Hell Hole

Hell Hole encompasses 15,512 acres of mountainous terrain in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests of eastern Arizona, positioned in the Greenlee County highlands above the Clifton Ranger District. Named landforms — Hells Hole Peak, Maverick Hill, Palace Peak, Needles Eye, and Black Jack Canyon — define a rugged montane interior. Cold Creek originates within the area, fed by Cottonwood Spring, Hells Hole Spring, Bee Tree Spring, and Cold Spring, and drains into a network of named tributaries: Cottonwood Creek, Lyda Creek, Linden Creek, White Mule Creek, and Skully Creek. Water moving through these channels supplies some of the most biologically significant drainages in the Clifton watershed.

Sky Island Pinyon-Juniper Woodland covers nearly half the area. Alligator juniper (Juniperus deppeana) stands alongside Colorado pinyon (Pinus edulis) and Mexican blue oak (Quercus oblongifolia), with understory layers of Palmer's agave (Agave palmeri), sacahuista (Nolina microcarpa), and Wright's silktassel (Garrya wrightii). Arizona Plateau Chaparral blankets the mid-elevation slopes with pointleaf manzanita (Arctostaphylos pungens), shrub live oak (Quercus turbinella), and Apache-plume (Fallugia paradoxa). Across the lower terrain, Apache-Chihuahuan Desert Grassland carries blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis), sideoats grama (Bouteloua curtipendula), ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens), and Wheeler sotol (Dasylirion wheeleri). At higher elevations, Sky Island Pine-Oak Forest develops: southwestern ponderosa pine (Pinus brachyptera) overtops a mixed layer of Emory's oak (Quercus emoryi), Arizona white oak (Quercus arizonica), and silverleaf oak (Quercus hypoleucoides). Along Cold Creek and its tributaries, Warm Desert Mountain Streamside Woodland traces a narrow riparian corridor of Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii) and Arizona sycamore (Platanus wrightii).

The ponderosa pine and oak zones support Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus) and Bridled Titmouse (Baeolophus wollweberi). Grace's Warbler (Setophaga graciae) gleans pine bark in the upper forest; Painted Redstart (Myioborus pictus) forages along rocky stream edges in Black Jack Canyon. Olive-sided Flycatcher (Contopus cooperi), classified as near threatened by IUCN, hawks insects from exposed snags at forest openings. Gila Monster (Heloderma suspectum), also near threatened, occupies the rocky desert grassland and lower chaparral zones. Arizona Black Rattlesnake (Crotalus cerberus) ranges through the oak-pine transition. American Black Bear (Ursus americanus) and Arizona Gray Squirrel (Sciurus arizonensis) forage across the oak woodland. Portions of this area fall within the potential range of several federally listed species; see the Conservation section for details.

Black Jack Trail (Trail 568) begins at Maverick Trailhead and runs 3.4 miles on native surface, open to hikers, equestrians, and mountain bikers. The route descends into Black Jack Canyon, where the canopy shifts from open pinyon-juniper to the cooler shade of cottonwood and sycamore along the canyon bottom. Black Jack Campground and Coal Creek Campground provide developed overnight camps at the area boundary. eBird observers have logged 110 species at Blackjack CG across 145 checklists, with Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus) and Mexican Jay (Aphelocoma wollweberi) reliably present in the oak understory.

The lands that form the Hell Hole Inventoried Roadless Area lie within a region where human presence extends back at least 12,000 years to the Paleo-Indian period [2]. Ancestral Puebloan peoples occupied the surrounding highlands before moving on, and Apache-speaking groups — Athabaskan in origin, entering the Southwest between 1400 and 1500 CE — established a sustained presence across what is now the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests [1][2]. The White Mountain Apache recognized Mount Baldy (Dził Łigai Sí'án) as a holy mountain, and the region as a whole remained central to Apache subsistence and spiritual life for generations before Anglo contact [2].

Anglo-American encounter with the Apache interior came in waves. By 1825, fur trappers moved along the Black River in search of beaver, representing the first sustained Euro-American presence in these highlands [2]. Fort Apache was established in 1870 to manage escalating conflicts between the Apache and the Anglo settlers arriving in increasing numbers [2]. It was in this context of military patrol that copper was discovered: in 1872, a party of soldiers from Silver City, New Mexico, led by Captain Chase was pursuing Apache raiders; among them were Jim and Bob Metcalf, who spotted rich copper deposits in canyon walls near what would become the towns of Clifton and Morenci — directly east of the Hell Hole area and today the seat of the Clifton Ranger District [5].

