Walk a bit until you see the trailhead opening in the fence to your left.

From the Waterfall parking area, walk up the road past the barriers. The weekend parking slots fill way ahead but if you can go on a weekday, it's relatively easy to get a decent spot just a day ahead. First, you need to get a parking permit ahead of time ($6, available online). This is not a place you decide to just pop over to hike. I feel the need to re-iterate, even though it's all over the Fossil Creek website and areas signs, PLEASE, Leave No Trace! Bring trash bags, pack out what you bring in, do your part to keep Fossil Creek gorgeous so future generations can enjoy it too! Stop and swim at the smaller waterfalls along the way. Take your time, take it all in and enjoy the scenic route to the big waterfall. No point bringing a cell phone outside of the car. Bring food, water, hats, sunscreen, water shoes, hiking shoes, a waterproof camera. Go on a weekday!!! Try to plan the trip at least two weeks ahead of time to secure a parking pass in the closer Waterfall Trail lot or Irving Flume lot. Motion sickness pills were a must for some of our group, try Bonine, no drowsiness as with Dramamine. It takes anywhere from 35 minutes to an hour just to get to the parking lot on this road. Sedans and vans we passed seemed stuck at 10-15 mph while we were able to reach 30-35mph in our SUV. We encountered minimal obnoxious beer/loud music/party people, which I don't understand anyway.you're in nature and it probably took you hours of planning and travel to get here, soak it in! Leave the bs at home! My suggestions: Unless you're extremely fit and child-free, you're probably stuck getting to Fossil Creek by driving in on the road from hell on the Camp Verde side. We went the Wednesday after 4th of July and didn't feel it was crowded at all. We were there from about noon to 6pm, not counting the drive in and out (add another hour to 90 minutes). I consider the Waterfall Trail almost a walk versus a hike, there are minimal inclines and it is very doable, even for small children.

We didn't even get to the big waterfall until almost the end of our day, and only spent an hour there, saving some energy for the walk back. Beware if you're coming from Phoenix and used to 80+ degree pools, the water felt COLD, even in July! It was probably about 65-70 degrees, it was still refreshing and beautiful, but I wouldn't go here to swim in non-summer months. However, there are many small waterfalls and peaceful swimming holes (some with shade) along the way that we stopped at and had to ourselves most of the time. The big waterfall is the main attraction, where the majority of the people will set up for the day and hang out to enjoy the cliff jumping and waterfall slides. Fossil Creek is absolutely breathtaking and something every Arizona resident who is physically able should experience at least once.and the road to get there is daunting enough that it may be awhile before I go back! I consider the washboard road a good thing, it will hopefully help preserve this natural treasure for years to come.

Fossil creek waterfall trail arizona