Rock Bottom Road

ROCK BOTTOM ROAD

Schroeder Tank

Forest Road 9392E appears to go nowhere.  It’s only vaguely on the Coconino National Forest maps and, on the ground, there are no signs to provide clues. While this is pretty common for the many miles of 4x4 backroads on forest lands, the diffuse mystery about roads that weave through Willow Valley is what makes them  particularly inviting for hikers.

Gate on FR93B near Schroeder Tank

That’s because they have a distinct “soft wild” air about them—out there but with their rough edges tamed by weedy two tracks that seem to always intersect with primary or secondary, signed routes.

Where Forest Road 9369H heads downhill

 

Pine shaded and just far enough from the pavement for a secluded high country escape, Willow Valley on the Mogollon Rim south of the community of Happy Jack, is rife with primitive camp sites and points-of-interest.

Forest Road 9369H

While most of the dirt roads are open to motorized travel, exploring on foot is the best way to savor details that make this area special. 

Yellow Salsify bloom June - September

The landscape is a mass of scattered oak glens, sunny meadows and forests of soaring Ponderosa pines punctuated with corrals and water tanks that attract wildlife and grazing domestic cattle.

Entry gate for FR9369H and FR9392E

Resident deer, wild turkeys, elk and Great blue herons are easy to spot while traveling quietly among the trees. One exploratory hike to try is a two-pronged trek using enigmatic FR9392E and signed routes FR93B and FR 9369H. 

Forest Road 9392E

The trek starts at a dirt pullout where a barely legible road sign across from the Bar D corral complex marks FR93B. Heading north on FR93B, the rocky, rutted road passes through pine woodlands to where it meets Schroeder Tank at the 0.3-mile point.

Kaibab pussytoes bloom May - July

The oblong created water hole sits off to the right within a ring of Gamble oaks and fields of Rocky Mountain irises. 

The split for FR9369H and FR9392E

To get to the water, pass a  barbed wire gate (close it and all gates behind you) and follow a faint trail to the entry archway.  Stealthy visitors might spy a Great blue heron, ducks or tiny birds diving for insects swarming over the tank’s surface. 

Rock Bottom Tank

Beyond the tank, at the 0.7-mile point, another wire gate on the right marks the entrance to FR9369H and 9392E.

Rock Bottom Tank

True to the mystery theme of this hike, it’s just one road and  it’s not signed.

Sego lilies bloom May - July

About 0.2-mile beyond the gate, the road splits.  Lo and behold, there’s a sign for FR9369H, which swerves left.  The unsigned spur on the right is 9392E.  This hike uses both roads as out-and-backs. 

Entry to Schroeder Tank

Schroeder Tank

I chose to follow 9392E first. It’s an easy half mile walk to a faint road heading off to the left where the berm of an earthen dam is visible a few yards in. 

Rocky Mountain iris bloom May - September

This is Rock Bottom Tank, another water catchment and wildlife magnet. Surrounded by a leafy fringe, the reedy pond reflects open sky and fosters wildflowers clinging to its grassy banks.  A rough hewn hunter blind on the berm straddles an arc of pines.  FR9392E, which I’ve dubbed Rock Bottom Road, continues on for another 0.3-mile, dwindling into nowhere near a fence line. (My GPS indicated that it eventually connects back to FR93B, but, I didn’t see where).  Backtracking to the signed FR9369H junction, the mile-long hike on the H road is pretty but unremarkable up to where it passes yet another gate and begins a 200-foot drop to, well, as advertised—nowhere.

Chaparral fleabane bloom May - October

But someplace not on the maps. That is, the junction with FR93B—-the road you came in on. Head left to make a loop that adds 2 miles to the hike, or just backtrack like I did. Either way, simple hikes like this one muddle the concept and appeal of nowhere. Depending on how you perceive it, nowhere can be anywhere. And everything. It’s all in the mindset. 

trailhead

LENGTH: 6.4 miles for the two-part hike as described here

RATING: moderate

ELEVATION: 6,876 - 7,075 feet (1,102 feet of accumulated elevation change)

GETTING THERE:

From Flagstaff, go 42 miles south on Lake Mary Road (County Road 3) to Forest Road 93 on the left past milepost 302 and signed for Willow Valley Dam. Follow FR93 0.8-mile to Forest Road 93B on the left across from a corral complex. There’s a faded road sign next to a Ponderosa pine. Park in the pullouts along the road.  FR93 is maintained dirt suitable for most vehicles up to the trailhead. There are dispersed campsites along FR93 but no fees or facilities. 

