Round Trip Distance: 2 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation: 3610 - 3747 feet
Cellphone: 0-3 bars
Time: 2 hrs.
Trailhead: Pueblo La Plata
Fee: none
Attractions: ruins, petroglyph
Fort Silver is located about a half mile west of Pueblo La Plata in the Agua Fria National Monument northeast of Black Canyon City, Arizona. The site consists of a defensive wall that was built at the end of a point on Perry Mesa that overlooks Silver Creek.
To get there find your way to the Pueblo La Plata trailhead by taking I-17 Exit 259 and following the Bloody Basin Road for 8.9 miles to the signed turnoff on the left. Continue for 1.3 miles to the trailhead on a previously 4WD road that has been improved to accommodate 2WD highway vehicles during dry weather.
From the trailhead it is a little over a quarter mile to the large Pueblo La Plata ruins. On the west side of those ruins you should be able to see a brown mylar marker with a number 7 on it and a trail heading west that leads to Fort Silver.
At the base of the post there is a rock with some interesting circles and a few other faint images.
The trail leading to the fort is well worn as it crosses the mesa from the pueblo. It's interesting to wonder whether they ever had to run the length of it to get to their fortification.
Stretching across the point from one side of the mesa to the other, one has to wonder about the strategy in creating the wall at this location and its effectiveness.
The wall was probably higher when it was built but it seems that anyone coming up out of the canyon in front of the wall might only have to push it over on top of anyone hiding behind it. It also seems like any marauders might be able to cut off the people running from the pueblo before they ever reached the fort by coming up out of the canyon at a safe distance between the fort and the pueblo.
Fort Silver is not the only location around Pueblo La Plata where there is a wall. Another one can be found northeast of the pueblo. It is easy to find if you want to see it by following the water pipe that crosses the main trail near the trailhead north to where there is an easy route up to the mesa from Silver Creek. There might be a similar wall on the south side of the mesa also.
Due north of Pueblo La Plata on the rim of the canyon there is a lookout that has a good view up and down a large part of the main canyon of Silver Creek. These lookouts seem like they would have been important in the overall strategy of the fort.
