I keep threatening myself to take a canoe down there just to run the Gila and San Francisco rivers through Gila Box. Gorgeous area.
http://southwestpaddler.com/docs/gila2.html
I guess I have never been over any part of the Gila when it appeared to have adequate flows. The link suggests optimal flow is 1500 – 3500 CFS. The gauge is around 110 CFS today, which is right on the median daily average for this time of year. Might be a gauge to watch if I was already out there in snowmelt or rainy season with a canoe.
I’ll have to check out the Gila Box area and the Riparian Conservation Area. Even without adequate flows it looks like an interesting area to visit. BLM land, so it appears that primitive camping is allowed in undeveloped areas (outside the riparian zone).
https://www.blm.gov/national-conservation-lands/arizona/gilabox
Arizona is actually pretty good. I paddled some seasonal streams like the Verde, and lake powell is spectacular. Roosevelt lake is nice in the winter. The dry season is a drag, but for a desert, paddling is decent.
I never considered Roosevelt Lake. I know there is a (Forest Service?) RV campground on the shore, but don’t think there are primitive car camping or paddle-to sites.
Paddling Lake Powell has long intrigued me, but when I ponder the possible downsides, put in and take out at a marina bustling with power boats and houseboats, or paddling 20+ miles to reach an interesting side canyon to camp and finding a flotilla of houseboats already anchored, meh, maybe not.
I still haven’t ruled out a Lake Powell trip, but I’d want the 20 foot freighter canoe and the Suzuki motor to cover some distance, and motor on to plan B if the Plan A side canyon was already full of houseboats. Which isn’t really paddling.
I have been desperate enough to wet a boat in SE Arizona that I paddled Patagonia Lake north of Nogales. Woo hoo, 250 acres. At least it was winter and not overcrowded, and the lake has a couple long arms worth a day paddle explore.
https://azstateparks.com/patagonia-lake/