The hike to Tower Ruin, which passes a nice natural bridge and Paul Bunyan’s Potty is around 10 miles of the worst hiking possible. The entire thing is in a sandy creek wash of deep sand with very few reprieves on solid ground that aren’t through bushes or weeds. That being said, Paul Bunyan’s Potty is a fantastic geological feature that has a funny and fitting name and the ruins themselves are impressive with their high defensive position up on the sandstone cliffside. There’s also a smaller window on the way that can be mistaken for the big guy’s toilet, but don’t be fooled. To reach the trailhead you travel down the Cave Spring dirt road and then you turn right as soon as you can and park when the gate stops you at the Salt Creek Trailhead. Then you walk down the old Jeep road until you reach the wash, which you follow until you reach your destination. You must love hiking in loose sand for over 10 miles.

There’s also an Anasazi / Ancestral Puebloan / Fremont granary visible along the sandstone fin wall to check out before you reach the tower ruins, which is a nice bonus.

When I got to the Tower Ruin though, I was so fed up with walking on that stinkin’ sand and I knew I had to go back the way I came, that I didn’t even walk around the red spire that indicates you’ve reached the ruin viewing area. I just snapped my pictures and cursed that coral pink sand like Anakin before heading back to my truck on that dishwater desert haze day (I’d also been broken up with over text the day before so I was sour… That may also tint my enjoyment of this hike now that I’m typing it out). In doing my research I wasn’t told about the sand so I am telling you, dear reader. You’ve been warned.