Hassayampa River
Encyclopedia
The Hassayampa River is a mostly underground river, the headwaters of which are just south of Prescott, Arizona
, and flows mostly south towards Wickenburg
entering the Gila River
near Hassayampa, Arizona
. Within the Hassayampa River Canyon Wilderness
and the Nature Conservancy's Hassayampa River Preserve, near Wickenburg
, the river has significant flows above-ground.
A local legend purports that anyone who drinks from the river can never again tell the truth. As an anonymous poet wrote:
This lush streamside habitat is home to some of the desert’s most spectacular wildlife. Yet many of them have become dangerously imperiled as riparian areas have disappeared from the Arizona landscape.
In the Sonoran Desert, riparian areas nourish cottonwood-willow forests, one of the rarest and most threatened forest types in North America. An estimated 90 percent of these critical wet landscapes have been lost, damaged or degraded in the last century. This loss threatens at least 80 percent of Arizona wildlife, which depend upon riparian habitats for survival.
Prescott, Arizona
Prescott is a city in Yavapai County, Arizona, USA. It was designated "Arizona's Christmas City" by Arizona Governor Rose Mofford in the late 1980s....
, and flows mostly south towards Wickenburg
Wickenburg, Arizona
Wickenburg is a town in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the town is 6,423.-Geography:Wickenburg is located at ....
entering the Gila River
Gila River
The Gila River is a tributary of the Colorado River, 650 miles long, in the southwestern states of New Mexico and Arizona.-Description:...
near Hassayampa, Arizona
Hassayampa, Arizona
Hassayampa is a place in Arizona on the both banks of the Hassayampa River along the Southern Pacific Railway. It was about four miles west of Palo Verde, Arizona and slightly east of Dixie, Arizona and Arlington, Arizona....
. Within the Hassayampa River Canyon Wilderness
Hassayampa River Canyon Wilderness
Hassayampa River Canyon Wilderness is a 11,840 acre wilderness area located in the U.S. state of Arizona. It lies north east of Wickenburg. The wilderness area was created in 1990 and is administered by the Bureau of Land Management. The Yavapai word for the Hassayampa River is Hasyambo, meaning...
and the Nature Conservancy's Hassayampa River Preserve, near Wickenburg
Wickenburg, Arizona
Wickenburg is a town in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the town is 6,423.-Geography:Wickenburg is located at ....
, the river has significant flows above-ground.
A local legend purports that anyone who drinks from the river can never again tell the truth. As an anonymous poet wrote:
- Those who drink its waters bright-
- Red man, white man, boor or knight,
- Girls or women, boys or men-
- Never tell the truth again
This lush streamside habitat is home to some of the desert’s most spectacular wildlife. Yet many of them have become dangerously imperiled as riparian areas have disappeared from the Arizona landscape.
In the Sonoran Desert, riparian areas nourish cottonwood-willow forests, one of the rarest and most threatened forest types in North America. An estimated 90 percent of these critical wet landscapes have been lost, damaged or degraded in the last century. This loss threatens at least 80 percent of Arizona wildlife, which depend upon riparian habitats for survival.
External links
- Hassayampa River Preserve at The Nature Conservancy.