Bear Springs Badlands
Rockhounding / fossil site · Graham County, AZ
Bear Springs Badlands is listed in the federal Recreation Information Database with rockhounding as an activity. Check current collecting or panning rules with the managing agency.
| Type | Rockhounding / fossil site (Recreation area) |
|---|---|
| Location | Graham County, Arizona |
| Coordinates | 32.83917, -109.96030 (map) |
| Managed by | Bureau of Land Management |
| Fees | None |
| Hours | Call to confirm |
| Phone | 928-348-4400 |
| Website | Not listed in source |
About this site
Bear Springs Badlands features rugged, eroded badlands terrain northwest of Safford, Arizona. The area contains fossil sites and eye-catching geological formations shaped by ancient sedimentary processes. Visitors can hike informal trails through this unique high-desert ecosystem, observing the effects of dramatic erosion over time. These badlands preserve late Pliocene (roughly 3 to 3.3 million years ago) fossil trackways etched into limestone layers once deposited in ancient washes. A trackway is a sequence of footprints left by an animal as it moves across a surface like mud, snow, or sand. Camel tracks are the most common, with occasional mastodont tracks and local concentrations of the three-toed horse, Nannippus phlegon . Additional finds include antelope and goose tracks, as well as possible bear and cat impressions. …
Description from Recreation Information Database (RIDB).
Directions
The best access to Bear Springs Badlands is via W. Tripp Canyon Road. From Safford, head west on U.S. Highway 70 toward Pima, AZ. Turn left onto the W. 200 N and drive 0.7 miles. Remainder of the roads are unpaved. Turn onto 1200 W/N Patterson Mesa Road for 0.3 miles. Turn right onto Tripp Canyon Road/West Ctr. Stay on Tripp Canyon Rd/West Ctr. for 8.2 miles.
Verify before visiting. Hours, fees, access and collecting rules change, and some listings come from community-edited data. Call or check the operator's official page before you go. Details we could not confirm are marked "call to confirm".
Nearby sites
- Black Hills Rockhound Area – Graham County, AZ, 33 mi
- Round Mountain Rockhound Area – Greenlee County, AZ, 58 mi
- Queen Mine Tours – Cochise County, AZ, 97 mi
- Vulture Mine Tours / Vulture City Ghost Town – Wickenburg, AZ, 179 mi
- Lynx Creek Gold Pan Day Use Area – Yavapai County, AZ, 182 mi
Source: RIDB record 2041 (Recreation.gov / RIDB, public domain). Data retrieved 2026-11-04.