V Lazy Y Cabin

V LAZY Y CABIN

V Lazy Y Cabin in Coconino National Forest

Welcome. July 1959.  The words etched into a concrete step at V Lazy Y Cabin place the now dilapidated homestead in Coconino National Forest squarely in an era of souped-up Chevys, sock hops and television as the big new thing.

Rustic fence along FR 142G

The structure, which is the centerpiece of a rickety ranch spread with barn, well, corrals and an outhouse, remain standing by the courtesy of decades of patch jobs, its corrugated metal roof sagging over boarded up windows and asphalt shingles slapped on in willy-nilly style.

Icy pool in a draw along FR 142G

What looks like a fruit tree, near the end of its lifecycle, grows by the front porch.

Coyote tracks in snow on FR 142G. Jan. 28, 2023

Shaded by a stand of tall Ponderosa pines, the site is located 1.5 miles north of State Route 260, 23 miles east of Camp Verde. Forest Road 142G, one of several rough dirt roads that wander among the juniper-studded terrain, runs by the cabin complex and can be used for an easy, scenic hike.

Stick-and-wire fence surrounds the cabin site

Barn at the V Lazy Y Cabin site

The cabin is situated in open rangeland between West Clear Creek Wilderness and Fossil Springs Wilderness. 

Decades of repair work visible on V Lazy Y Cabin

Compared to the jaw-dropping scenery of the water-carved wilderness areas that buffer its north and south edges, the grassy pastures, shallow draws and low hills around the cabin site embody a stark beauty, the kind that needs time to bloom in the brain—the kind that only blossoms with a long walk and immersion into the quiet mysteries of the remains of a Mid-Century home on the range.

A message from the past at V Lazy Y Cabin

The trek into the past begins where the unsigned forest road crosses a cattle guard. The road  passes by the junction with the General Crook Trail before heading north through scrubland with hazy mountain vistas peeking out over the horizons. A stick-and-barbed-wire fence line runs the length of the road, meeting up with a major corral complex about a mile in. 

FR 142G crosses General Crook Trail

Cabin site viewed from FR 142G

Beyond the corrals, the ranch appears on the west side of the twisted two-track.  It’s easy to envision the weather-ravaged structures in their prime as purpose-built: unfussy and utilitarian. 

Corral near V Lazy Y Cabin

Snow in Coconino National Forest. Jan. 28, 2023.

Bales of wire, rusted gates and a smattering of broken furniture lie about in disuse.  What can sound sort of like rustling livestock is only wind pushing through open doors and cracks in walls.

Well pump and water tank at V Lazy Y Cabin.

Around the back, a large, rusted water tank and well pump speak to the self-sufficiently required of a place like this one.  Less than two miles from the highway, yet more than a half-century removed from the present, the cabin stands as a reminder of simpler times, livestock roundups and a working life in the outdoors.

The trailhead on FR 142G

LENGTH: 3 miles round trip

RATING: easy

ELEVATION: 5,870 – 5,960 feet

GETTING THERE:

From Interstate 17 in Camp Verde, take the State Route 260 exit 287 and continue 23 miles east (toward Payson) to Forest Road 142 G on the left between mileposts 241 and 242. Forest Road 142 G is not signed, but there’s a stop sign and a cattle guard a few yards up the road. Park in the dirt turnouts along the road.