A day trip on Bob Bear Trail to the Fossil Creek Dam (aka “the Toilet Bowl”)

Here’s another one for the bucket list.

I spent this past weekend hiking to a portion of Fossil Creek: Along Bob Bear Trail to Fossil Springs to see the old Fossil Creek dam (and Toilet Bowl), float through some pretty strong creek currents and check out an electric glowing blue cave.

It was a sweaty hike back up out of the falls, but absolutely worth it!

“Fossil Creek” is a confusing phrase. The creek itself marks the boundary between two national forests (the Coconino and the Tonto) and there are multiple access points (all require permits via Recreation.gov) that lead to different day use sites alongside the creek, and different trailheads around the creek.

When you buy a permit, you have to select the lot that you want to park in, so you really have to do your research in advance to figure out where you want to go and what lot is best to park in to get there.

For this trip, we opted to do Bob Bear Trail to the Fossil Creek Dam, which is a portion of the Fossil Creek area that I haven’t explored before, so I was super excited to go.

So, before I get too far into this…

This hike can be hard if you’re unprepared! It’s 9 miles round trip. My group found it easy to hike downhill into the canyon to get to the falls, but hiking back up can be difficult if you’re not physically capable of it. The entire trail is exposed with absolutely no shade, and it can reach up to 100º in the summer months. Bring all of the water. If you have a filter you can fill up at the falls, but bring way, WAY more water than you think you need.

Heed the advice on the sign below.

It is a stunning hike. The first two miles down into the canyon feature stunning canyon views, and the closer you get to the springs, the more lush green riparian growth you’re treated to.

It took our group about two hours to make the 4.5-mile trek down to the water, and another two hours to make the 4.5-mile trek back up to the trailhead, but we were hiking at a pretty leisurely pace.

Eventually, after descending downhill, you’ll start to hear the sounds of roaring water, and as you turn a corner, you’ll immediately see roaring waters flowing down the man-made Fossil Creek Dam.

Quick history lesson: The Fossil Creek Dam is a man-made structure. It’s a remnant of the old Childs-Irving hydroelectric power plant which was built in 1912 and decommissioned in the early 2000s. While the power plant facilities were removed, a few pieces of it remain, like the dam and several foundations and footings.

If you hike down the trail to the falls and keep following the flow of the creek, you’ll find plenty of good spaces to throw down a beach towel, grab a quick snack, and then plunge into those crystal clear waters.

We lucked out- the weather ended up being absolutely perfect for our trip. We had a mix of sun and cloud-cover, and temperatures were in the mid-to-high 80s, with very minimal breezes.

We spent several hours wandering up and down along the creek. We jumped off of cliffs, paddled against rapid creek currents, and explored electric blue caves hidden in the canyon walls.

I’ve seen photos of this specific cave (located just downstream of the dam) on social media, and I always assumed the photos I saw were heavily edited and filtered.

I was shocked to find that the water really is just as electric blue in-person (honestly, even more electric blue!) as it is on a screen.

The water was also just the right temperature.

And, thanks to the Forest Service’s permit system, the area wasn’t too crowded since capacity is limited. We met a few people (and rescued an Apple Watch) but didn’t find ourselves elbowing other hikers for space to throw down our towels.

After our two hours of fun, we packed up our things, traded our Tevas for our hiking boots, and started our journey up and out of the canyon, back to Bob Bear Trailhead.

While the hike down to the trailhead was easy, the hike back up was quite a bit more challenging! There are some pretty steep portions of trail with some loose rocks, so again — wear sturdy shoes and bring plenty of water!

If you make this trek, pack your shit out. The hikers in front of us left a literal trail of empty plastic water bottles. We picked up three of them on our way out, which was absolutely infuriating.

We made it back to our cars shortly after 5 p.m.

As always, a huge — HUGE — shout out to Jenni, who always takes on the thankless work of conceptualizing, planning and executing all these fun trips.

I struggle hard with fire season and being able to make plans (they end up getting canceled as soon as we get a start on my forest) so it’s always absolutely incredible to have an awesome friend who’s so damn accommodating with my hit-or-miss schedule.

Thank you Jenni, eternally grateful!

I had such a blast on this day trip, and I already cannot wait to head back down Bob Bear Trail to the dam for more adventures in the future.

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