The Desert Enclave Preserve

Desert Enclave Preserve is tucked away on a gravel road that dead ends at Cave Creek. In the early spring the wash sparkles with run-off from the rains. The 20 acre preserve was given to the Desert Foothills Land Trust in 1998 by Mark Stapp and Jean Naef.

The property, on the east border of Cave Creek Regional Park, provides a natural access to water for wildlife that ranges over that area's rugged canyons. Native plants, nourishment for hungry herbivores, thrive here as the terrain spreads out to form the creek's floodplain.



The Desert Foothills Land Trust preserves are never created as parks, but Desert Enclave will also provide space for people. Horseback and hiking trails will be built and maintained by DFLT volunteers. From the trails, visitors will be able to enjoy this pristine section of Cave Creek Wash, marvel at the mesquites that crowd its banks, listen to the various calls of Gambel's quail and dove, and with luck, catch a glimpse of a deer taking a drink from the stream.