Plan C

  Parker, Arizona, United States
Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Cattail Cove

I really wanted to do an excursion to the Topock Gorge. Ideally, I read about a self guided kayak/canoe trip where the tour company shuttles you and equipement to a drop off point and pick you up downstream 5 hours later. Since my brother Bill decided not to join us, this option was out. The next option was a jet boat tour to the gorge. I tried to contact several companies which delivered these tours without any response. I even went to their booths at the "English Village" to find all the booths closed.

River Island boat launch

Instead I decided to do some exploring of the Arizona state parks. My first stop was Cattail Cove State Park. I stopped at the entrance when I saw that there was a $8 day fee, so I decided to further south on highway 95. Since I was not pressed to make an tee time, I was able to stop along the road to admire some of the beautiful scenery. Finally I stopped at the River Island Unit of Buckskin Mountain State Park along the lower Colorado river. Again, there was a fee but no one was manning the guard post, so I drove in. Near the boat launch, I found a marked hiking trail to Wedgehill point. It was a leisurely hike with a nice lookout point over the river at the end of the trail. When I got back to the car, I found a yellow envelop on the windshield to be used to deposit my $8 entrance fee.