Peavine Trail

Seven Skyliners (Gordon Bice, Miriam Sterling, Collene Maktenieks, Daisy Williams, Ellis Price and two others) traveled to Prescott on 27 February 2010 to hike on the Peavine Trail. We took Hwy 89A south through Jerome and across Mingus Mountain to the intersection with US 89. We then traveled south toward Prescott on US 89 to Prescott Lakes Parkway, turned left and went about another third of a mile before turning left on Sundog Ranch Road at the Humane Society. The turnoff to the trailhead parking lot is about 275 yards ahead on the left.

The Peavine Trail follows the bed of the old Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix (SFP&P) Railway. It connected Prescott to the Santa Fe mainline at Ashfork (from 1893) and Phoenix through skull Valley, Congress and Wickenburg (from1895). The Santa Fe line into Prescott was discontinued in 1984. It was known as the Peavine because of its wandering route and serpentine trestles.

We hiked for just over three miles along the Peavine Trail before arriving at the junction with Iron King Trail. Along the way we were presented with great views of the Granite Dells. A couple of representative examples are displayed on the following page.

Looking into the Granite Dells from Peavine Trail.

The following information was posted at the junction of Peavine and Iron King Trails.

A view of Peavine Trail running along the old railroad bed through the Granite Dells

General information                                      Mountain lion warning

we had a choice (right): we could bear left and continue on the Peavine Trail which would end at Side Road, just off Hwy 89A, about 1.8 miles ahead, we could take the Iron King Trail, or we could have lunch here and turn back. Since it was not quite lunchtime we decided to continue on and even though the Mountain Lion Warning seemed to pertain to the Iron King Trail, we chose to go that way because it is relatively new and no one in our group had hiked it before.

Along the way I was intrigued by a perfectly-formed hedgehog cactus while the rest of the group were more interested in old rail-cars positioned along the trail:

Hedgehog cactus                                         NOT playing on the rail-car

Please note that Gordon and Collene are NOT playing on the rail-car. A small sign posted nearby specifically prohibits that.

We hiked about 1.15 miles on Iron King Trail before stopping to eat. After lunch we continued for about another tenth of a mile in order to look down into Prescott Valley before turning back. Iron King Trail apparently ends at Glassford Hill Road near Tuscany Way in Prescott Valley.

After looking out over Prescott Valley and the Yavapai County Fairgrounds, we turned and headed back with the intention of taking a side trail through the Dells along Watson Lake for part of the way.

View looking down Iron King Trail toward the junction with Peavine

Earlier, while we were hiking on Peavine to the junction with Iron King, we had noted that Lakeshore Trail wound its way through the Granite Dells running parallel to Peavine and between it and Watson Lake. We decided that we would take that trail back as it looked like a nice alternative to hiking along the relatively straight and level Peavine Trail.

Lakeshore Trail lived up to our expectations. With all the winding and climbing required to follow the trail through the Dells, the distance turned out to be only about three-quarters of a mile further than continuing along Peavine. The close-up views within the Dells and those across Watson Lake were well worth the extra effort. Several photographs are included on the following pages.

View of the Dells from Lakeshore Trail

View across Watson Lake from Thumb Butte near Lakeshore Trail

Magnified view across Watson Lake from Thumb Butte

View from Lakeshore Trail looking back toward Peavine Trail

View across Watson Lake from Lakeshore Trail

After approximately 1.75 miles of hiking through the Dells alongside Watson Lake, we came back out on Peavine Trail about 1 mile short of the south trailhead.

The total hiking distance for this hike was 9.6 miles according to my GPS and the total elevation change was approximately 100 feet. The GPS track is shown on the included map (below).

(NOTE: A small variation in measured hiking distance is possible for this trail, depending on where one chooses to start measuring. The logical possibilities are: where one parks, the location of the kiosk and toilets, or the actual point where one enters the old railway bed. I chose to start when I left the car.)

House Mountain – Indian Ruins and Cave

Five hikers participated in a hike to House Mountain to visit Indian Ruins and a cave that runs all the way through a butte. We drove to The Village of Oak Creek and turned off Hwy 179 onto Verde Valley School Road. We continued on Verde Valley School Road (and Red Rock Crossing Road - unpaved) for 4.0 miles to a rough dirt road leading off to the left. Parking is available at this point. However, we drove on the rough 4-wheel drive road for about 0.6 miles to reach the parking area at Trail 92 (Turkey Creek Trail).

