ALL HIKERS
BEAMER TRAIL
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE DESCRIPTION |
Walk the Tanner
Trail to the river and start up canyon. Small outcroppings of Dox
Sandstone present minor obstructions (with obvious solutions) at a couple of
spots along the way, but in general the route between Tanner Canyon and
Palisades Creek is straight forward. Riparian vegetation is dense near
the shoreline so the trail tends toward a line a short distance above the
water where the brush starts to give way to rocky slopes.
The character of the Beamer Trail changes dramatically
at Palisades Creek. What was an easy, straight-line stroll across
sandy slopes becomes a tedious, demanding trek along narrow, exposed ledges
at the very brink of high cliffs.
Tapeats Sandstone outcrops emerging from deep water
make it impossible to stay near the River above the mouth of Palisades Creek.
Climb about 300 vertical feet up the talus immediately north of the mouth of
Palisades to the top of the Tapeats. This slope offers the only break
in the sandstone cliff in the general vicinity so the place to start up
should be obvious. The top of the Tapeats is the route all the way to
the Little Colorado. The trail is badly eroded, narrow, and, in
places, remarkably exposed at the edge of an impressive precipice, so walk
carefully. It's almost like a junior version of the Tonto Trail,
contouring around each of the many small, steep gullies that drain Palisades
of the Desert. The trail is reasonably well defined, but if there are
to be route finding problems they will probably occur at the point the trail
crosses the drainages. It is possible to scramble down to walk the
shoreline 1/4 mile below the confluence, but the main trail stays on the
Tapeats rim all the way to the Little Colorado River.
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