Crystal Hill Area – KOFA Wildlife Refuge

Leaving Yuma, heading north on route 95 we passed through gorgeous fields of lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower, and more. All watered by canals from the Imperial dam. Soon the beauty stops and suddenly we are in desert and have the Yuma Proving Ground on the sides of the road.

About 1-1/2 hours north of Yuma are turn offs for the KOFA wilderness area. We have stayed at the Palm Canyon turnoff before, but decided to go to Crystal Hill this year. This is the only area of the preserve where one can rock collect — quartz being the primary type.

The road in is rough — not maintained — but do-able without four wheel drive. Near Crystal Hill are probably 3 dozen places to camp with fire rings. At some time someone developed a campground here with trash cans, water, and RV dump. All of that has been let fall apart. We have very good AT&T data with our booster.

We started to take one walk today, but turned back when the clouds rolled in and it started to rain. Lots of piles of quartz on the ground — mostly creamy white, no clear crystals yet. We haven’t seen any wildlife except a raven, although there are bunny and deer droppings on the ground.

-- Janet (text) and David (photos)