FIRE RESTRICTIONS 2026

FIRE RESTRICTIONS 2026

Just a reminder that FIRE RESTRICTIONS are in effect on Arizona national forests.

Know before you go and also please review the rules so you're not surprized/disappointed, cited or worse---the cause of a forest fire. Don't put our first responders and natural resources at risk. Here are links with current restrictions for some of the most visited forests during the Memorial Day weekend.

For up-to-date wildfire and prescribed burns status, visit https://inciweb.wildfire.gov and then steer clear of active fire management operations.

COCONINO NATIONAL FOREST:

https://www.fs.usda.gov/r03/coconino/fire/prevention/restrictions

TONTO NATIONAL FOREST:

https://www.fs.usda.gov/r03/tonto/alerts/stage-1-fire-restrictions-and-emergency-recreational-shooting-order

APACHE-SITGREAVES NATIONAL FOREST:

https://www.fs.usda.gov/r03/apache-sitgreaves/alerts/stage-1-fire-restrictions-0

Railroad Spring

RAILROAD SPRING

Swale at Railroad Spring

During Arizona’s late 19th-to-mid-20th century logging heyday, railroads ran through thick Ponderosa pine forests hauling woody loads to lumber mills in Flagstaff and other Northern Arizona towns.

Gate near Fulton Canyon Tank

Some of the old railroad grades have been decommissioned and either turned onto popular Rails-to-Trails paths like the Peavine Trail in Prescott and Railroad Grade in the White Mountains. 

The old railroad grade

Others have been incorporated into hiking routes like the Arizona National Scenic Trail.

Leftovers from a logging railway

Still others were unceremoniously disassembled and left to decompose adjacent to backwoods roads and rangeland.

Rocky Mountain Irises bloom May - Sept

While the remains of many old railroad grades are little more than scattered cinder beds, rock walls and rotting railroad ties, some retain remnants of life on old timey logging trails.

Start of the railroad grade segment

A few miles south of Mormon Lake, an unassuming dirt road leads to a fading stretch of scrapped railroad and a spring site. 

Fulton Canyon Tank

The short hike to Railroad Spring begins on Forest Road 9488K, moving easily into the pine woodlands of Coconino National Forest.

Spring box at Railroad Spring

The first 0.8-mile of the rough road is open to motorized vehicles, but where the route meets the shallow pocket of Fulton Canyon, a gate bars entry to all but foot and horse travel to protect sensitive soil, prevent the spread of invasive plants and preserve wildlife habitats. 

Railroad Spring

Beyond the gate, Fulton Canyon Tank, a glassy created water catchment, sits off to the left. 

Spring water flows over the railroad grade

The road gets much more rocky as it heads downhill to where it meets a fork at the 1-mile point. Take the left fork and then an immediate right at a bright yellow sign in front of boulders barring motorized travel. This is the entrance to the old railroad grade. 

Swale at Railroad Spring

Strewn with cables, ties and rusty nails, the disintegrating track parallels a green swale. (Leave all artifacts as you found them!). A few yards in, a slick curtain of tricking water spills over the track. 

Western Dog Violet bloom May - July

The spring water issues from a culvert-like structure built into a slope. Just across the track, a huge spring box made of concrete and native stone sits above the swale, metal pipes barely dripping moisture into the grassy channel.  Nearby, a pair of concrete water troughs hint at former livestock runs in the area.  Both were bone dry. 

Troughs at Railroad Spring

Even with the spring’s meager issue, the swale is a lively, lush natural drainage rife with irises, violets and swarms of butterflies. Tiny ponds and rivulets ramble through the mini wetland. It’s a beautiful place as well as an important resource for wildlife and native vegetation.  Beyond the troughs, a faint road heads uphill to the left.  A short walk through fragrant pines and wildflower meadows leads to a log fence and the junction with the Mormon Lake Passage 29 of the Arizona National Scenic Trail.

Arizona Trail Passage 29

The junction makes for a good turn around spot, otherwise, for a much longer hike, consult the Arizona Trail website (https://aztrail.org/) for how to continue on to Mormon Lake Village (north) or Happy Jack (south). 

trailhead

LENGTH: 4 miles round trip

RATING: easy, with uneven footing

ELEVATION: 7,208 - 7,479 feet

GETTING THERE:

From Interstate 17 just before entering Flagstaff, take the Lake Mary Road/ Mormon Lake Exit 339 and go right at the bottom of the offramp. Continue 28 miles south on Lake Mary Road (County Road 3) to Forest Road 9488K on the right just past milepost 315. There’s parking behind the gate. There are no facilities. Roads are paved up to the trailhead gate. 

