18 miles, 10.5 hours

The Tonto Trail is an easy to follow trail, high above the Colorado River on top of sandstone ledges. It traverses at the same level for something like 70 miles along the river! We missed being able to cool off in the river, but we sure enjoyed the wider view. Because it traverses at the same level instead of dropping down to the river, the trail follows the side drainages back to a point where they can be crossed, adding many miles to the actual river miles traveled. Most of these side drainages are dry, but now and then you find a small trickle running, with shallow pools filled with tadpoles.

TRAIL NOTES:
We found water at: Cottonwood Creek (m. 1.7), a spring (about m. 5.5), Grapevine (m. 6.6), and Lonetree (m. 14.9).