Left to right: Jim Manning, Dolly Yapp, Gordon Bice and George Everman - Photographer: Ellis Price

We stopped at Turkey Creek Tank, about 1.6 miles from the trailhead, to look at some Devil’s Claw (Desert Unicorn) seed pods and wondered what the plant itself looked like. I learned later that the scientific name is Proboscides althaeifolia.

We paused to admire some soap tree yucca plants along the way. Although we were attracted at first by a small, perfectly formed sample of the plant alongside the trail, I was more intrigued by a group of more mature plants framing a hillside topped with a red rock bluff.

                 Perfectly formed soap tree yucca             Soap tree yucca plants framing                       

                                                                                          hillside view

As we continued on Turkey Creek Trail we could see the area we were aiming for to our left. The faint vapor trail on the horizon in the center of the below photograph points to the red butte where the cave is located while the Indian ruins are just beyond the butte.

Our goal is pointed out by a faint vapor trail on the horizon in the center of this photograph.

Around 1.25 miles from Turkey Creek Tank, we came to a cairn alongside the trail followed a few yards further by a second cairn

Cairn marking the spot where the trail makes a sharp right turn.

The trail takes a sharp turn to the right at the second cairn (at 34°47'8.25"N; 111°50'25.71"W). We left the trail there and followed a less distinct path to the left along the side of the mountain. Even that path ended after only a few yards and we stopped there for a snack before resuming our difficult trek along the mountainside.

Snack break                                                     Going where no trail exists

Following the contour of the mountain on our way to the area where the Indian ruins and the cave were located, we came upon a couple of very interesting cactus plants. One was a prickly pear that looked as though it were wearing a skirt. The other, we later learned, was a Paper-spined fishhook cactus, protected in Arizona. (NOTE: It is confirmed only in AZ, NM & TX.)

Paper-spined fishhook cactus Prickly Pear Cactus with a skirt

(endangered in AZ)

We would first visit the Indian ruins and then return to the cave in the red butte in time for lunch. To do so, we passed by the narrow saddle that connects the butte with the mountain proper.

Shot of the saddle between the mountain proper and the red butte

The saddle, capped with an erosion resistant layer of limestone, drops down sharply on both sides, leaving only a narrow path for passage to the butte.

Less than a tenth of a mile beyond the saddle leading to the butte, we arrived at the Indian ruins.

View of Indian ruins

The ruins (located at 34°47'15.81"N; 111°49'57.79"W) showed obvious signs of human habitation, by Indians and by later visitors. There were smoke stains on the walls, old pottery shards and modern graffiti. After looking the ruins over, Gordon voiced the opinion that this must have an Indian bachelors pad as no brave could have gotten away with building such a shoddy wall if his spouse were present.

Just past the ruins, I found a place where one could easily climb on up the cliff to the plateau above the ruins (below left). I paused about half way up to take a shot of hikers standing in front of the ruins (below right).

An easy (relatively speaking) path           Looking back at the hikers in front

to the top                                                       of the ruins

From the ruins, and especially from the plateau above, one is afforded spectacular views across Sedona and the surrounding red rock country. See the two following photographs as examples.

View of red rock country

View of red rock country

After I climbed down from the plateau above and we had finished with the ruins, we turned our attention to our next objective … the red butte with the cave running all the way thru. The butte was clearly visible from the ruins and we made our way back along the mountainside until we arrived at the saddle that crosses over to it.

Red butte from the Indian ruins Crossing the saddle to the red butte

After crossing the saddle it was just a few yards to the cave opening. The opening, at the very bottom of a seam in the butte, did indeed go all the way through, a distance of about 35 feet. After some discussion of technique, George climbed through the butte and took a picture from the other side. The below pictures show the opening through the butte, a picture from the other side, George stopping for a photo on the way back and George emerging from the opening.

                                        Looking through the butte (south to       Picture from the opposite (north)                                                                                     north)                                                             opening

George starting the trip back through    George emerging from the cave

the cave                                                          in the red butte

After exploring the cave we settled down in the sun on the butte for lunch. As can be seen in the photograph below, I had a lot of company for my customary after-lunch nap (I am barely visible behind the brush at the cave opening).

Left to right: Ellis (behind the brush), Gordon, Jim and Dolly (George was the photographer)

Gordon had identified a way to descend from the bridge into the wash below, and after lunch we all followed him down the mountain. The climb down and the trip along the wash were relatively easy and we rejoined the Turkey Creek Trail where it crosses the wash about seven tenths of a mile south of Turkey Creek Tank.

