Quail Springs Ranch to FR 493 via Oxbow Spring

Thirteen Skyliner Hikers hiked from Quail Springs Ranch Road to FR 493 and back on Saturday, 17 December 2011. We met at the Safeway Parking lot and drove north on Hwy 89A, turned right on Camino Real and drove through Verde Village to Quail Springs Ranch Road. We traveled on that road for a bit over 1.5 miles, passing Quail Run on the way. About 0.8 miles from Quail Run, at the bottom of a wash, we turned right onto a rough dirt road leading uphill to the top of a ridge. At least I turned right; others chose to park alongside the paved road and walk in. I parked about 0.07 miles from the paved road and we started the hike from there.

The trail leads generally east at first, following an old road running down crest of the ridge. After about 0.1 miles the road intersects with another old road running generally west and ending at the wash just near Pasture Well. We turned downstream and followed the wash for about 0.5 miles until we came to a rock cairn located on the left where a side wash enters the main wash. We followed this wash for a few yards and then angled up the hill to the right of the side wash. The trail is faintly marked by rocks placed alongside and by an occasional cairn as it leads sharply up the slope toward the crest of the ridge. On reaching the crest the trail continues along it, rising gently, in a generally northwest direction. The goal is to reach old FR 355 (now unused) just before it dips to the left over the sharp shoulder of the ridge we are following. To do this we kept fairly close to the left shoulder of the ridge. When we reached a fence we were just a few yards from the old forest road. A cairn at old FR 355 marks the end of this section of trail. We had hiked about 1.25 miles up the ridge and along the crest from the wash at Pasture Well.

We turned right on old FR 355 and followed it for around 0.17 miles to its end at Chuckwalla Road, passing a large, green metal water tank (now unused) on the way. We stopped here for a snack and a group photograph (see next page) before passing through a wire gate and continuing downhill on Chuckwalla Road.

The group photograph shown below was taken at the intersection of old FR 355 and Chuckwalla Road:

Left to right: Jim Manning, Dolly Yapp (kneeling), Donna Goodman, 

Kwi Johnson (kneeling), Miriam Sterling, Becky Fowsky, 

Betty Wolters (kneeling), Frank Fowsky, Daisy Williams, 

Anita Jackson and Jo Benkendorf – photograph by the author

About 0.5 miles down the road from the wire gate, we came to a fork in the road. Chuckwalla road leads to the right and continues downhill to eventually (after passing through posted private property) connect with Chuckwalla Road in a residential neighborhood above Cottonwood. (NOTE: Chuckwalla is located at the upper end of Fir Street and runs north-south along the very edge of the residential area.)

The road to our left is unnamed so far as I can determine, although on some maps it may be incorrectly called Chuckwalla. I refer to it as Oxbow Road because, after crossing Oak Wash, it runs just below Oxbow Spring. After passing the spring it turns sharply right, crosses a wash just below a group of ranch buildings, and then climbs gently in an easterly direction along the shoulder of a ridge until it reaches the top. It then crosses over and leads for a short distance in a generally westerly direction before crossing a wash and heading north to connect with FR 493 just ahead.

Upon reaching FR 493, we followed it downhill toward Cottonwood for about 0.2 miles before turning off to follow a four-wheel drive road leading to the southeast. When we turned off we were about 2 miles up FR 493 from the Animal Shelter in Cottonwood. We followed the track we were now on across a wash and stopped in a sunny spot for lunch – and a short nap for me. We then continued on, crossing Oak Wash again and reconnected with the road I have called Oxbow. From there, we retraced our steps back to where we were parked.

The total hike distance, according to my cleaned-up GPS reading, was 6.6 miles. Someone else measured it as 7.2 on another GPS.

The most difficult part of the hike was the climb up to the crest of the ridge from the wash at Pasture Well. Overall, I would call this a moderate hike; if the trail were a bit better marked, it could be classified as “easy.”

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