The town of Peach Springs is a Hualapai Indian community on Route 66, but it’s not much to look at. I respect the fact that the Hualapai Nation hasn’t resorted to making money from gambling casinos and I admire them for trying to develop a legitimate tourist industry at Grand Canyon West instead. However, if they really want to attract tourists they should work on cleaning up the place! Here they are with a wonderful natural treasure right in their backyard, but visitors driving through there see nothing but poverty and trash everywhere. It’s not just old junk cars and stuff like that, either, but actual litter that has blown around and is piled up in backyards and stuck in fences. I can understand people being poor and not being able to fix up their houses, but I don’t understand why they can’t at least pick up their yards and make the best of what little they have.
There is a nice new AAA-approved motel and restaurant in the middle of town, but that’s about it. There isn’t even a gas station in Peach Springs any more. Hualapai Lodge (www.grandcanyonresort.com) looks like it caters to river runners because it’s right at the junction of Route 66 and Peach Springs Canyon/ Diamond Creek Road where the rafters pull out. Apparently it’s a popular place to stay (well, it’s the only place to stay) and advance reservations are advised. However, $80-90 for a room at that location is a little too much in my opinion. By the way, I’ve been told that they provide complimentary ear plugs for guests because the railroad runs directly behind the lodge and the trains go by every 20 minutes or so.
Also at Hualapai Lodge, you can obtain area sightseeing information as well as permits to drive the Diamond Creek Road. (Permits are required because it’s on Hualapai Indian Reservation property.) This is probably the best kept secret on old Route 66 – a dirt road on which you can drive to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. The last time we took Diamond Creek Road down to the Colorado River must have been 15 years ago. We had gotten our permit at the Peach Springs gas station (which is now closed but the building is still there) and it cost $6 per vehicle. This time it cost $16 per person! Although children under age 12 are free. The permit is only good for one day only, and if you want to camp, fish, or hike they will charge you extra. I guess they realized that tourists will pay anything for a unique experience such as this. Wouldn’t you like to tell your friends that you drove to the bottom of the Grand Canyon!
Diamond Creek provides the only natural grade suitable for a road to the bottom of Grand Canyon. Nevertheless, most people don’t know about this spot and few people make the journey. It’s mostly river-runners who use this road to put in their rafts or haul them out. Yet at one time there had been a hotel near the mouth of Diamond Creek, the first one in the Grand Canyon. In fact, before the railroad was built to Grand Canyon Village, the old Diamond Creek Hotel was the most popular place in the Grand Canyon from 1884-1889.
Plan on bringing a picnic lunch and staying at the river for a while to get your money’s worth, but don’t think you’ll be able to go swimming. This location isn’t suitable – or safe – for that. Large rafts are constantly loading and unloading at the only sandy area – a bend in the river at the mouth of Diamond Creek – and the rest of the river is dangerously fast moving. But if you take a short walk downstream, you will find lots of pretty river rocks and a couple of little side streams that kids can wade in. It was really hot when we were there but the water was freezing.
From the bend at the mouth of Diamond Creek westward, the Colorado River flows through the lower Granite Gorge. It’s awesome to stand there and watch the mighty river flowing between the steep cliffs as you look up, rather than down, at the colorful canyon walls.
As for the road, this 21-mile scenic drive is the only vehicular access to the Colorado River within the Grand Canyon. It starts at Hwy. 66 right across from the Hualapai Lodge but quickly leaves civilization behind. Contrary to what you might picture in your mind about a road leading to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, this is a gentle descent with no hairpin turns. The road is basically one long ramp, dropping nearly 3,500 feet to the bottom. Most of the way follows the normally dry Peach Springs Canyon which is dusty and rough but passenger cars may be able to make it. However, for the last few miles the road is actually in the creek bed which is rocky and wet, more suitable for a high clearance vehicle. During rain storms this section is prone to flash flooding so beware, especially during summer monsoon season.
Watch out for burros, too, that often loiter on the road waiting for handouts. One burro was standing in the middle of the road. When we stopped for him, he walked up and stuck his head right in the window of our car. We were sorry that we didn’t have anything to feed the poor fellow.
Along the way you will see some spectacular scenery, especially after about ten miles when you get farther down into the canyon where steep cliffs rise up on either side of the road. You know you’re almost at the river when you catch a glimpse of Diamond Peak with its faceted sides, one of the more prominent geologic features of the canyon.
Labels: Diamond Creek, Grand Canyon, Hualapai, Peach Springs
I was greatly impressed to see how clean and neat the Zuni and Navajo Indian reservations are in 