When we arrived back at the parking area, my GPS showed that we had hiked 8.2 miles and that the elevation gain was around 600 feet.

The GPS Track for this hike is shown included map (below)

Hike on Munds Wagon Trail

Eleven Skyliners (Donna Goodman, Lila Wright, Dolly Yapp, Collene Maktenieks, our hike leader (unnamed), Jim Manning, Daisy Williams, George Everman, Ellis Price and two others) hiked Munds Wagon Trail from the west trailhead to the Merry-Go-Round and back on 13 February 2010. From Cottonwood, we traveled north on Hwy 89A to Sedona, turned onto Hwy 179 at the traffic circle, crossed Oak Creek and then turned left on Schnebly Hill road. Just under a mile after turning onto Schnebly Hill Road, and before the pavement ended, we turned left into the Trailhead shared by Huckaby, Marg’s Draw and Munds Wagon Trails.


Following the trail we crossed back and forth across the wash in the bottom of the canyon and even crossed Schnebly Hill Road Several times. Water was flowing in the wash and the rocks were dangerously slippery in at least one spot.


As we crisscrossed the wash on our way up the trail, we saw several small but interesting waterfalls. I was especially intrigued by this one, seemingly straining to remain a waterfall with barely a trickle of water flowing over the red rock, it was set off by trees above, below and on both sides:

Taken looking up the wash from a trail crossing

Looking back down the canyon, we had clear views all the way to Woodchute Mountain.

Looking back down the canyon from along the trail. The snow-covered mountain in the distance is Woodchute. Sedona is visible directly out the mouth of the canyon.

As we approached our goal, Merry-Go-Round, we could see beyond it to where the old wagon road, at that point Schnebly Hill Trail, runs diagonally from left to right up the mountain to the rim. Munds Wagon Trail crosses the Merry-Go-Round formation on top of the rock ledge shown below, entering at the right of the formation, circling around the left side and continuing up the mountain for about 1/2 mile where it crosses the present day Schnebly Hill Road and becomes Schnebly Hill Trail on the other side. The trail intersection is not clearly visible in the picture below; however, it is located just below the gap in the extreme left of the below photograph, about even with the rock ledge of the Merry-Go-Round formation. The Schnebly Hill Trail itself can be seen running diagonally up the mountain as it nears the rim. See the faint line near the right edge of the photograph close to the rim.

This is a shot of the Merry-Go-Round from the trail. Looking beyond, one can see Schnebly Hill Trail snaking diagonally up the mountain from left to right. Munds Wagon Trail ends about 1/2 mile above the Merry-Go-Round where it crosses present day Schnebly Hill Road and becomes Schnebly Hill Trail on the other side and then follows the old wagon road on to the rim.

When we reached the Merry-Go-Round (Carousel), I found a nice clump of grass for my nap and after eating quickly drifted off into slumberland. The rest of the party, entertained themselves by throwing rocks and broken branches over the cliff to raise pollen clouds from the Arizona Cypress trees just below. Luckily, my napping spot was far enough away that I was not disturbed and, on the way back, George gave me a free small-scale demonstration of what I had missed.

George using my walking pole to beat pollen dust off an Arizona Cypress.

The below shot is a close up of Arizona Cypress foliage.

This is a close up shot of Arizona Cypress foliage. The source of the pollen shows in yellow here. Note the balls, similar to those on American Red Cedar trees back east.

We made the return trip partly on the trail and partly along Schnebly Hill Road which was closed to vehicle traffic and was pleasant hiking. Some of the time we parted ways, part of the group following the trail and the rest choosing the road. Daisy and I remained on the road for most of the way back and arrived about 15 minutes before the rest of the group.

Close to a mile below the Merry-Go-Round (at 34°52'26.07"N; 111°42'31.67"W) a trail leads up the mountain from Schnebly Hill Road. We think it might come out on the rim near the intersection of Schnebly Hill, Jacks Canyon, Hot Loop and Munds Mountain Trails. We have placed it on our list of trails to explore.


My GPS reading on completion of the hike was 6.5 miles. The GPS measured distance to the Merry-Go-Round was 3.15 miles. My downloaded file indicates that the total elevation change for the hike was 1075 feet.


