Palm Canyon
Kofa National Wildlife Refuge Click for map. At only half a mile of trail, it is a bit shorter than my usual, but California fan palms are something special. Almost all of them are in California, but there are a few in Arizona and all of those are in the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge, according to the literature at the trailhead. These are snuggled into cracks in a canyon in Signal Peak. Besides this canyon, there is a Four Palms Canyon to the north and Old Palm Canyon to the south, so there might be some more palms in the area. This is the one with the road to it and since it is a west facing canyon, I thought it might be best to get to it in the afternoon. Approaching the canyon. Signal Peak is an impressive piece of landscape and does happen to be one of those high prominence peaks I'd like to go up. The entry to the canyon at the end of the road has some quite impressive cliffs. The rest of the area desert does not reach up quite so high. Signs at the...