Big
Dry Creek Falls
Big
Dry Creek Falls... which is NEVER dry and is full of trout... culminates with
this 60’ high handsome cataract.
beta facts:
name- Big Dry Creek Falls
height- 60’ ...this is the highest single
falls within the 1200’ high Big Dry Creek Cascades
elevation- 7860’
GPS coordinates- ±33°17.404’N 108°42.216’W
flow- perennial trout stream
best season- wet times like Memorial Day of a
wet year or July and August rainy season
accommodations- Gila Wilderness
ownership- Gila National Forest
access- 7 miles on trail
with some bushwhacking and game trails
nearest town- Glenwood is about 10 miles west of
here
fun fact- Gila high country’s BEST…!!!!! …but
hard to get to…!!!!!
Here
is a special flow reference: This photo above was taken at noon on May 19,
2010. That day the Mogollon Creek Water
Flow Gage was at 40 cfs.
This information will help
you gauge the moisture content of the area to get a feel for how the good falls
will be flowing the day of your visit.
See: https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nm/nwis/uv/?site_no=09430600&PARAmeter_cd=00065,00060
essay bro
Big Dry Creek in the high Mogollon
Mountains is as rough of country as New Mexico has. I have both hiked and floated the Grand
Canyon and I declare upper Big Dry Creek an equal in its grandeur. We lost count of 15 to 40 foot high
waterfalls as we engineered our way up thru the 1200’ high Big Dry Creek
Cascades. This steady string of
waterfalls is almost one-mile long and provides a very special “canyoneering”
experience.
From Golden Link Cabin, five hundred to one
thousand feet high, sheer-walled terraces climb peaks towering more than a
half-mile overhead. This is as grand as
mother Earth gets. The four hundred foot
free-falling ribbon of lace called Chasm Falls
cascades into this canyon from the south... in splendor that very few know New
Mexico even has.
Golden Link Creek enters Big Dry Creek from
the north, just above Big Dry Falls. It
has two high waterfalls of it’s
own 70’ high Lower Golden Link Falls and 200’ high Golden Link Falls. Golden Link Creek’s lower half-mile is all
steep whitewater that cataracts thru a 600’ deep twisting Chasm... with awe-inspiring
wild grandeur. More waterfalls wait to
be found up each of the three creeks that descend the north slopes of 10,658’ Sacaton Peak.
Hanging Rock Trail and Silver Drip Trail
are the two most direct routes into the upper Big Dry Creek drainage. Both have been abandon
by the National Forest Service. We will
soon loose these “two most spectacular trails of the Gila Wilderness”. They are both marked on the map below as
“unmaintained trail”. If we
outdoor-people use these trails and care for them each
time we hike them... they will be preserved... otherwise they will be lost.
The
upper Big Dry is big rough country...
Big Dry Creek Falls is found
in the middle right-hand side of the map below.
For a new
updated and much enlarged map of this area click here
Enhanced
USGS 7.5’ topo map
_______ONE MILE______
Upper Big Dry Creek has a collection of waterfalls that cannot
be outdone in New Mexico...!!!
Send questions and comments to dscott@TheMarbleSculptor.com