Bartlett Lake

the wandering chick

...Bartlett Lake

nice even if you don't fish

Sometimes I just get the urge to grab the tent and propane burner and take off on a short overnight camping trip. This time I chose Bartlett Lake in Maricopa County about 25 miles outside of Cave Creek. I wasn't the only woman around, but I definitely was the only person without a fishing boat.

Bartlett Lake is part of the huge Tonto National Forest and is a reservoir made by the damming of the Verde River.

Besides fishing, there are several day-use areas and a couple of nice hikes. There are three different camping areas, two on lakeshore and one on the Verde River.

I've made several trips over the years to Bartlett Lake, and they're all recorded here.

Bartlett Flat is one of three campgrounds on Lake Bartlett. There are no designated sites, but ready-built stone firepits kinda dictate where you might set a tent or RV.

The Yellow Cliffs make a nice backdrop to the blue waters of the lake.

Often I see a Saguaro that makes me laugh.

And then there are those that have passed on to Saguaro Heaven. But they, too, add a certain beauty to their surroundings.

Rattlesnake Cove, perched high above the water, is a day-use area. A couple of hiking trails take off from this point.

A view from FR 19, a three-mile gravel-packed road that leads to Bartlett Dam and Riverside Campground.

Campers and boaters at Bartlett Flat as the sun sets on the Yellow Cliffs

The Bartlett Lake marina

This Saguaro skeleton is just outside the marina store.

The Jojoba Trail is about 1.3 miles one way and runs between the Jojoba Boat Launch and Rattlesnake Cove. The lake is almost always in view.

Cholla is one of many cacti that can be seen on the Jojoba Trail.

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A few years later, I took a second trip to Bartlett Lake in the late winter, just as the first signs of Spring were cropping up. The following pictures are from that visit.

An early January trip yielded the following photos. I took a drive down the campground road and enjoyed seeing the cottonwood trees that line the Verde River in their fall colors.

A decent view of the dam can be seen from the campground access road.

Torrential rains, as we know, can do serious erosion damage to hillsides, as evident here.

The most beautiful season at Bartlett is, as in many desert locations, the spring. This year, with all the rain and snowmelt, the water is more treacherous, many roads are washed out, and the wildflowers are abundant and...well, crazy wild! These next pictures were taken on a trip in late March. The lake was full, as was the park with people enjoying a warm "blossom-ing" day. And the Verde River was overflowing, closing the Verde River campground.

From raging beauty to raging fires....sadly, several fires over the summer months of 2024 have left Bartlett Lake and its surrounding areas in a much sadder state than when I last saw it in the spring. Both by lightning and human carelessness, nearly 20,000 acres have been destroyed. It is said that fires can be good, but aesthetically, it broke my heart to see so many saguaros burned, some to the ground and others standing, but severely scorched.

I took a trip out to Bartlett Lake upon my return to Arizona in the fall and was astonished at the view driving into Bartlett Lake from Cave Creek and then up the dirt road leading to and surrounding Riverside Campground Road. Here are pictures.

The view driving into the park is one I just can't see enough of. I stop every time for a photo.

The road to the Riverside Campground was closed, so I couldn't get to the campground, which was the source of a June 16 fire, due to human carelessness.