THE BEST SWIMMING HOLE IN ARIZONA | Fossil Creek Dam/Toilet Bowl | Bob Bear Trail | Strawberry, AZ

[@sarahparsons5977]

Thank you! I grew up in Payson. Live in So Call now. It brought me back for a min

[@s.campbell6394]

A well done and informative video, thanx.

[@hokulani8]

Wow, excellent video. Very informative. Thank you!

[@oliverc.griffin1304]

That is such beautifully clear water.

[@TrailTime]

Truth. I'm so grateful that places like this exist.

[@TakeaHike]

Cool video, I like the closeup and under water shots the most, thanks for sharing !!

[@melissawolf553]

"extremely cold" lol it's 70°f year round! It's wonderful!

[@TrailTime]

It is wonderful! But there are many folks in the valley that only consider their swimming water “warm” if it’s 80°+ I was trying to be considerate of them 🙂

[@zonacamphike2904]

Awesome fish view. Killer job man! Love the vid, love the beard! Keep truckin! Will be following!

[@VanLifeRocks]

Very informative 👍🏼👍🏼 it’s on my list to do

[@MsGreatTest]

Thanks for sharing

[@jasonmackeseyfitness4586]

Wow that water

[@TrailTime]

I promise it's just as good looking in person. The only other stream I've seen that's comparable to this is Supai Creek in the Grand Canyon.

[@boysid1]

Love this place!

[@DavidHerringtonOutdoors]

We went last year, but only went in about two miles, and headed back out. Our son was about five at the time, so we didn't want to push. He's a beast of a hiker, can't wait to make the whole hike again sometime soon!

[@TrailTime]

The first time I took Kayla out there, she almost got heat stroke on the hike out because of full sun, so I don't blame you! The distance makes it look deceptively easy. If you can, I'd recommend going EARLY. This trip, we started at 7AM and we were the first people down to the dam. But that only lasted about 15 minutes until people started showing up in droves.

[@kodywoodward3172]

Thanks for the video! You know all the best adventure spots in AZ!

[@TrailTime]

And there’s still so much to explore! There are SO many amazing spots here.

[@amyitis]

Thanks for this. It looks like there's some shade along the trail? How brutal is the hike back up? Steep?

[@TrailTime]

My pleasure. There’s sparse shade, and the hike out can be very difficult, especially in the brutal afternoon sun after swimming for a few hours. I’d recommend packing plenty of water, some electrolytes, sunscreen and maybe a water filter 👍🏼

[@amyitis]

@@TrailTime thanks so much!!

[@samuraitherapy]

cool

[@ashleybullmore]

So it's not the only trail?

[@TrailTime]

Depends on where you’re trying to get.

[@jenniferpollard4466]

♥️🙏

[@angelh496]

How did you purify your water before drinking?

[@TrailTime]

I used a Sawyer Mini. It’s essentially a mini dialysis filter that makes the water safe.

[@ninivenava632]

How do you get to the lil cave on min 8?

[@TrailTime]

Just downstream from the dam, there’s a social trail that gets you there with a little scrambling. Please tread lightly. There’s always a ton of trash, help the world a bit by bringing a garbage bag and picking up after yourself and others 🙂

[@sarahorme1675]

Is this lot locked before 8 am?

[@TrailTime]

It usually is. There is a ranger posted to check your paperwork and ask a few questions. I have done this hike several times so I knew what was expected of me, and what to plan for. When I drove up around 7AM for this trip, the gate was already open, but I couldn’t find a ranger. If it’s your first time you’ll probably want to wait until 8 to chat with the ranger a bit to ensure you won’t get ticketed

[@sarahorme1675]

Trail Time curious if I’m coming from Phoenix I see you can go through payson /pine Or camp verde ? I know there was recent recent closures on the pine side. Any recommendations?

[@TrailTime]

It depends which location on Fossil Creek you want to go. If you’re trying to go to the old dam (like in this video), the Pine side has a much shorter drive on the dirt, and the road is a lot better, but the hike is quite difficult as you start on top of the canyon and do around 10 miles round trip. If you’re trying to go to the waterfall, the other side has a significantly longer drive on dirt, but if you can get permits for the waterfall trailhead, it’s only a mile or so. I have a video from that side (kzbin.info/www/bejne/gqeoZKuPfbCAr9k) Technically you can hike to the dam from below, but the trail would be around ~15 miles long with minimal cover and some elevation gain and loss. That would start from the flume trailhead. According to the USFS website this trail is also closed currently. The dirt road used to continue all the way through from camp verde to pine, but near constant rockslides made the USFS close the road permanently past the waterfall TH. I am unsure if this is reflected on google maps or the like, I know last year it wasn’t.

[@joannad9778]

Trail Time Hi! Is the dam where that pretty cave is?

[@TrailTime]

Yeah! It’s just downstream from the dam. But you have to swim to get to it, so it may be difficult to get to the cave this time of year.