Topock Marsh has been in the news again lately because of a huge fire that burned through almost 4k acres of dead cattails on its West side. As devastating as this seems the new growth should attract more birds next year.
In the fall of 2009, I arrive at Five Mile Landing campground for the first time in my little blue truck with its canopy filled with all my bedding and fishing gear. On my roof is my kayak. I have asked to stay in the campsite under an aged salt cedar tree that is home to a pair of Great Horned Owls. I chose this spot so I could listen to their calls all night long. This was not my first visit, nor my last. I had a brochure for kayaking in the Havasu National Wildlife Refuge in my files for 10 years. A bucket list trip. For 10 years I had longed to visit Topock Marsh, to kayak its waters and see its beauty. From the fall of 2009 throught the spring of 2010 I spent many weekends exploring the marsh by kayak and hiking the desert around it. I fell in love with this place and the people who once lived there.
An oasis in the desert. That is what Five Mile Landing had been since the 1950’s. It is located in the Topock Marsh, within the Havasu National Wildlife Refuge. In the beginning it was a campground, later it became the home for a couple dozen or so souls. It was a landing spot for a few snowbirds seeking a warmer place for the winter. And a refuge for a few down and out people. There were travel trailers in neat rows under ancient salt cedar trees plugged into aged electrical outlets with wires showing on old gray wooden posts. Drifts of sand covered broken lawn furniture, rotten deck boards lined the peer along with not quite a handful of mostly retired boats, each in a state of repair or disarray. It almost had the feel of a ghost town. Yet, mornings and evenings found many at an old washing machine drum fire pit in front of the “club house”. With a fire ablaze people sat on old ragged mix matched chairs telling boisterous stories. Yet many said nothing, they just sat there smoking, drinking their coffee or beer and making facial gestures showing that at least they were listening. Oh, the stories they told! Did they know that their time here was running out? In November 2010 the campground and trailer park closed. Causing all who lived there to move. Anything left behind was cleared out. Nothing was left that had been. Only the aged salt cedar trees with their beloved owls were left.
In 2023 my husband and I paid Five Mile Landing a visit. We paddled out in our canoe. The first thing you see are dead trees, this gives the marsh an eerie look. Most of these were chewed off by beavers when the original water level rose. Many of these trees were mesquite, which produce edible beans that the Native Americans in that area had used for food. While paddling we saw so many different birds including huge white pelicans. We found a large beaver dam and we caught a glimpse of a muskrat swimming. Little piles of mud everywhere showed off his hard work. The marsh is home to three endangered birds, the Western Willow Flycatcher, the Yuma Ridgeway Rail and the Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Blue-footed boobies were even spotted at the Marsh in 2009 and 2013. With over 300 different species of birds, it truly is a birding hotspot!
On this trip the water level was very low, some areas we paddled through mud. This was due to a leak in a control gate and low Colorado River levels. Temporary pumps were put in place in 2024 and that has brought the water level back up some. With funding the new pump system should be completed in 2026. Topock Marsh’s Five Mile Landing is also getting a face lift with concrete being poured for its new boat launch area. For the time being, kayaks and canoes are your best bet for exploring the marsh. Once the water levels are higher jon boats can be used again. Every visit makes me want to return again. Don’t wait 10 years to come see and explore this oasis is the desert!
Caroline Thomas
