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| Hiking | 5.00 Miles |
600 AEG |
| | Hiking | 5.00 Miles | 5 Hrs | | 1.00 mph |
| 600 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Hannah, Skippy, and I were "History Detectives" again completing sections of the Historic Trail between Flagstaff and westward to Government Prairie. I've been gathering "bits and pieces" of information piecing together the exact route the old wagon road/immigrant trail followed in anticipation of creating a HAZ hike description.
Today was another combination of off-roading (actually following a variety of city streets and Forest Roads) plus hiking. The maps we used can be found in "A Guide to the Beale Wagon Road through Flagstaff Arizona" and "A Guide to the Beale Wagon Road through the Coconino National Forest", both by Jack Beale Smith.
I started the day with a 4:45am alarm, picked up Hannah from NAU and we were at the Buffalo Park TH by 8:00am. We located the vandalized remains of a historic marker and commemorative sign near the entrance of Buffalo Park beside the water tank reservoir. Cedar Road has been relocated and the McMillan Mesa Trail now appears to follow some of the original wagon road route.
We then followed one of the later Beale Wagon Road routes towards the heart of Flagstaff connecting with the Overland Road Historic Trail (see HAZ hike description http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=499 ).
We stopped at the Museum of Northern Arizona to view San Francisco Springs presumed to be within the Rio de Flag canyon on the west side of the museum. Unfortunately none of the people on staff today at the museum had any knowledge about the Beale Wagon Road.
Tom Jonas http://www.tomjonas.com/swex/beale.htm indicates;
"Jack Beale Smith tells me that the Beale Wagon Road passed between the museum building and the road at this point. There is a spring immediately behind the museum in a small canyon which was a watering stop for the Whipple expedition and the Beale Wagon Road. Whipple called it San Francisco Spring."
After our stop at the Museum of Northern Arizona we made our way to Leroux Springs located at the north side of Fort Valley, off FR516 (aka Snowbowl Drive). From Leroux Springs the Beale Wagon Road more-or-less follows the gas pipeline right-of-way until it intersects again with Hwy 180.
We located one of the historic markers near the intersection of Hwy 180 and FR151 (aka Hart Prairie Road) and another just west of the intersection of Hwy 180 and FR222B. The old wagon road follows FR222B a short distance until it veers northwest along an unmarked 4WD Forest Road. With the path blocked by a substantial mud hole, we doubled back to FR222B and continued west until we reached FR9008N.
Traveling north on FR9008N to the intersection with FR9009N, we parked the F-150 and located historic markers and blazes where the Beale Wagon Road crosses. We hiked west along the old wagon road encounter elk along the way. Nearby sounds of gunshots and ATV's made us wary of continuing along the route.
Back at the truck again, we made our way to FR171 and located the historic markers demarcating the Beale Wagon Road crossing near the intersection with FR??? I failed to take note of the Forest Road number, but can report it is the first road north of FR171C along FR171. We hiked both east and west of these markers.
Later we followed FR??? (first road north of FR171C and south of FR156) in a westerly direction towards Wild Bill Hill. We hiked up this ancient volcano and obtained spectacular views in all directions. Government Prairie was visible to the west, along with Government Knoll and Rain Tank Hill where we finished our previous hike along the Beale Wagon Road. |
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