Picture Canyon and Old Caves Crater

On October 8, 2016, eight Skyliners traveled north on I17 to Flagstaff, then east on I40, and north on 89A, stopping at Eldon Pueblo ruins which has a parking lot on the left side of the highway. From there, we hiked north a few hundred feet to the Arizona Trail. Turning east on the trail, we entered a large drainage bridge under 89A and continued southeast on the Arizona Trail. The trail meanders through the quiet forest and we were soon at the lower end of Picture Canyon Natural and Cultural Preserve. The city of Flagstaff acquired 478 acres in 2012 and are in the process of establishing trails in the area.

We took a group photo next to the wetlands in the Rio de Flag drainage (photo 1). The nearby Wildcat Hill Wastewater Treatment Plant provides a year long source of water for the wetlands which are protected by a fence surrounding the channel of water The fence extends downstream to the end of the Preserve and up stream to rough, rocky cliffs.

Photo 1 - Jim McGinnis, Karl Sink, Casey Hughes, Donna Goodman, Ellen McGinnis, Daisy Williams, Loren Pritzel, Lila Wright

We hiked upstream just outside of the western side of the fence to the rocky area. We continued a short distance in the rocky area to a point where we could see a series of waterfalls. From that viewpoint we ate our snack (photo 2).

photo 2 - Waterfall in Picture Canyon

Following social trails up through the rocks to the top, we immediately came to a sunken area with rock walls on the sides. There were many shards of pottery on the trail coming up out of the canyon. The Northern Sinagua people lived in this area.

Returning downstream to the intersection of the Arizona Trail crossing the wetlands, we walked a few hundred feet further downstream to a large area of petroglyphs on an outcropping of boulders. Two examples of these are shown below (photos 3 & 4). The Preserve had established a path up into the rocks for close up photos. They have erected frames for future signs that will probably give the viewer more information about the people who made the petroglyphs but at this point the frames are empty.

A group of 5 llamas with packs and their owners were traveling along the Arizona Trail and as they crossed the small bridge in the wetlands, the second llama slipped and sat down with one leg hanging off the side of the bridge. It sat very still while its owner pulled and pushed its leg for a couple of minutes. Finally it got its leg up and hurried off the bridge. The third llama refused to cross and was taken to the back of the group. The next two crossed and, possibly not wanting to be left behind, the rebel llama hurried across. They definitely provided our entertainment for the day (photo 5).

Photo 5

We retraced our steps on the Arizona Trail to our vehicles and Jim gave us a mileage of 6.5.

Getting back in our vehicles, we drove north on 89A for 2.4 miles, turned right on Silver Saddle Road and proceeded 1 mile to the trailhead for Old Caves Crater on the left. It was around 1 pm and we were hungry so we walked at short distance into the forest and ate our lunch as soon as we found a nice log to sit on.

We ate a quick lunch as the clouds were getting heavier and we hurried on up a wonderful trail. There were several choices of trails as the trailhead map shows (photo 6. at end of report). We took the direct route to the top where the small caves are. As the map indicated, the round trip distance is 2.2 miles so that gave us a total hiking distance for the day of 8.7 miles.

The vista from the top showed us how many houses are on all sides of the crater. We could also look directly west to Mt. Eldon and the San Francisco Peaks. We heard distant thunder as we hiked up the trail and now at the top there was a close strike on Mt. Eldon so we quickly made our way down the trail to the vehicles. There were no more lightning strikes near or far and a light sprinkle started just as we got in sight of the vehicles.

Thanks to Ellen and Karl for wonderful photos.

Photo 6 – Old Caves Trails System

Report by Lila Wright