Beaverhead Flat Trails

 BEAVERHEAD FLAT TRAILS

View from Beaverhead Flat outer trail

The trails of Beaverhead Flat aren’t the easiest to follow. 

Typical scene on Beaverhead Flat

Encroaching creosote, sandy substrates, random cattle  tracks and drainages that scour the level landscape make picking out the maze of paths a challenge in places.

Lizard-Tail blooms April - October

Located a few miles south of Sedona in a pocket of high desert flatlands in Yavapai County near Cornville, the Beaverhead Flat trailhead is a bare bones entry point to a series of old roads that have been repurposed into non-motorized routes open to hikers, bikers and horses.

Sedona landforms to the north

The sparsely signed, sketchy paths circle an oblong ridge rolling out a carousel of unobscured mountain vistas. 

Trails are mostly unsigned and sketchy

When compared to the 15-mile Limestone Trail that passes to the north, linking Red Rock and Dead Horse Ranch State Parks and the White Hills Single Track mountain bike system across the way, the trails in this desolate parcel are primitive. 

Yucca on FR9205D

But that’s part of the site’s character, which oozes with old ranch flavor and open range braided cattle tracks.

FR9205D

The trail system is made up of a 3-mile outer loop—sometimes called the Beaverhead Loop and a 0.57-mile crosscut also referred to as Juniper Ridge. 

Crucifixion thorn on outer loop

Based on faded road signs placed at junctions, the outer loop follows Forest Road 9205B and the crosscut is Forest Road 9205D. 

Blue gilia blooms May - November

A third road, FR9205C is a short spur out-and-back to a scenic overlook —-at least from what I could see.

Mountain vistas on the outer loop

The lack of directional signs, cairns or consistent tread is a refreshing diversion from over manicured trails that remove any need for thinking. It’s undiluted rangeland road walking at its best. 

A few feet past the trailhead gate, the (unsigned) outer loop splits.

Trails circle this ridge

I took the right leg which headed out through acres of creosote, crucifixion thorn and a smattering of junipers that grow just high enough to tickle-frame hazy views of Coconino National Forest mountain peaks to the east and Sedona’s iconic landforms to the north.

Silverleaf nightshade blooms May - October

Unapologetically shadeless, the sun bleached plains peppered with cacti and scrub bursting from a limestone foundation would loose its mojo under cover of trees.  The open-to-the-sky ambience is its currency. 

One of the few signed junctions 

Along this leg, the trail vacillates among narrow single-tracks, rutted two-tracks and confusingly arbitrary game trails. At the 0.9-mile point, the trail meets a metal water tank where the route seems to vanish. 

Fractured flats

I took the dirt road heading left from the tank and followed it to the 1.3-mile point where a sign for FR 9025D wrapped in creosote indicates a vague trail heading left. 

Water tank on the route

This short segment makes an easy uphill through fractured drainages and a tiny juniper forest. 

Spreading Four O'Clock blooms Apr - Sept

Topping out on a crest with some of the best views of the fringes of Sedona, the trail heads back downhill passing prickly pear cacti, ratany shrubs and magnificent yuccas that frame views of the Bradshaw Mountains.

Engelmann's Prickly Pear blooms April-June

Trails start behind the gate

The trail meets the junction with FR 9205C at the 1.8 mile point, then descends lazily back to the trailhead. 

Trailhead entry

LENGTH:

Circuit described here: 2.2 mile loop

Outer (Beaverhead) Loop: 3 miles

Crossover Path (Juniper Pass): 0.57 mile

RATING: easy

ELEVATION: 

As described here: 3,744 - 3,603 feet

Outer Loop: 3,847 - 3,603 feet

GETTING THERE:

From Interstate 17 north of Camp Verde, take the McGuireville/Montezuma Well exit 293.  At the end of the offramp, go left and continue 5 miles on Cornville Road (County Road 30) to Beaverhead Flat Road on the right. Turn right and go a few yards to the trailhead on the left.  The dirt lot is huge with room for horse trailers. There are no fees or facilities at this trailhead.  Roads are paved all the way to the trailhead.