Our track for this hike is shown on the included map (below)

Cactus Road – Cornville Road to Oak Creek

On 6 February 2010, thirteen Skyliners (Donna Goodman, Collene Maktenieks, Daisy Williams, Jim Manning, Anita Jackson, Virginia Driscoll, Miriam Sterling, Lila Wright, George Everman, Dolly Yapp. Ellis Price and two others) hiked on Cactus Road from Cornville Tank to Oak Creek.

From Cottonwood, we traveled north on Hwy 89A, turned right on Cornville Road, drove through Cornville and turned right to park alongside Cactus Road near Cornville Tank. The turnoff onto Cactus Road is between mile markers 6 and 7. Leaving the parking area, we followed Cactus Road for approximately 1.85 miles before turning off on an old unused road and then hiking down a hillside to enter a wash that empties into Oak Creek.

About one third of a mile from where we parked, Cactus Road crosses a wash on a rock ledge. The floor of the wash is shallow above the crossing, about level with the roadbed; however, it drops off sharply at the edge of the ledge and immediately becomes about 10 feet deeper. The wash eventually drains into Oak Creek, becoming a veritable canyon before reaching its destination. About 0.80 miles from the parking area, a trail leads off to the left. I think that I heard someone refer to it as "Hilda Trail." About 1.75 miles along Cactus Road we came to a fork in the road with a billboard displaying a picture of a praying woman:

Billboard displaying a praying woman

A side road leads off to the right just in front of the billboard ending at a viewpoint overlooking Oak Creek. In the near distance, just across Oak Creek, we saw a community of manufactured and mobile homes. Farther in the distance was Mingus Mountain whose snow-shrouded upper reaches were visible through a hovering cloud. We paused for a snack and to take pictures:

A zoom view of snow-covered Mingus Mountain seen through the clouds

We had a snack at the viewpoint and then returned and continued our way along Cactus Road for about another tenth of a mile before we came to an old blocked-off road on the left and followed that to enter the same wash that we had encountered at the beginning of our hike. As we crossed a hill on our way to the wash we could see down into a gated community that is located at the end of Cactus Road. The gate at the end of Cactus Road is about two tenths of a mile beyond where we turned of the road.

About 0.25 miles after leaving Cactus Road, having followed the abandoned road part way, we entered the wash and turned downstream to eat lunch at Oak Creek.

When we reached the creek, about 0.55 miles from where we entered the wash, I instantly recognized it as the perfect spot for a leisurely lunch, a cup of hot tea and a nap. Alas, our hike leader, a hardy sort, had decided that we should go back up the wash and sit on the rocks to eat lunch. As for me, having already spotted my resting place, having been promised a lunch alongside Oak Creek and being naturally uncooperative anyway, I declined to leave my spot. The rest of the company went back up the wash and settled on the hard rocks for lunch while I washed down my hummus and cheese sandwich with a hot tea and then settled in for a 15-minute nap in a comfortable bed of grass. I was quickly lulled to sleep by the music of the flowing stream:

The author (Ellis) settled in for lunch and a nap (photograph by Virginia Driscoll)

After my cellphone alarm awakened me, still reluctant to leave, I lingered a bit to drink in my peaceful surroundings (photograph on next page) and then hiked up the wash to rejoin the rest of the group. On our way back, we were to follow the wash all the way to where Cactus Road crossed it on the rock ledge about a third of a mile from the parking area.

The view from my perfect lunch spot alongside Oak Creek

Looking up the wash we would follow on the return trip

View of the wash

The total hike distance was about 5.7 miles according to my GPS log. An estimate using Google Earth indicates that the distance to Oak Creek hiking down Cactus Road as we did, including the side trip to the viewpoint was about 2.85 miles. The hike back, although seemingly a more direct route, followed the wandering course of the wash and turned out to be about the same distance.

Our entire hike is shown the included map (below).

Old Still in Fay Canyon

Five of us hiked to the site of an old still in Fay Canyon on February 03, 2010. From Cottonwood, we traveled north to Sedona on Hwy 89A, turned left onto Dry Creek Road (Forest Road 152C). About 2 miles from Hwy 89A we passed Vultee Arch Road, a very rough dirt road leading off to the right. After about another 0.85 miles (2.85 miles from Hwy 89A) we reached a stop sign. Long Canyon Road leads to the right from here. We turned left on Boynton Pass Road. Actually, according to the Google map, we had been on Boynton Pass Road since passing Vultee Arch Road. We traveled for another 0.6 miles to reach a second stop sign at the junction with Long Canyon road. We turned left to continue on Boynton Pass Road for about another 1.25 miles before turning left into the trailhead parking lot for Doe Mountain and Bear Mountain Trails. We would take Bear Mountain Trail for 0.6 miles before north into Fay Canyon.

