Cross the Agua Fria, Then Climb to the Stone Ruin
A guided side-by-side run north of Phoenix that ends on foot, at a wall stacked from volcanic rock without mortar.
Arizona Outdoor Fun runs several trips out of one yard off I-17. This is the long one. It goes deeper into the Bradshaw Mountains than anything else they sell, and side-by-sides are the only vehicle allowed on it.
More than three thousand feet of elevation change is stacked into the middle of it. The far end is a ruin: a wall somebody laid up from broken volcanic rock on the lip of a mesa, no mortar anywhere in it, still standing.
Bookings run by the vehicle. You take a two, three, or four seater and the machine is yours for the run.
Ancient Ruins Tour - Guided Arizona Desert Tour by UTVThree hours by side-by-side from New River, Arizona. Booked per vehicle, up to four travelers.www.viator.comThe Wall Above the River
The walls sit on a mesa edge with the Agua Fria running below. They are laid up from broken volcanic rock, fitted by hand, held in place by weight alone. Arizona Outdoor Fun dates them to more than a thousand years ago and credits the Hohokam. Both the date and the name are the operator's; the stone-walled sites archaeologists have surveyed in this part of Arizona run several centuries later.
Guides stop here and everyone gets out. You cover the last stretch on foot. Arizona's guidance for prehistoric sites is to keep off the walls and leave anything you find where it lies. The rock has gone lichened, orange over grey, and the courses are still readable where the wall has not slumped.
The scale of it surprises people. A rider in June 2026 wrote that the ruins were "not as expansive as I had imagined." One the previous July: "not overly impressive, but they are in a great location." The setting does most of the work here, and the walls reward a close look more than a wide one.
Water First, Then the Climb
Much of the route runs on public land the company rides under federal permit. It crosses the Agua Fria. Depth moves with the season and the guide picks the line.
After the water the trail climbs on loose rock and washed-out two-track. The operator keeps quads off this run entirely. Their stated reason: side-by-sides get further into the mountains than quads do.
Groups are capped at ten vehicles and a booking tops out at four travelers. Forty people is the ceiling on the trail at once.
Expect to come back filthy. Face coverings and goggles come out at check-in, and a rider in February 2026 advised making sure "the rest of your body also has dust friendly coverage."
Who Drives and What You Sit In
- Sixteen and over to drive, with a valid driver's license
- Four and over to ride as a passenger, car seat welcome
- Eighteen and over to hold the booking, with valid ID and a credit or debit card
- Four hundred pounds per seat
Nobody outside your booking gets seated in your vehicle. Show up as a party of two on a four seater and the spare seats stay empty. Separate bookings on the same activity and time slot get grouped on arrival.
The fleet on this run is Kawasaki: Teryx side-by-sides plus a KRX that only goes out on guided trips. You do not reserve a model. Staff match you to a machine at check-in.
Before You Point the Car North
🚙 The yard sits off I-17 at the Rock Springs exit, usually forty to sixty minutes from most of the Phoenix and Scottsdale metro. Typing the street address into a maps app does not work. The operator asks you to search for the business by name.
- Closed-toe shoes are required. No sandals, no flip-flops. Dress the way you would for a hike
- No skirts or dresses on this run
- Block out four hours for a three hour tour
- Check-in runs 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM in March and April, 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM from October through February, and 6:00 AM to 11:00 AM from May through September. The operator puts that summer window down to extreme heat
- Booking closes four hours ahead of departure and confirms on the spot
- They run every day of the year except Christmas
- Rain or shine. Severe weather gets you a reschedule or a refund
Cancel through this listing at least twenty-four hours before departure for a full refund. The operator's own desk runs a seventy-two hour window and will send you back to whoever holds the booking.
The drive back is the same forty to sixty minutes, and rideshare drivers are thin on the ground out here. Book the return before you leave the city unless you brought the car that got you there. Rock Springs Cafe sits by the turn off the frontage road, close enough to eat the dust off before you get back on I-17.