Staff Reports
GRAHAM COUNTY – A 9-1-1 call reporting approximately 10 people stranded at the Riverview Campground in the Gila Box Riparian National Conservation Area turned out to be a significant misunderstanding, Graham County Sheriff’s deputies determined Sunday.
According to a GCSO report, dispatch received the welfare-check call at 11:03 a.m. on Nov. 23 from a woman who said the Gila River had “washed out,” leaving her group stuck at the campground with vehicles too low to clear the water. The woman said the campers had food and water but no cell service in the campground itself, forcing her to hike to higher ground to place the call.
Deputies, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management units, and Graham County Search and Rescue were all mobilized or placed on standby.
A GCSO deputy arrived at the Riverview Campground without difficulty and made contact with the woman and another camper. After some initial confusion, the deputy learned no one was actually stranded.
The concern stemmed from a brief conversation the woman had with a male camper as she was leaving the area earlier that morning. The man told her a pile of rock and gravel—approximately two to three feet high, according to his hand gesture—had washed onto the paved road near the Spring Canyon Picnic Area two days earlier, and he believed low-clearance vehicles would not be able to pass.
The woman did not verify the report herself. Instead, she turned around, returned to the campground, and called 9-1-1.
The deputy advised that the road was passable for all vehicles, including sedans. He offered to lead her out, and the two drove without incident past the reported location. The deputy observed only four to six inches of sand and gravel on the roadway—already flattened by previous tire tracks and far less severe than many monsoon-related debris flows in the area.
No other campers had been told the road was impassable, and the “approximately 10 people” referenced in the 9-1-1 call were simply other visitors staying at Riverview Campground.
All responding agencies were canceled, and the woman continued on to Safford without further issue.
The incident was cleared with no further action required.
