GREAT WESTERN TRAIL

ARIZONA SECTION

A "Corridor of Discovery "

Since 1992, a diverse partnership of land managing agencies, the Great Western Trail (GWT) Association, and the Arizona State Association of 4-Wheel Drive Clubs have been hard at work making the Arizona Section of the GWT a reality. Once only a concept, the GWT is evolving as a dynamic opportunity for adventurous people to discover Arizona on a road less- travelled.

The concept of the GWT originated around a campfire in Utah in 1985 and flourished into several hundred miles of designated trail, first in Utah, then Arizona. Eventually the trail will connect Mexico with Canada through Axizona, Utah, Idaho and Montana. The GWT is a non-exclusive corridor of routes that accommodates a diverse myriad of trail users, both motorized and non-motorized. In Utah the route is best describes as a "way" rather that a single trail because it is a network of trails in a corridor. Some of the trails are in primitive areas or designated wilderness where motorized vehicles are prohibited. Such trails are parallelled by shared-use trails that accommodate motorized travellers.

In Arizona the GWT is a system of existing backcountry roads that run north and south from Mexico to Utah. The Arizona Section materialized in April, 1996 on the Tonto National Forest when the first segment of the trail was established on the Bulldog Canyon Trail of the Mesa Ranger District. On April 25, 1998 the 72-mile Cave Creek Segment of the GWT was dedicated along with Sears-Kay Ruin-the first sanctioned "Point of Discovery" along the trail. The Ruin is an ancient Hohokam village atop a hill overlooking the GWT north of Carefree and Cave Creek. The Prescott section was added in 2000.

On this route, you'll experience the desert oasis that is 7- Springs Campground, on to Bloody Basin up the Prescott Rim to Prescott National Forest and the Verde Segment of the GWr. Sycamore Creek, Agua Fria Grasslands, Dugas then across the Black Canyon Freeway on the Cherry Overpass. The GWT traverses up through chaparral brush then on to the cool Ponderosa Pine forest on Mingus Mountain. The trail meanders into historic Jerome dubbed "a town on the move" because some buildings clinging to steep hillsides have crept several inches down the hill over the years. Here one can visit Jerome Historic State Park which is the old "Douglas Mansion."

The trail leaves Jerome and Mingus Mountain behind as it drops into the Verde Valley at Perkinsville. North of the river the GWT climbs a relatively gentle portion of the Mogollon Rim. Above the rim is the world's largest stand of Ponderosa Pine trees. White Horse Lake is a cool retreat along the trail. Another "Point of Discovery" is at a vista that overlooks Sycamore Canyon. Past Garland Prairie and up 1-40, the GWT goes through the small community of Parks. Here you will find the only gas station along the GWT since Fountain Hills. North of Parks the trail continues through the Kaibab National Forest and north of Highway 180 to the Tusayan Ranger District. The GWT winds it's way near the Grandview Lookout Tower where visitors can get a spectacular view of the Grand Canyon. Naturally travellers have the opportunity to leave the GWT and visit Grand Canyon National Park, the Trail's most awesome "Point of Discovery."

From Grandview Lookout the proposed concept of the trail eventually slips off the Coconino Rim and down into the Navajo Nation and the surreal Colorado Plateau to the austere world of red and white sandstone The stark landscape captivates the imagination; go with beauty and above all, treat the Dinee (the Navajo people) and their land with respect.

At Cameron one must stop in at the Navajo Tribal Park Ranger Station for a back country permit (for travel, camping or hiking), then on to the Cameron Trading Post to indulge in the best Navajo Tacos on the planet as well as exquisite Native American jewelry, pottery and blankets.

North of the Little Colorado River one proposed route of the GWT roams the country west of Highway 89 and the rugged and beautiful Echo Cliffs. This is the Blue Moon Bench and Little Colorado River Gorge Navajo Tribal Park. Shinumo Altar looms large as a prominent landmark just east of the Marble Canyon Gorge.

Near Bitter Springs the lay of the land forces travellers onto the paved Highway 89-A as a tangle of side canyons rapidly fall into the abyss as you approach the Navajo Bridge over Marble Canyon Gorge. At this point the topography has squeezed you onto the pavement until you wrap around the gorge and find yourself under the towering Vermillion Cliffs.

Near House Rock Valley you slip off the highway and to the south. More big country, Buffalo Ranch and a different perspective of Shinumo Altar. Since Navajo Bridge you've been on the Arizona Strip BLM lands. Just north of South Fork Canyon the GWT begins to ascend the North Kaibab Plateau of the Kaibab National Forest. There are several vistas along this segment where you might just be lucky enough to spot a gigantic California Condor orbiting in the thermals above the Vermillion Cliffs.

Cross 89-A just a few miles east of Jacob Lake and on to Orderville Canyon north as you descend the North Kaibab Plateau toward the Buckskin Mountains. You'll catch glimpses of the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument in Utah. Could it be possible that what lies up there is as rewarding as the experience you just left behind? The journey is the destination, enjoy.

This description of the Arizona sections of the GWT has been provided by: Arizona State Parks ph: (602)542-4174