (to Aliso springs, as per the sign), and FSR-785 goes left (to the Tunnel Spring and Gardner Canyon trailheads). Turn right onto FSR-4084. Drive on FSR-4084 for 0.7 miles to where FSR-4085 departs on the right. Turn onto FSR-4085 and drive 2.2 miles to where you should see what remains of the Snyder Mine. Continue another 0.6 miles (for 2.8 total) and you should have reached the junction with FSR-4113 on the left. Turn onto FSR-4113 and drive 0.6 miles and you should have reached FSR-4039 where our hike turned around. There was no sign for FSR-4039 when we visited. Another 0.9 miles on FSR-4113 (for 1.5 total) will take you to FSR-163 near Granite Mountain.
Tom's hiking pages / tom@mmto.org