Lower Burro Mesa Pouroff

This is a 100-foot vertical channel cut into the volcanic rock at the end of a wash hike off Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive. The wash narrows into a box canyon, and most of the year the pouroff is dry. Come for the scale of the chute and the rock around it, rather than expecting flowing water.

The hike is 1 mile round trip with 120 feet of elevation change. It stays fairly gentle until about a quarter mile in, where uneven steps drop into coarse sand and gravel. Allow at least half an hour, and longer if you want to explore the wash; loose footing can slow the short walk.

The pouroff funnels water from the mesa above through a 100-foot channel. Nearby hills show yellow and orange ash-flow tuff, while conglomerate boulders lie across the valley floor. Even when the fall is dry, you can trace the route water takes through this volcanic landscape. For a photo, frame the full chute from the wash and include a boulder near the bottom for scale.

The gravel wash is lined with Mexican persimmon, Mexican buckeye and desert hackberry. It is a chance to look closely at the plants growing in the drainage, as well as the cliffs that enclose it.