Round Trip Distance: 1.6 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Elevation: 3537 - 3645 feet
Cellphone: 0-3 bars
Time: 2 hrs.
Trailhead: Pipe Tank
Fee: none
Attractions: pueblo ruins, petroglyphs
The Baby Canyon Fort is located just below Perry Mesa, overlooking Bishop Creek and Baby Canyon, in the Agua Fria National Monument near Black Canyon City, Arizona. The main pueblo, which sits atop a butte on a bench above Baby Canyon, has about 50 rooms and is clearly visible from space on Google Earth or Apple Maps. Petroglyphs can be found on some of the boulders and cliff faces around the side of the butte.
To get there take I-17 Exit 259 and follow the Bloody Basin Road for about 11.3 miles before turning at the kiosk onto Agua Fria Road 9014. Follow 9014 for about 1.8 miles and turn right onto 9025. From this point on you will need a high clearance 4WD or other suitable OHV type of vehicle. Continue on 9025 for 2.2 miles where you will pass the New Windmill. At this point the road gets decidedly rougher as it climbs a hill with a lot of outcropping boulders to crawl over.
Go to the right at the 1.9 mile point after passing the New Windmill. Going straight will take you over to 9611 and the Rattlesnake House Group of ruins. Be advised that that road gets pretty rough, especially where it passes another windmill right before getting to 9611.
After going right at the last fork and bouncing over lava rocks for about 1.5 miles the road comes to a fork where going to the left leads to the Pueblo Pato and Perry Tank trailhead.
After taking the right fork the road drops down a rough stretch as it passes Batt Tank before smoothing out once again and arriving at Pipe Tank after 1.2 miles from the Pueblo Pato fork.
From Pipe Tank there are a lot of cattle trails that braid the top of the mesa but at present there isn't an official marked route that you can follow to the ruins. With the help of a map and GPS they are easy enough to find though. If all else fails simply hike to the edge of the mesa and follow the rim eastward until you can see the ruins.
Before scrambling up to the ruin there are petroglyphs on the right that come into site.
The petroglyphs wrap around to the east side of the butte below the ruins.
The majority of the images are of deer and sheep. We did see some mule deer on the mesa as we were hiking to the ruins.
After a minor scramble to the top of the butte the size of the ruins becomes more apparent.
With an area large enough for a 50-60 room pueblo the top of the butte is much larger than it appeared from below.
There is quite a bit of pottery which is the same color and type as that found at the other ruins in the area.
There are also some grinding slicks that you can't help almost stumbling over. Be sure to leave all artifacts where you find them for others to enjoy.