The discovery reshaped Greenlee County's economy for more than a century. Henry Lesinsky formed the Longfellow Copper Mining Company, recruited Mexican artisans as smelters, and constructed Arizona's first copper furnace at the confluence of Chase Creek and the San Francisco River [5]. By 1882, Arizona Copper Company had purchased Lesinsky's operation, and three major firms — Arizona Copper, Detroit Copper (later absorbed by Phelps Dodge), and Shannon Copper — were competing for ore in the Clifton-Morenci district [5]. Ranching developed in parallel: operations took root on Blue River, Eagle Creek, and the San Francisco River from the 1870s forward, with the Double Circle — one of the three largest cattle companies in Arizona — headquartered on Eagle Creek [5]. Greenlee County itself was not formally organized until March 10, 1909, carved from Graham County by Governor Joseph H. Kibbey [5].

Federal protection for these forests arrived during the Roosevelt era. Apache National Forest was established by Presidential Proclamation on July 12, 1907 [3]. The following year, an Executive Order of July 1, 1908, organized the Sitgreaves National Forest from portions of the Black Mesa and Tonto National Forests [4]. On March 2, 1909, President Roosevelt enlarged the Sitgreaves by Proclamation 859, absorbing lands that had belonged to the White Mountain Apache Indian Reservation since Executive Order of November 9, 1871 [4]. The two forests merged in 1974. Hell Hole is today part of the combined Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests, protected under the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule.

Vital Resources Protected

Cold Headwater Stream Integrity

The roadless condition of Hell Hole preserves the upper Cold Creek watershed — Cottonwood Creek, Lyda Creek, Linden Creek, White Mule Creek, and Skully Creek — in an uncompacted, undiverted state. Five federally listed aquatic species occupy or potentially occupy these drainages: loach minnow (Tiaroga cobitis, Endangered), spikedace (Meda fulgida, Endangered), Gila chub (Gila intermedia, Endangered), Gila trout (Oncorhynchus gilae, Threatened), and Gila topminnow (Poeciliopsis occidentalis, Endangered). Unroaded headwaters provide the low-sedimentation, high-dissolved-oxygen conditions these species require for spawning and larval survival — conditions that roads through native stream substrates rapidly degrade.

Sky Island Pinyon-Juniper Woodland and Mexican Wolf Dispersal Connectivity

Sky Island Pinyon-Juniper Woodland accounts for 49.7% of Hell Hole — nearly 7,700 contiguous acres of unroaded woodland in Greenlee County. This block functions as movement habitat for the Mexican wolf (Canis lupus baileyi, Endangered, Experimental Population), a species for which roads represent a pervasive threat at the population scale (71–100% of range affected). The same woodland matrix supports Olive-sided Flycatcher (Contopus cooperi, IUCN Near Threatened) and Gila Monster (Heloderma suspectum, IUCN Near Threatened), both dependent on low-disturbance interior habitat away from road corridors and edge effects.

Mexican Spotted Owl Nesting Habitat

Southern Rockies Ponderosa Pine Woodland, Sky Island Pine-Oak Forest, and Southern Rockies Mixed Conifer Forest provide nesting and foraging habitat for the Mexican spotted owl (Strix occidentalis lucida, Threatened). Roadless conditions allow these forest communities to maintain the structural complexity — multi-layered canopy, large-diameter trees, and standing snags — that spotted owls require for territory establishment. Fire suppression history has already elevated canopy density in ponderosa pine stands; road construction would add fragmentation and invasive-species pressure that would further degrade nesting habitat quality.

Potential Effects of Road Construction

Sedimentation and Thermal Loading in Native Fish Habitat

Road construction on cut-and-fill slopes above Cold Creek and its tributaries would increase fine-sediment delivery into stream channels, raising turbidity and smothering the cobble substrate that loach minnow and spikedace require for spawning. Canopy removal along stream edges would raise water temperatures beyond the thermal tolerance of Gila trout, whose populations are already highly restricted across their range. Road-sourced sedimentation in headwater streams accumulates chronically and takes decades to clear from spawning substrate.

Mexican Wolf Dispersal Fragmentation

Vehicle mortality is among the leading documented causes of Mexican wolf death in the recovery zone; road construction through Hell Hole's 49.7% PJ woodland block would increase crossing frequency for wolves moving between established territories. The loss of contiguous interior habitat reduces the quality of territory available to breeding pairs and interrupts the connectivity between subpopulations on which long-term genetic recovery depends.

