Hike Kofa Dam and Kofa Butte Kofa National Wildlife Refuge, AZ

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Kofa Butte is located deep in the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge, but a road leads to a backcountry historic dam nearby, providing fairly easy access. To reach the trailhead, drive along King Road and head north here (33.17939, -114.02172). The road is almost all excellent graded dirt. Turn right here (33.28254, -113.975) and legally pass through an active mine on a short bit of private property. Veer left here (33.27097, -113.9552) and take this less good road up Yaqui Wash, where high clearance is necessary, but not 4WD. Follow this road up Yaqui Wash to its end.

Matt and I first wanted to check out a feature labeled Kofa Dam on maps. A short detour from Kofa Butte, we decided to head over to check it out before heading to the peak. From the junction with Yaqui Wash, we headed right up Kofa Dam Wash, which had some light Class 2 obstacles and a couple of interesting formations along its sides. The drainage housing the dam pops in on the left, but there's a significant dryfall that we had to get over. We stayed above the drainage on its east side and ascended Class 2 terrain to the area above the dryfall and then dropped down to the dam. I always love finding weird desert stuff like this.

Rather than backtrack and take a more direct route up to Kofa Butte, we decided to just stay high and wrapped around to the north side of Kofa Butte. From here, the slope progressed from flat and easy terrain to small boulders, and finally to Class 2 as it ascended. The route wraps to the northeast side of the peak, following the base of the more significant cliffs. We noted cairns along the route, but they were not helpful. A weakness in the cliff band allows for Class 2 access to the flattish top of Kofa Butte. We headed generally south and up to the high point. There's a false summit to the north that has great views of Polaris Mountain and others to the north. The true summit is located along a narrower stretch of flat mesatop to a perch above sheer cliffs.

We backtracked off the top of Kofa Butte and rather than follow our ascent route, we decided to take a more direct route back down to Kofa Dam Wash. To do this, we hugged the base of the northern cliffs and side-hilled a bit until reaching a sloped spur ridge. This took us down on mostly pleasant terrain, headed northwest. Short Class 2 sections were the only obstacle.

PEAKS ON HIKE
Elevation (ft) / Prominence (ft)

Peaks on hike

Elevation

Prominence

Kofa Butte

3247 ft

927 rise

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At the end of Yaqui Wash Road. We headed through the wash.

Within Kofa Dam Wash.

Looking back, some minor Class 2 within the wash.

We left the main wash when we saw this side-drainage. You can see a dryfall on the left. We ascended to the right of it.

Kofa Dam comes into view on the left.

View into the area below Kofa Dam where there was a little bit of water and some old pipes.

At the base of Kofa Dam.

Kofa Dam, Kofa Butte in the distance.

Kofa Dam.

View back at Kofa Dam.

Ascending the high ground as we wrap around to the north side of Kofa Butte.

Ascending to Kofa Butte.

Kofa Butte ahead.

Mostly pleasant terrain.

View back as the terrain gets some boulders.

Polaris Mountain in the center. Kofa Butte's northern cliffs visible on the left.

Approaching the Class 2 portion of Kofa Butte. The route leads to the left of the cliffs above until reaching a weakness that's out of frame. Our more direct descent route we took later goes down in the bottom right of this photo.

Class 2 as we head up to the higher cliffs.

View back as we wrap around to Kofa Butte's northeast side.

Ascending traverse along the northwest side.

Wrapping around the peak's northeast side. Kofa Butte comes into view.

Almost at the flattish top of Kofa Butte after wrapping around the peak's northeast side.

We emerged to the flattish top. The high point is up there in the center somewhere. Also there was an obvious cairn to mark the spot to descend from the top on the way back.

View back as we continue along the top of Kofa Butte.

Approaching the inal uphill.

Class 2 max.

View back beneath some rock outcrops.

Approaching Kofa Butte's summit, a narrower section that leads to a pretty overloop.

Kofa Butte summit, view north.

False summit, view north.

After backtracking, this is the start of our more direct descent route. It was fine, but a little annoying and not as pretty as the ascent.

Descending back to Kofa Dam Wash.

View back toward Kofa Butt's northwestern cliffs.

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Hire/refer me as a web developer or send me a few bucks if you find my site useful. I’m not sponsored, so all fees are out-of-pocket and my time preparing trip reports is unpaid. I really appreciate it!