TAVASCI MARSH


TAVASCI MARSH


Clarkdale






Peck's Lake and Tavasci Marsh




This place is for the
birds---and the hikers who love them.


Designated an "important birding
area" by the Audubon Society, Tavasci Marsh occupies a placid
strip of green bounded by Tuzigoot National Monument, Dead Horse
Ranch State Park and Verde River Greenway State Natural Area. The
96-acre, spring-fed wetland hosts a colorful cocktail of winged
beasts chipping among reeds, roosting, wading or gliding over the
waters in feathered flotillas.


Access is via a free parking area near
Tuzigoot or at DHSR ($7 fee per vehicle). Both entry



points funnel
hikers into a network of trails that wind among enormous cottonwood
trees, mesquite forests, cattail choked bogs, sandy flood plains and
riverside riparian corridors. Another way to enjoy the site and tag
on some educational benefits is to enter through the Tuzigoot
monument. There's a $10 fee per person, but you'll get to explore a
Sinagua pueblo and learn from visitor center displays and
interpretive signs along short, barrier-free walkways. The hiking
paths are mostly old dirt roads marked with lathe-style posts. The
Tavasci March Trail explores the site's east flank, culminating at a
wooden observation deck at Peck's Lake---an oxbow pond that's a
remnant of a former channel of the Verde River. The Tuzigoot trails
meander west and south along the stream.



It's not necessary to be a birding
expert to spot some of the more than 245 species that call the marsh
home for all or part of the year. Sightings of Red-winged
Blackbirds, Cardinals, Wood Ducks and Osprey are almost a given, but
a pair of binoculars (and a substantial dose of patience) will aid in
scoping out the more illusive Lesser Nighthawks and Peregrine
Falcons.


If you're lucky, you might also spot
river otters and beavers where the marsh drains into the Verde River.




LENGTH:


Tavasci Marsh Trail: 0.9 mile one way


Tuzigoot Trails: variable, we hiked 3.6
miles along the loops.


RATING: easy


ELEVATION: 3,130' � 3,410'


GETTING THERE:


From Interstate 17 in Camp
Verde, go west on State Route 260 to Cottonwood and follow the signs
to either Dead Horse Ranch State Park or Tuzigoot National Monument.


INFO:




MORE PHOTOS:


Location: Tuzigoot Rd, Clarkdale, AZ 86324, USA

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