RAWHIDE MOUNTAINS WILDERNESS

Location and Description
The 38,470 - acre Rawhide Mountains Wilderness is located in Mohave and Yavapai counties 80 miles south of Kingman, Arizona and 50 miles southeast of Lake Havasu City, Arizona.

The wilderness includes portions of two mountains ranges, the Rawhide Mountains to the north and the Buckskin to the south, separated by eight miles of the Bill Williams River. More than five miles of this perennial stream meander through a 600 - foot - deep gorge, and several rocky side canyons with small waterfalls enter the main canyon within the wilderness. The riparian environment here supports a variety of plants and animals including cottonwood - willow plant community, beavers, raptors, amphibians and reptiles. This area also provides habitat for a pair of nesting bald eagles.

The Bill Williams River gorge, located downstream from Alamo Dam, is accessible from Alamo Lake State Park, along the south shore of Alamo Lake. Parking is available at the dam overlook. It is 1.5 miles from the overlook to the bottom of the dam where the gorge begins. The gorge may be closed to hikers during the late winter and spring months to lessen disturbance to nesting bald eagles. That portion of the wilderness located north of the Bill Williams River can be accessed via county - maintained Alamo Road. Alamo Road can be accessed from Yucca, Arizona, 22 miles south of Kingman on Interstate 40, or from Wikieup, Arizona, on U.S. Highway 93 via the county - maintained Chicken Springs Road.