Fire Regime Disruption and Invasive Species Corridors

Sky Island Pinyon-Juniper Woodland and Apache-Chihuahuan Desert Grassland both depend on periodic fire to maintain species composition. Road construction would establish disturbed-soil corridors that accelerate the spread of invasive annual grasses — including Bromus tectorum — into grassland and woodland, increasing fine-fuel loads and the frequency of high-intensity fire that kills mature pinyon and juniper. Fragmentation from road networks also disrupts the spatial continuity of fuel loads that historically carried lower-intensity, clearing fires across the landscape.

Hell Hole Roadless Area covers 15,512 acres of mountainous terrain in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests, anchored by Black Jack Canyon, Hells Hole Canyon, Maverick Basin, and the named high points of Hells Hole Peak and Maverick Hill. The primary access point is Maverick Trailhead, the starting point for the area's single designated trail.

Hiking, Equestrian, and Mountain Biking

Black Jack Trail (Trail 568) runs 3.4 miles on a native-material surface open to hikers, equestrians, and mountain bikes. The route departs Maverick Trailhead and follows the Black Jack Canyon drainage, passing through Sky Island Pinyon-Juniper Woodland before descending into the cooler riparian fringe of Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii) and Arizona sycamore (Platanus wrightii) along Cold Creek tributaries. The canyon walls of Black Jack and Hells Hole Canyons give the interior its distinctive character — rocky, enclosed, and far from vehicle access. Equestrian use is fully supported on the natural-surface corridor, and the native grade makes the route technically demanding for mountain bikes in several rock-outcrop sections.

Camping

Three campgrounds provide overnight access to the Hell Hole area: Black Jack Campground, Black Jack Group Campground, and Coal Creek Campground. Black Jack Group CG accommodates organized groups seeking camping at the interface of the pinyon-juniper and canyon terrain. Coal Creek Campground provides a base near the area's western drainages. All three are positioned at or near the roadless boundary, giving campers immediate access to the undisturbed interior without motorized access from within.

Birding

Hell Hole and its adjacent campgrounds rank among the more productive birding localities in Greenlee County. Blackjack CG has accumulated 110 species from 145 eBird checklists, with Bridled Titmouse (Baeolophus wollweberi), Painted Redstart (Myioborus pictus), Grace's Warbler (Setophaga graciae), and Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus) in the oak and pinyon understory. Coal Creek Campground shows 79 species from 83 checklists, with Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus) present in the cottonwood gallery during the breeding season. The nearby Gila Box Riparian NCA—Old Safford Bridge hotspot records 127 species from 115 checklists and is accessible from Clifton; Clifton itself logs 92 species from 69 checklists. Within the roadless interior, Mexican Whip-poor-will (Antrostomus arizonae) and Olive-sided Flycatcher (Contopus cooperi) occupy the undisturbed woodland, and mixed-warbler flocks move through the canyon corridors during spring and fall migration.

Wildlife Viewing

The spring-fed drainages of Maverick Basin and the canyon routes into Hells Hole Canyon provide consistent wildlife observation conditions. American Black Bear (Ursus americanus) forages in the oak and manzanita zones, most active near springs during early morning. Gila Monster (Heloderma suspectum) — classified as near threatened by IUCN — occupies rocky desert grassland and lower chaparral slopes and is occasionally observed crossing canyon trails during warm weather. Arizona Black Rattlesnake (Crotalus cerberus) and Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) are both present; watch footing carefully on rocky trail edges and avoid reaching into rock crevices. Arizona Gray Squirrel (Sciurus arizonensis) is active throughout the day in the oak woodland.

Roadless Conditions and Recreation Quality

Black Jack Trail maintains its canyon character — narrow, quiet, with no through-roads cutting across the interior — because no vehicle access routes run through the area. The birding productivity at Blackjack CG and Coal Creek CG reflects what occurs when campgrounds sit at the edge of a large, unfragmented pinyon-juniper block: species dependent on interior conditions, including Mexican Whip-poor-will and Olive-sided Flycatcher, remain accessible at the trailhead. Mexican wolf movement through the area, American Black Bear foraging between the oak zones, and Gila Monster activity along canyon edges all depend on the absence of through-road access. Road construction would convert the present condition — a campground gateway to undisturbed interior — into a roaded corridor with the noise, traffic, and edge effects that reduce quality for quiet-use activities.