Amazing Waterfall at Horseshoe Dam

Water is being released from Horseshoe Lake after the rains we’ve had, and that makes a spectacular waterfall. And you can walk behind it!

We took a drive out to Horseshoe Dam yesterday and it was amazing. I don’t know how much longer they will be releasing water from the lake, so if you want to go walk behind a waterfall, get out there as soon as you can.

Horseshoe Dam is about 50 miles from Phoenix, out past Carefree. You can get there by taking SR 74 or Loop 101, but we chose 74 because the 101 is a zoo in the morning. But if you must, you must. You can simply type “Horseshoe Dam” into the map on your phone. Head toward Bartlett Lake, but you turn before Bartlett onto Horseshoe Dam road. After about 2 miles, the pavement ends and you’ve got over 10 miles of gravel road. The road had been recently graded when we went, but we’ve seen it when it was pretty bad. Right now a car with decent clearance can easily drive the road.

Horseshoe Dam

Once you get there, go to the Horseshoe Dam Vista — just follow the signs. You can park and get a gorgeous view of the water coming down, but if you take the little trail up the hill you will find a path that leads to a walkway behind the waterfall. Kids would go ape over this place!

The walkway behind the falls.

From the walkway you can see a lot of the other falls and a big chunk of the Verde River as it heads off to Bartlett Lake. It’s amazing. It’s also amazingly loud! If there is any way you can get out there before they stop the water, you really should. When we were there yesterday (Monday), there wasn’t another soul there. We had the whole fantastic place to ourselves. It was great.

The view from the walkway.

From the far end of the walkway you get a great view of a whole bunch of waterfalls. It’s an easy walk, just keep hold of your kids.

On the other side of the dam you can walk out to a point that over looks the river and also gives you a great view of more water gushing out of a huge pipe below the dam. There was a fence here, but it’s been knocked down. There are lots of places here where a kid could fall (on the other side, too), so if you bring your kids — who will LOVE it — make sure you hang on to them. As you can see from the photo above, there are very steep rock cliffs. The parking area is just above those.

Horseshoe Lake

Horseshoe Dam and Horseshoe Lake are on the Tonto National Forest, but you don’t need a permit if you are just driving up to take a walk and some photos. I stopped at the Ranger Station and asked. This ranger station is on the left just after you turn down Bartlett Lake Road. If you are going to fish or camp, you can buy a permit there. You can find out all about Tonto Passes here.

There are campgrounds near Horseshoe. We drove through them and the sites are pretty nice — there are tables and fire rings, and there are vault toilets. Some of the sites are nice and shady, and some are right by the river. You can get more information about camping at the Mesquite site at Horseshoe here. And also here for Horseshoe Campground.

Nice shady campsite. The entire campground was empty when we visited.

We drove to Bartlett Dam after we visited Horseshoe, but it is all fenced off and signed so you can’t get close. You can get a photo from afar, and there is a campground along the river below the dam called Riverside Campground. Bartlett also has a store and a marina, and even a restaurant. The restaurant is called the Last Stop and is open Thursday from noon to 3 pm, and 11 to 5 pm Friday through Sunday. There is a little store attached to the restaurant. The store does not have public restrooms and they don’t have coffee. Just sayin’.

Bartlett Dam
Riverside Campground

If you’re looking for an awesome place to take the kids, you should seriously consider heading out to Horseshoe Dam. It was spectacular. We also saw a lot of beautiful plants and animals along the way. Here are some pics:

Gila Monster
Crested Saguaro

Bald eagle

We saw lots of pretty flowers, but I like this one the best.