Round Trip Distance: 0.3 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation: 5435 - 5479 feet
Cellphone: 0-3 bars
Time: 1 hr. 30 mins.
Trailhead: 34.59101, -110.08358
Fee: none
Attractions: petroglyphs
Five Mile Draw is located along Silver Creek between Holbrook and Snowflake, Arizona. It is 1 of 4 or 5 sites along Silver Creek between Snowflake and Silver Creek's junction with the Little Colorado River where there are petroglyphs. We have pointed out a half dozen spots in Five Mile Draw where petroglyphs there can be found. Some of the spots we labeled are clusters of panels so there are actually more than double the number indicated and possibly even more further downstream.
For turn-by-turn directions enter the trailhead coordinates of 34.59101, -110.08358 into your driving app. The turnoff on AZ-77 is 5 miles north of Snowflake or 22 miles south of Holbrook. There are cows in the area so be sure to close the gate after passing through. From the gate it is just over a quarter mile to the trailhead overlooking the canyon.
From the trailhead there is an easy route down a dugway that leads into the canyon.
Once you get into the canyon a good place to start is to follow one of the paths through the willows toward the point of the cliffs. There is a lot of water in the canyon year round but there are places where you can normally cross without wading.
At the point of the cliffs you will find what you might call the Bug Panel.
Several of the figures look like anthropomorphized ants or beetles.
Others have snake or lizard heads.
Five Mile Draw has quite a bit of graffiti and bullet holes. Some of the bullet holes have totally obliterated portions of the petroglyphs. Bullet casings and fragments of clay pigeons litter the ground.
Among some of the images in this photo there is a flute player, mountain lion, and a horse.
Going around to the backside of the Bug Panel there are some images that are in perpetual shade. The images include what look like blanket or pottery patterns and various interesting bird like images.
As you move down the cliff on the west side of the canyon there are a few smaller panels and then up high there is this one that has a lot of geometrical designs, some star like images, and way off to the right a bird.
Of to the right of that, and also high up on the cliff, there are a lot of smaller images but only one of them shows up well from below. If you click on the photo and zoom in you can see some of the others.
Going over to the east side of the canyon there is a long slab of rock that is covered with images on one side.
And has a few more on another side.
Here is some damage done by bullet holes.
On the left there is a small figure with a line going from one of its hands over to what looks like might be a turkey. The turkey is standing on the line suggesting that the little figure may have caught the turkey.
Tucked away in a corner of the cliff are a handful of interesting geometric designs.
I've been told that these designs represent clasped hands like when you put your hands together, bend your fingers, and hook them together.
Off to the right is what looks like another flute player and to the right of that is a little human figure that has lassoed a bird.
Here's another geometric design.
And another.
And one more for the road.
Going back to where we came down the dugway, where Five Mile Draw meets up with Silver Creek, there are images all along the north wall of the draw.
We went up Five Mile Draw until we came to a rather sickening pool of malodorous water that had a chemical smell like turpentine.
At present access to Five Mile Draw isn't barred but it is actually private property as is Seven Mile Draw. I've heard of people being turned out of Seven Mile Draw. Ten Mile Draw is on Arizona State Trust Land which requires a permit.
When we visited Five Mile Draw we took over 700 photos. Only 24 of them are shown here. The following slideshow makes use of 361 photos. To keep it from being too incredibly long we sped it up to 1 second per photo which seems to be okay.
If you would like to see Five Mile Draw for yourself and take your own photos then all you have to do is 'Take a hike'.