At turnoff from Bear Mountain Trail: George Everman, Dolly Yapp, Jim Manning and Gordon Bice

The above picture was taken at that turnoff (34°53'57.35"N; 111°52'8.62"W). Although our goal, the old still, is actually located on the west (actually southwest) wall of Fay Canyon, we could see no way to reach it from the Fay Canyon Trail. Instead, we must travel north along the face of the south wall of the canyon.

The trail was a bit difficult to follow in a few places; however, one cannot go far wrong because there is a sharp drop into Fay Canyon on the right and a high cliff wall on the left. We followed this trail for about one and a quarter miles before coming to a rocky, bare spot and what looked to be a sheer drop into the canyon below. On closer inspection, there is a way down to a narrow ledge below. To reach the old still site, it was necessary to climb down to that ledge and follow it a hundred yards or so back down the canyon. The descent to the ledge is shown below (at 34°54'37.19"N; 111°52'2.65"W). A dying tree (note the brown needles) stands on the ledge below.

The descent to the ledge on which the old still is located

When we arrived, it was still a bit early for lunch, so we descended to look at the remains of the old still before eating. When we reached the ledge below we turned to the right to follow the ledge to the site. Since the way we had traveled to reach the site seemed an unlikely route for the moonshiners to have brought in materials and hauled the finished product out, we decided that they must have used some sort of hoist arrangement between the ledge and the canyon floor below. The site itself was under an overhang that shielded much of the ledge from view from above, while the ledge itself shielded it from view from below.

After looking at the few remains left – basically, some old coffee cans, an old galvanized tub, and the hoops from an old barrel – we traveled along the ledge we were on for about another hundred yards before it became essentially impassible. We then returned to examine the remains in more detail.

Left to right: Ellis Price, Jim Manning, Gordon Bice and George Everman

We looked for signs of any devices that might have been installed to hoist and lower materials between the ledge and the canyon floor, but we found nothing. Soon enough we were ready to leave and made our way back along the trail on the narrow ledge to the point where we had descended and climbed back to the ledge above to eat lunch before starting back.

The trail leads along the ledge just to the right of the rock in this photograph (left).

Beyond the rock is located the dead (dying) tree that marks the ascent back up to the ledge above Dolly is shown scrambling back up the steep slope (below right).

The upper ledge provided a nice sunny spot for lunch with a great view across Fay Canyon.

After eating lunch we traveled a bit further up canyon along the main ledge along which we had hiked in, coming soon to a place that was very narrow.  Although the narrow section was choked by undergrowth, we thought that we could probably safely cross it to reach a more expansive section visible just beyond. However, instead of trying this, we opted to spend some more time looking around where we were. To the left, up canyon, from where we ate lunch was an open expanse of bare rock and then undergrowth leading to the narrow section mentioned above. To the right, down canyon, the ledge was open for several hundred yards.

Looking up-canyon along the ledge we were on

Looking down-canyon along the ledge

Across Fay Canyon and slightly upstream from our ledge we could see a side branch (right lower quadrant) off the main canyon which runs to the left in the photograph shown below. Directly behind us was a side canyon from which it appears that one might be able to reach the top canyon wall.

Side branch off Fay Canyon

George pointed out some rock formations across Fay Canyon that reminded him of three Destroyers nestled alongside a Tender. Having served aboard a Destroyer Tender, the USS Prairie (AD-15), for my last sea tour, I had no trouble recognizing the imagery.

Tender with three destroyers alongside

Behind us as we turned to leave, there was a side canyon that appeared to lead at a gentle slope all the way to the top of Bear Mountain.

It looks like a gentle slope all the way to the rim

We then left and retraced our steps back to Bear Canyon Trail and on to the Trailhead off Boynton Pass Road.

When we were once again back on Bear Mountain Trail, I turned to take one last photograph of the turn-off from from the trail just to make sure we could find it on any return trip.

Trail at Turnoff to old still from Bear Mountain Trail

The entire hike was only about 4.1 miles according to my GPS. I estimated the one-way distance to be about 1.85 miles by measuring in Google Earth. The 4.1-mile GPS reading was probably about right considering the amount of wandering around we did at the site.

The elevation change was only around 400 feet and most of that was on Bear Mountain Trail before we turned onto the side trail to the old still.

The GPS track for this hike is shown on the included map (below).