Greenback Creek (Lower)
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| | Difficulty:3B III (v3a2 III) Raps:1, max ↨30ft
Red Tape:No permit required Shuttle:None Vehicle:4WD - High Clearance | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Best season: | spring, fall
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33.8269, -111.1710
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WaterflowIntroduction[edit]
A nice enough creek hike with some decent slides, pools and waterfalls and one short rappel with some minor sections of sculpted granite.
From Phoenix, drive north on SR87, then south on SR188 for 26.3 miles to turn left onto A-Cross Rd (signed as "A+Cross"). After crossing a wide, often flowing wash (Greenback Creek) turn right at a junction after about 1 mile, then left around the 2 mile mark to stay on A-Cross Rd following signs for SR288. Turn left after about 3.5-.6 miles onto FR267 which is unsigned and difficult to spot - it is the only road on the north side of A-Cross Rd in this area and is directly across from a campsite on the south side of the road. How far you get on FR267 will depend entirely on your vehicle and your tolerance for driving very slowly on a very bumpy, rocky road, but obviously the farther you get, the less hiking you'll have to do. I made it a little under 2 miles before I realized how much faster I could be hiking than driving. Pull off the road and park where you see fit.
Approach[edit]
Good off-trail hiking and route-finding skills are requisite for this hike.
From wherever you parked, continue hiking northeast on FR267 which crosses a few washes and gets steeper as you go. The road eventually ends on a hill (about 1.5 miles from the parking area indicated on the map), continue hiking at roughly the same elevation contouring around the hills and crossing the washes as you go. A few of the side drainages that must be crossed along the way will require some more thoughtful planning as they get deeper and their slopes steeper as you progress up the mountain. You'll basically be hiking north in parallel to the creek below you while avoiding patches of brush and attempting to cross the hills and drainages at points where you will gain and loose as little elevation as possible. After crossing two drainages right next to each other, right under Blue Peak, begin hiking northwest up to cross a small, flat saddle under a hill. From here you may begin to find a light game trail, hike along the game trail now heading northwest and toward the steep slope above Greenback Creek. The trail becomes more distinct as it begins to head down the slope, it might be a good idea to take the time to locate the trail if you haven't yet, as the way down is quite steep and brushy and trail helps. Follow the trail as it contours along the slope to the west, dropping in elevation rather slowly (rather than my instinct to go straight down) to eventually reach Greenback Creek.
Descent[edit]
The canyon is bouldery and brushy at first, and the creek and pools can be hiked around in the beginning. Eventually the canyon deepens and you'll be forced into the water at a fun, mellow slide into a deep pool. The sections of sculpted granite and waterfalls are nice, but are unfortunately short with long sections of boulder hopping in between them. Eventually you will reach a more vertical section that will require one short rappel to proceed. Downclimb around the first drop on the left (use caution with loose rocks that look solid, but drop away into deep openings below) to climb back around into the watercourse for the rappel. The drop for the rappel is about 20 feet and anchored about 20 feet back from the drop from an obvious chock stone under a boulder. More boulder hopping and a few easy downclimbs will bring you to one more scenic waterfall that can be easily climbed around on the right. Not long after this the canyon begins to open shortly after the confluence with Blue Peak Canyon on the left and it's time to start thinking about the exit.
Exit[edit]
Leave the canyon to the left where it becomes very open to find a way along or up an easy drainage (I followed an old black, plastic pipe along a faint, old road for a while, but it disappeared) to the southeast to hike back up to the road you hiked in on earlier and follow the road southwest back to your car.
