Golden Link Falls

Golden Link Fall200

From this best view point we could find, we could not see the bottom of 200’ high Golden Link Falls. 

note the angled fallen fir tree in the upper right-hand corner of this photo... it is a 40 footer.

 

Golden Link Fall lower7070’ high Lower Golden Link Falls

is a couple hundred yards downstream... it takes a lot of “body juice” to climb to where these falls can be photographed.

 

The best place to view Golden Link Falls is from on top of the canyon rim northwest of the falls about 100 to 200 yards away.

 

beta facts:

name- Golden Link Falls

height- upper falls – 200’  the lower is 70’ high

elevation- 8600’  and 8200’

GPS coordinates- ±33°17.528’N 108°41.955’W

flow- perennial

best season- wet times like Memorial Day of a wet year or July and August rainy season

accommodations- Gila Wilderness

ownership- Gila National Forest

access-  8 miles on trail with some bushwhacking and game trails

nearest town- Glenwood is about 10 miles west of here

fun fact- Gila high country’s BEST…!!!!! …but hard to get to…!!!!!

 

Here is a special flow reference: This photo above was taken at noon on May 19, 2010.  That day the Mogollon Creek Water Flow Gage was at 40 cfs.

This information will help you gauge the moisture content of the area to get a feel for how the good falls will be flowing.

See: https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nm/nwis/uv/?site_no=09430600&PARAmeter_cd=00065,00060

 

 

essay bro

Big Dry Creek in the high Mogollon Mountains is as rough of country as New Mexico has.  I have both hiked and floated the Grand Canyon and I declare upper Big Dry Creek an equal in it’s grandeur.  We lost count of 15 to 40 foot high waterfalls as we engineered our way up thru the 1200’ high Big Dry Creek Cascades.  This steady string of waterfalls is almost one-mile long and provides a “canyoneering” experience second to none.

 

From Golden Link Cabin, five hundred to one thousand feet high, sheer-walled terraces climb peaks towering more than a half-mile overhead.  This is as grand as mother Earth gets.  The four hundred foot free-falling ribbon of lace called Chasm Falls cascades into this canyon from the south... in splendor that very few know New Mexico even has. 

 

Golden Link Creek enters Big Dry Creek from the north, just above Big Dry Falls.  It has two high waterfalls of it’s own 70’ high Lower Golden Link Falls and 200’ high Golden Link Falls.  Golden Link Creek’s lower half-mile is all steep whitewater that cataracts thru a 600’ deep twisting Chasm... with awe-inspiring wild grandeur.  More waterfalls wait to be found up each of the three creeks that desend the north slopes of 10,658’ Sacaton Peak.

 

Hanging Rock Trail and Silver Drip Trail are the two most direct routes into the upper Big Dry Creek drainage.  Both have been abandon by the National Forest Service.  We will soon loose these “two most spactacular trails of the Gila Wilderness”.  They are both marked on the map below as “unmaintained trail”.  If we outdoor-people use these trails and care for them each time we hike them... they will be preserved... otherwise they will be lost.

 

Golden Link Falls is found on the right-hand side of this map below

 

For a new updated and much enlarged map of this area click here

Enhanced USGS 7.5’ topo map

Big&Little Dry Cree

________ONE MILE_______

 

Upper Big Dry Creek has one of the finest collection of waterfalls in New Mexico...!!!

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Send questions and comments to dscott@TheMarbleSculptor.com