The Bull Pen
Camp Verde, Arizona
Details
Distance
1.87 miles
Elevation Gain
92 ft
Route Type
Out-and-Back
Description
Added by Aaron Maltby
Hiking to the Bull Pen offers beautiful scenery, amazing swimming holes, a super fun and a rope swing.
This trail starts at the end of Bullpen Rd and your adventure begins in beautiful thickets of trees and plants. The going is easy and the tempting sound of rushing water is on your right as you continue parallel to West Clear Creek. The trail will veer left up a rocky old service road but pay attention, there will be a side trail marked with a cairn on your right about halfway up the hill. Continue on longer and your first views of the beautiful creek and a nice swimming hole will be on your right.
If you still aren't satisfied, the gem of Bullpen is still farther on your right. Again veer right at the next fork and an old service zip line should be on your right. Follow that down to the water and behold the gem of Bullpen! Enjoy the refreshing water by taking a swim or swing on in on the rope swing! But for those feeling adventurous feel free to do a little cliff jumping -- please know your limits and check the water below first!
If you're looking for a nice secluded place for a picnic or just a little solitude continue up the creek further and explore what lush and beautiful views West Clear Creek has to offer.
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The Bull Pen Reviews
This spot was so beautiful! It was EMPTY. The trail up is easy and not long at all. Will def be back
5.0
The entire canyon along West Clear Creek is beautiful. Bull Pen is a popular area to swim in the summer months and can get quite crowded. Fun to explore along the creek
5.0
We barely made it there in our Honda Civic. Long road when you have to dodge every bump! There were plenty of other passenger cars there though. There are plenty of side chutes that drop into the creek, but the best one has a big rock cliff to jump off of, and a really fun Rope Swing.
5.0
The trail itself was interesting because being a more "inside person" I am not used to navigating trails or the outdoors in general. This was our first outdoor adventure and from the reviews, I thought this would be a safe day trip. Well I was mostly right. The service road is very very rocky and I was unprepared for that in my little Mazda2. But we made it and the car did ok. It's a little nerve wracking when a giant truck decides to fly past you as you're on the very edge of a cliff though. Regardless. We got to the trailhead and started to make our way to the swimming hole. From different reviews I was generally able to navigate us without a map (there is no cell service to use the gps map I have planned to use) until about halfway there when we came to what was supposed to be a fork in the road and it was actually a trident. Keeping right at that fork was not a good idea because we came to a part of the river covered in spider nests which was not a great time for an arachnophobe like me. But we made it out alive after running into a giant crawdad and then running away. After some backtracking we ran into some girls leaving the spot and they pointed us in the right direction. We made it to the first swimming spot where we met a nice family that directed us to the cliff jumping spot. When we did get to the main swimming hole there were quite a few people there with their kids but we didn't feel crowded at all. The water was chilly but fantastic against the summer heat. It's such a beautiful area that's tucked against the valley wall. We were quite far from our home in Casa Grande but it was absolutely worth it. We were able to swim for hours and jump the cliffs and admire everything around us for hours before gathering some rocks for our collection and head home. It started to rain just as we were leaving which was a little scary going back up the service road but my trooper little car got us there. Overall, I am so happy we made the journey up here and will definitely be coming back. Next time, we'll be bringing my dog. She can't swim but loves to splash in the water so the little pebble beach area next to the main swimming hole will be perfect for her. She'll love it just as much as we do.
5.0
Leave No Trace
Always practice Leave No Trace ethics on your adventures and follow local regulations. Please explore responsibly!
Nearby
McDonald Trail
Hike to Montezuma's Well
Bell Trail
Explore Montezuma's Castle National Monument
'The Crack' at Wet Beaver Creek
Fossil Creek Falls
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