Lower Colorado River - Picacho State Recreation Area, CA

Picacho SRA is 25 miles north of Yuma, AZ and an excellent area for a weekend or week long paddle on one of the more colorful areas of the Lower Colorado.  It offers a variety of paddling locations to large backwaters (called lakes), miles of hiking in rugged but colorful desert and canyon country, historic mining and town sites and great boat-in and car campgrounds.  The associated maps will make reference to all the areas illustrated by the photos which were taken on a trip from Picacho SRA to Squaw Lake near Imperial Dam.

Photo contributions by Norma Miller
(Click on images to enlarge)

      Picacho SRA road map

                      Lower Colorado to Ferguson Lake map 3

   Dock view of Sleeping Beauty

    Long Lake hidden entrance

                         Picacho SRA area 1 map

                        Lower Colorado to Squaw Lake map 4

   Upper dock view down river

     Long Lake

                           Lower Colorado south of Picacho SRA map 2

Picacho camp upper dock

        .

Crossing river to Long Lake

Picacho camp river view

     Lower dock

          Rojo Grande mountain 

   Backcountry hiking

  Island Lake entrance

Norton's Lake cabin resident

Ferguson Lake view

Squaw Lake takeout above Imperial Dam    

       Picacho SRA camp site

     River pan from Rojo Grande



       Sleeping Beauty mountain

    Island Lake

   Adobe Lake

    Down river to Squaw Lake

Picacho campground trail view
                                             Picacho stamp mill trail

       Black-crowned Night Heron

   Island Lake view

Miner's Cabin

Martinez Lake entrance