In The Desert

Dripping Spring

Going East from Quartzsite on I - 10 you get off at the Gold Nugget exchange. On the first part of this trip, we stopped at the Gold Nugget Mine (see photo). Since our last trip to this area; the mine was sold as it was a patented claim and now is off limits with no trespassing signs. It can still be seen, but just not this close.

Garmin GPS topo track

Quartzsite, Arizona

This is an active Maps.google Satellite Map. You can zoom in / out and change the formats to Street Map or Terrain; drag the map to scroll. Try it! Shown here is the Dripping Spring area.

I know - what is this? We wondered the same thing. It was a section of green slime that adhered to the rock face where some of the water seeps out of the cliff. The trip through the wash to get to the spring is very narrow and full of twists and hairpin turns so a big pickup is not recommended. Sorry no photos of the wash.

Here is Jerry and my wife checking out the spring. You can hear it dripping right under the rock face. There wasn't a lot of water running but I can imagine that there was a lot at one time.This cliff face is very high right here.

I have no idea what this cross is for; someone went to a lot of trouble to place it up there -- is it more junk or for a traveler's grave. I think they should call the junk DESERT GRAFFITI.

This is what makes Dripping Spring another one of the worth while day trips. There are numerous boulders here covered with Indian? Petroglyphs. I'm sure some (maybe most) are the real thing. The cross on the top photo (top left) looks like an old Spanish sign. The Spanish did venture into this area. If you take the time to look around and climb the hill opposite where you have to park you'll see lots of rocks just like these; covered with Petroglyphs. There were way too many to show them all here.

Don't miss this day trip if your camped in or live near Quartzite, Az. It's not too far from Interstate 8, although this trip does require a 4 wheel drive vehicle or ATV to get into Dripping Spring.

Here's Jerry getting ready with his camera. This old stone cabin (what remains of it) is up on the hill where you have to park. Hard to say what it was used for. The rest of the trip thru the wash to the West of here has several places that require HIGH ground clearance to get thru. At least when we did this trip it was that way. Be Carefull.
Have fun ---------

Google Map

While you're in this area, here are a few other places you might want to visit.

1. Quartzsite for the gem and mineral show.
2. The Kofa Wildlife Refuge
3. The Apache Cheif Mine site.

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