Badger Springs Trail at Agua Fria National Monument

It's a short and easy hike that promises a good look at the ancient cultures, riparian areas and grassland mesas that the park is protecting.

Lightly streaming water crisscrosses the one mile descent from the mesa-top trailhead along the course of the Badger Springs Wash. Just before its confluence with the Agua Fria River you're greeted by a collection of ancient petroglyphs high on canyon walls. Upriver to this waterway are massive, rounded boulders with several waterfalls. Meanwhile, all around you is a lush riparian area with tall cottonwoods and deep water. While the trail ends at this point, the park service encourages you to explore the banks of the river. Flora and fauna abound, with wildflowers and grasses thriving during my early spring trip. I was able to identify a number of desert birds, including phainopeplas, Costa's hummingbirds, house wrens, canyon wrens and verdins. I saw a medium-sized red bird that could have been a cardinal,

The trailhead is an easy forty-mile drive from Phoenix. However the short drive from the freeway exit to the main parking area is a rough and rutted forest road. I'd suggest using a high-clearance truck or an SUV. As an alternative, you could park your passenger car and walk this dirt road.

A quiet bend of the Agua Fria River, the peaceful and lush destination of the hike.

The start of the hike is through Badger Springs Wash, topped by grassy mesas.

The trail follows the course of a flowing spring.

At the end of the trail, looking upriver on the Agua Fria.

The view downriver.

Petroglyphs are some of the few remains of ancient native canyon dwellers. I didn't see any of the deer that are featured in the rock art, but mule and white-tailed species do populate areas of the park.