|
Weekend Warriors Arizona Hiking Guide
|
|
|
|
If a hike halfway down a remote forest canyon to a perennial spring appeals to you, then you will like this hike. This hike is located near Flagstaff, AZ. To get to the trailhead: from the Flagstaff area, take HWY-66 West out of town, turning South (left) onto Woody Mt Road (FR231). This road starts off as paved. Soon after it passes over I-40, the road turns into good graded dirt. Follow this road 14 miles to FR583. Make a right turn onto FR583 and take it 5.7 miles to FR538E. At this point, the road turns a bit nasty... high clearance vehicles recommended. Turn right on FR538E and go 0.4 miles to FR538E. Turn left onto FR538E and go 0.4 miles to the well signed trailhead. Be Aware of: rough roads. 30 yr old Recommendation: Not much to this hike. The climb back was nice and I enjoyed walking in the forest. The hike to get to the spring was an Easy hike. Elevation change: about 600 ft down into Sycamore canyon. Distance: 4.6 miles round trip to Dorsey Spring. Time: We took about 2.25 hours. Time of year: Late Spring, Summer, Early fall Solitude: We didn't see another hiker. Great solitude. First I need to warn you about the drive. The road is really good until that last 0.65 miles. Drive slow and try not to puncture a tire or scrape the bottom of your automobile. After the long drive from Flagstaff, breathing in the clean air of the Sycamore Canyon wilderness area is welcome. This hike starts up on the rim and goes 600 ft into the canyon (but not to the bottom). The turn around point for this hike is Dorsey Spring. The well marked trailhead starts from the parking area. The trail follows an old (now closed) jeep road through a pine forest. Keep an eye out for deer here, spotted a few when we did this hike. After a mere 0.25 miles of hiking, you will reach an unsigned but clear fork. To the left is the Hog Hill trailhead to Winter Cabin. We will go right here to the Dorsey Spring Trail. For the first 1.8 miles of this hike, the elevation stays mainly flat. Afterwards, you reach the rim, which is tantalizingly out of view because of the pine trees blocking the views. Here the trail starts down a drainage and begins to quickly loose elevation. Most of the 600 ft elevation loss is in the next 0.5 miles to Dorsey Spring. Dorsey Spring is well signed within a lovely clearing. The spring itself comes from a pipe buried in the spring. This is a nice place to eat lunch and turn around. When we did this hike, the bugs were too active for our tastes, so we didn't spend much time exploring this area. Bringing Deet is a good rule of thumb when hiking in this area... just in case of the rare bad bug day. Enjoy the heart pumping climb back up to the trailhead.
[Sign marking Dorsey Springs]
[Views from the trail]
This hike was done in August 2004. |
