Willard Springs Loop Hike

Ten Skyliners hiked in the Willard Springs area, between Interstate 17 and Oak Creek Canyon, on 19 October 2013. We call this hike, mostly along Forest Service roads, the Willard Springs Loop. It is a rather short hike with little elevation change, perfect for a day when you want to hike, but really don't want to put a lot of effort into it.

We took I-17 north to Exit 326 and turned west on Forest Road 253 which we followed for 2.1 miles before parking at the junction with FR 9497. From there, we hiked for 1.0 mile along FR 9497 before turning off the road and continuing southwest through a relatively open forest for 0.4 miles to connect with FR 9498 which we followed all the way to the upper Thomas Point Trailhead, our planned lunch stop.

Along the way we saw a number of beautiful bright yellow flowers (right) which George Everman later identified as showy goldeneye. This seemed to be the season for it because we found others wherever the trees thinned and allowed grass to grow.

As we neared the Thomas Point Trailhead we came to an opening which allowed us a view across Oak Creek Canyon to the white cliffs on the other side.

View across Oak Creek Canyon from Thomas Point

This seemed a good spot for a group photograph, so we posed on the rim of the canyon.

Left to right (front row): Betty Wolters, Kwi Johnson, Dolly Yapp, the author; 

(back row): Lila Wright, Connie Woolard, Daisy Williams, David Beach 

and Miriam Sterling – photograph by Name Withheld

The old road we were following continued on past this point for a short distance to end at a man-made rock wall (left), seemingly serving no other purpose than perhaps to mark the Thomas Point Trailhead. In any case, that is what I have always used it for. The point is just a hundred yards or so wide at this spot and when I turned from taking the photograph of the wall, I had to walk only a few yards for the following terrific view of Oak Creek Canyon looking toward Sedona.

Looking down Oak Creek Canyon toward Sedona from Thomas Point

Intrigued by the scattered spots of fall color in the above photograph, I zoomed in for a closer view (right) of one particularly noticeable area showing a range of colors.

It was just a little after 1100 and we normally don't stop for lunch on our hikes until 1200. But we would not find a better viewpoint anywhere on this hike, so we ate early and enjoyed the view.

As we were departing the point, I paused for a final look at the San Francisco Peaks prominent on the distant horizon.

The San Francisco Peaks seen from Thomas Point

On the return hike we saw, along with many more of the showy goldeneye flowers, a few asters and an isolated Indian paintbrush.

Clump of asters

Indian paintbrush

The oak trees scattered along our trail were in formal fall dress, proudly showing off their colors among the green conifers.

Oak trees in seasonal color among the conifers

Farther along the trail, we saw entire meadows peppered with showy goldeneye flowers.

Meadow peppered with showy goldeneye flowers

We arrived back at our parked cars at 1330, a few minutes over fours from the time we started the hike.

According to my GPS, the hike distance was 5.4 miles, the total ascent was 523 feet and the highest elevation was 6703 feet.

The map (below) shows the hike to Thomas Point in red and the return trip in blue. Where the tracks are coincident only blue is visible.