Wild Palms Of The Kofas

  Fifty-five miles north of Yuma, in the southwestern part of Arizona, is a turnoff to an unusual biome for Arizona. After one turns east off of U.S. Highway 95, it is nine miles of dirt road to Palm Canyon, which is located in the western facade of the Kofa Mountains. The first five miles of this dirt road are in good to decent condition. Then the road then enters the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge for its final run to its dead-end. This four mile stretch within the wildlife refuge is a slow going affair because the road is extremely washboarded. The bone-jarring drive is well worth it because, at roads end, is the only place in Arizona where palm trees grow in the wild.  Cities such as Phoenix, Mesa, Tucson and Yuma have lots of palm trees lining the streets, but they were all imported and planted in beautification efforts. The palm trees in Palm Canyon are growing in the wild and they are even thriving. The older, more mature trees are twenty to thirty feet tall with the tallest one being thirty-seven feet tall, I believe.
 These palm trees are rather dimunitive in stature compared to palm trees elsewhere, but they are doing quite well in their secluded location. Palm Canyon is nearly vertical and the trees grow in a sort of stairstep fashion. All but one or two of these trees grow on the sunny, south-facing wall of the canyon.
  This species of palm tree is called the California Fan Palm and its scientific name is Washingtonia filiferia. They grow in scattered locations in California and in Baja California, in Mexico, but they only grow in this one location in Arizona. Most likely, the seeds which gave rise to these anomalous palm trees were dropped by birds that happened to be flying over the area. Perhaps the seeds landed in this area after being blown about by incessant winds. Who knows? 
  I once spent a very peaceful night camping in this area but I had to be prepared because there are no services whatsoever in the area. The nearest town is Quartzsite, 35 miles away. I camped in January, which is the perfect time to camp in this area, because it is blazing hot for the majority of the year. It is one of the most memorable camping experiences I have ever had and, if I ever work up the nerve and do the necessary preparations, I have always wanted to spend about a week completely by myself and completely removed from society and, if I ever do this (doubtful at this point), this is the area that I want to do it in.