A Visit to Picacho CA State Recreation Area

Picnic with a Colorado River view.

This past Easter weekend we decided to visit Picacho State Recreation Area which lies on the California side of the lower Colorado River. We left before dawn and had a fun and a little bumpy one hour ride up the dirt road north of Yuma, Arizona where we’re staying. 

Picacho Road to the Park 

As the sun rose, the desert gave way from being a moon-like volcanic landscape to a glowing and rusty red swath of peaks and valleys. Were we in Mars?  The big Picacho (which I found out means “Peak” in Spanish) stood tall and grand, like a big king of the desert! I was so happy to finally see it up close after looking at it far off in the distance from our hotel!

Look at all that color!

Some say the desert is stark, but I say it’s full of drama. Between the crazy and multi-colored rock formations, there were lush green cottonwood trees, beautiful yellow flowers on the palo verde and acacia trees, bright red flower spikes on the ocotillo plants, and the cactus was in bloom. If the desert ever became an ocean again, I think the ocotillo would make neat kelp, and the cactus could be cool coral.

Ocotillo "Desert Kelp" in Bloom

From the rocky hillsides to the river and plants, this park was just loaded with all kinds of colors! It reminds me of Death Valley National Park, and even the Grand Canyon in some places.

We did a bit of exploring and spent some time at the Taylor Lake Overlook, and had a picnic at one of the Colorado River dock areas. Yay for yummy cheese croissant sandwiches and the Porto-Vino Backpack for keeping our wine nice and cool! Nothing like a little Vino-with-a-View! 

This park has a lot of natural and geological history. For thousands of years this area was home to the Quechan and native people of the Great Basin culture. Later in the 1890s, Picacho turned into a thriving gold mining town. You can see the remnants of the river and mining history all throughout the park.

Picacho Stamp Mill Trail with an Ore Cart at the Trailhead

My favorite experience was seeing two little wild burro families! How lucky! I can’t wait to go back in the fall and do some hiking and more birdwatching (it’s on a migratory flyway), and maybe we can explore the river in a boat or kayak. I really want to see the bighorn sheep that live there too! I love this park, it’s real special!

Wild Burros....here's lookin at you kid...

Pretty in Picacho,
Miss P.

Explore, Learn and Protect!

My first hiking adventure in Sequoia National Park

National Park Week runs from April 20-28, with all kinds of fun and educational programs in our parks. It’s the perfect time to #FindYourPark and go exploring! I’m really excited because it all starts with Junior Ranger Day on Saturday, April 20, and to celebrate, ALL units within the National Park Service are FREE to enter! What a bonus for families!

Park Ranger Dana Dierkes took me on a walk on Big Trees Trail in Sequoia National Park

When I visit parks, even state parks, the first thing I like to do is check out the visitor center to get a basic idea of what I need to see in the park, and to find out if they have a Junior Ranger Program! I found out about this program from my good friend Park Ranger Dana Dierkes who I met on my first visit to Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks. She gave me a cool activity book that had fun projects and games, and taught me neat things about the plants and animals in the park. Once I finished the booklet and pledged to “Explore, Learn and Protect the Park,” I was given a badge and sworn in as a Junior Ranger! Talk about some sweet park bling, I love my badge collection!

My Junior Ranger Activity Book....how do you like my hat?

I was so lucky to meet Park Ranger Dana -  only did she teach me about the Junior Ranger Program, she also took me on a walk along the beautiful Big Trees Trail in the Giant Forest in Sequoia National Park. Those trees made me feel so tiny. There’s no way I was going to be able to swing on them, let alone be able to even wrap my arms all the way around their trunk. These Sequoia Trees are the largest trees (by volume in the world) but they  have tiny little pine cones, especially compared to the big long sugar pine cones. It’s mind boggling!

Look how small these Giant Sequoia Tree pine cones are!

If you want to see what it’s like to take the Junior Park Ranger Pledge, check out my video below  from then when I was in Coronado National Memorial in southeast Arizona!

You can find out more about the Junior Ranger Day activities (and see the neat new Junior Ranger Button) here on NPS.gov.  

Park Ranger Suzanne Moody takes us on a walk through the rock formations in Chiricahua National Monument.

 In closing, I want to wish Chiricahua National Monument in southeast Arizona a very Happy Birthday! Established on April 18, 1924, this park was nicknamed ‘The Land of Standing-up Rocks’ by the Apache, because it protects these really interesting looking rock formations that were made from a volcanic eruption over 27 million years ago. Talk about ancient! I really had fun hanging out with Park Ranger Suzanne Moody who took my friend Flying Fabio and I on a hike up to the Echo Canyon Grottoes.

Happy Park Adventures,
Miss. P.