Trail Shoes Lake Havasu City AZ

Activities: Hiking, Mountain Biking

Info:
State: Arizona
Location: Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest
Length: 30 miles
Minimum Elevation: 9000 feet
Best Season: Year-Round
Usage: Moderate

Description: Pole Knoll is very typical of the knolls that grace the White Mountains. The north side is heavily timbered with spruce, fir and aspen. The west and south aspects are mainly bunch-grass with some mixed conifers toward the top. The east side of the knoll is a mixture of ponderosa pine, spruce, fir, aspen and even a few hardy oak trees. Trails and roads provide access to most sections of the knoll. The trail system covers all terrain found on the knoll. Vehicles are prohibited from the fragile grass slopes and the recently built trails in the forested areas. Please obey all road closure signs. There are enough roads without making new ones. The Pole Knoll cross country ski area is closed to motorized vehicles, including snowmobiles. Each trail has been given a name. The trails originating from the Pole Knoll side have descriptive names and the names of birds and animals. The trails originating from below, near Greer, have been given numbered designations. Pamphlets describing the trails are available at the sign-in register at each of the trailheads. Please return the pamphlet when you are through so that others might use it. The Pole Knoll area offers fantastic views of the White Mountains, both in the distance and close up. Keep your eyes to the ground and you may see wildflowers, mushrooms and animal tracks. Look up and you can see Sunrise Lake, Sunrise Peak and Mt. Baldy stretched out to the southwest, Greens Peak to the north and the Little Colorado Basin to the east. When winter comes, the Pole Knoll Recreation Area becomes a popular snowshoeing location.

Activities: Mountain Biking

Info:
State: Arizona
Location: Cave Creek Recreation Area
Length: One-Way: 1.5 miles
Trail type: Out and Back
Best Season: Year-Round
Difficulty: 3B
Usage: Moderate

Description: The Flume Trail follows the bottom of an arroyo, then connects with a portion of an old earthen flume once used for farm irrigation. The trail ends at the Cave Creek Recreation Area’s southern boundary. The Cave Creek Recreation Area’s trail system is mostly developed from old mining roads, so be sure to take extreme caution around abandoned mines. There are many trails that intersect so keep an eye on your path. Call the park for more information and maps of the trails. All trails are in the recreation area are multi-use so use caution.

Activities: Hiking

Info:
State: Arizona
Location: Coconino National Forest
Length: Round Trip: 3.5 miles
Trail type: Out and Back
Minimum Elevation: 4500 feet
Elevation Change: 600 feet
Best Season: Year-Round
Difficulty: Easy
Usage: Heavy

Description: A short, easy hike along the bottom of Sterling Canyon. The drainage is dry most of the year. Shade is available, but it would be wise to carry some water in the warm months. The trail dead-ends at a bronze plaque place in memoriam for Gerard and Sylvia Vultee who lost their lives in an aircraft crash on January 29, 1938. The actual crash site is more than a mile north and at a much higher elevation, on East Picket Mesa. On the north side of the canyon across from the plaque is the sandstone arch named for Vultee, an early aircraft designer from California. Just before the plaque site there is a junction with the Sterling Pass Trail which continues over into Oak Creek Canyon.

Activities: Hiking

Info:
State: Arizona
Location: Tonto National Forest
Length: One-Way: 3 miles
Trail type: Out and Back
Best Season: Year-Round
Difficulty: More Difficult
Usage: Light

Description: The Babe Haught Trail (# 143) was built by pioneer “Babe” Haught to pack supplies over the rim from Winslow. The trail winds up the Rim through the eastern edge of the vast region devastated years ago in the Dude Fire, which consumed a 21 mile stretch of Rim forest. The lower part of the trail meanders under moderate tree cover through tall grass. Watch out for small log steps hidden under the grass. The grass becomes less dense after the first half mile, as you enter the fire zone and the trail becomes somewhat steeper over rock and sun-baked soil. Many lifeless and often coal-black hulks of trees still stand in various states of intactness providing a reminder to the devastation that occurred here in 1990. The trail is easy to follow and marked every so often by sometimes ridiculously large cairns. It gets rockier as you climb, passing through several bands of sedimentary rock along the way. The views are excellent almost the whole way due to the lack of tree cover; there are several good views looking down on the fish hatchery. Rolling hills can be seen for 30 miles or more to the South, with the Rim looming a thousand feet high to the North and East. The rising sun added to the effect, casting ever-changing shadows into the steep fissures and ragged alcoves of the Rim’s crumbly sedimentary slopes. The trail disappears on a gently sloping, grassy, rock-strewn plain.

Activities: Mountain Biking

Info:
State: Arizona
Location: Usery Mountain Recreation Area
Length: Round Trip: 2.9 miles
Trail type: Loop
Best Season: Year-Round
Difficulty: 1A
Usage: Moderate

Description: The Blevins Trail is a multi-use trail through the beautiful Sonoran desert. This trail was named after Bill Blevins, a local highwayman and colorful character. The Blevins Trail passes through a lush example of higher Sonora desert terrain and provides some of the best solitude in Usery Park. There are excellent views of the Superstition and Goldfield mountains. The Blevins Trail is accessed from the horse staging area. There is a small fee to enter Usery Mountain Recreation Area. Picnic areas and camping facilities are available.