Finding Wild Horses and Burros in Arizona
(this page is still in progress)
• Alamo is northwest of Wickenburg
• Big Sandy is 55 miles southeast of Kingman
• Black Mountain 15 miles west of Kingman
• Cerbat Mountains 5 miles north of Kingman
• Cibola-Trigo is near Yuma and Quartzsite
• Havasu is south of Lake Havasu City
• Heber southwest of Heber
• Lake Pleasant is 25 miles NW of Phoenix
• Salt River is NE of Phoenix
*the BLM map to the right still shows Tassi-Gold Butte as a herd area but notes it has been zeroed out and all the wild horses and/or burros removed. The HMA was 101,816 acres.
As you can see by the map, all of the herds are located in western Arizona with the exception of the Heber herd on the east side.
Size: 341,000 acres
Number of wild burros the BLM deems appropriate for the herd area is 128-160
There are several roads that go both east and west off Alamo Rd and all around Alamo Lake - if you take the dirt roads then you should probably have a high clearance vehicle suitable for driving on soft dirt/sand roads, or a OHV. The Big Sandy HMA is the north border and the Havasu HMA is the west border.
Big Sandy Herd Management Area - Wild Burros
Size: 341,000 acres
Number of wild burros the BLM deems appropriate for the herd area is 128-160
The Big Sandy Herd Management Area (HMA) is in west central Arizona, 55 miles southeast of Kingman on either side of U.S. Highway 93. The HMA includes the areas of the Big Sandy River Valley south of Wikieup to Alamo Lake, Burro Creek to the confluence of Boulder Creek and west through the southern foothills of the Hualapai Mountains.
Size: 1,100,000 acres
Number of wild burros the BLM deems appropriate for the herd area is 382-478
Once you pass the mine you can turn right onto Silver Creek Rd which is a well graded gravel road suitable for all vehicles. I spotted a few bands along the hills (see bottom left photo) and a few of the bands approached my truck and tried to open the door with their teeth!
There are roads that stretch all the way between the Oatman Highway and Highway 68 to the north and I'm sure you'd spot burros everywhere in between since the herd area is over 1 million acres.
Size: 341,000 acres
Number of wild horses the BLM deems appropriate for the herd area is 72-90
The first part of the road is suitable for most vehicles; you will pass a corral on the left and notice there are several houses along this stretch of road. You might see horses straight away, if not, keep driving. This is a public road so you have every right to drive on it. Once you pass the larger group of houses keep an eye on the hills for wild horses. There will likely also be cattle in the area. The road quickly becomes quite a bit rougher and I do recommend you don't continue unless you have really good tires and a high clearance vehicle. I only made it about 5 miles up the road before it became too rough for the truck. If you have an OHV you could keep going, just keep in mind that ATVs/OHVs usually scare wild horses away because they are so loud.
Vock Canyon Rd keeps going for a few more miles and it also forks to the south and runs into Shadow Canyon Rd which takes you back out to Stockton Hill Rd. I found the Cerbat horses that are near the houses were used to people and didn't run away, but the horses further up the road were very skittish and ran when I approached.
Cibola-Trigo Management Area - Wild Horses and Burros
Size: HMA is 179,000 acres and the Herd Area is 263,700
Number of wild burros the BLM deems appropriate for the herd area is 165 and the number of wild horses is 150
The Cibola-Trigo HMA is located in the southwest corner of Arizona and southeast corner of California. Important communities near the Cibola-Trigo HMA are Yuma and Quartzsite in Arizona and Blythe and Palo Verde in California. Major physical features are the Colorado River, Cibola Lake, Cibola Valley, Trigo Mountains, Chocolate Mountains and the Laguna Mountains. There are two small herds scattered throughout the area, the Gould Wash Herd and the Castle Dome Wash Herd. The wild horses colors include are mostly bay and black, but dun, pinto, and appaloosa also occur in this herd.
The Castle Dome Wash Herd predominately roams on YPG with a little use on BLM and Imperial National Wildlife Refuge lands.
Size: 450,790 acres
Number of wild burros the BLM deems appropriate for the herd area is 133-166
Number of wild burros the Forest Service deems appropriate for the herd area is 50-104
The Heber herd is located southwest of the town of Heber south of Hwy 260. There are a number of forest roads you can turn onto to access the herd area.
Size: 103,000 acres
Number of wild burros the BLM deems appropriate for the herd area is 166 - 208
You can also continue west on SR 74 to N Quintero Ln and turn right/north. This will lead to a golf course and small neighborhood but there are dirt roads that travel north and east towards the lake that you could explore. The herd itself stretches north and west of Lake Pleasant.
Size:
Number of wild horses in the area is approx. ______