If an easy hike next to a historic Flume to a roaring creek and spring appeals to you, then you'll like this hike.
After the white knuckle car ride down to the trailhead, we were anxious to get out of the car and start hiking. The trailhead is not very well marked at the parking area. The trail immediately crosses Fossil Creek and passes through an iron gate that allows passage through a barbed wire fence. The trail is tricky to follow here but it gets much better after going through the gate.
Once through the gate, the trail begins a quick climb up to the Flume. This is the toughest climbing on this hike. Once you reach the Flume Road, the trail smoothes out considerably. The trail from this point follows the road and the Flume.
You will turn right onto the Flume road and follow the road, which parallels the Flume most of the way. This Flume services the APS power plant and was built in 1916. Please keep off this historic structure.
This part of the trail is mostly desert and scrub, with views of the larger trees covering the creek in the valley below. The Flume is fun to walk next to, as sometimes you can hear the water rushing through it, encouraging you towards your goal.
After four miles of 3.75 miles of hiking, you will reach the entrance to the wilderness area. There are two APS buildings marking the end of the road and the beginning of the trail. The trail goes to the left of the buildings and past a dam. Quickly, you come upon the creek and some of the reasons this area is so special. Cottonwood, Sycamore, Walnut, and many other trees and shrubs suck up the water from this creek. The water is heavily mineralized and a constant 72 F, so the swimming is great. There may be a few naturists on this hike so you may want to leave your inhibitions at home. The water feels great so don't pass up the opportunity to take a dip. After about 0.25 miles, after a patch of blackberry bushes, the springs come into the creek from the left side. There are several springs here of varying strength. This is a pretty amazing area so be sure to explore around.
When you are ready, return the way you came. There is also an Alternate Route to this area.
After driving 5 miles on FR708, you can turn onto another Fossil Springs trailhead. This trail (called the Mail Trail) follows an old mail trail that used to run between Camp Verde and Payson. The trail drops 3.1 miles into the canyon to get to the same place as described above.
