White Spar Loop Trails

WHITE SPAR LOOP TRAILS

Apple Blossom trail crosses Banning Creek

In the gullies and hills of the Granite Creek watershed northwest of the Goldwater Lakes, a maze of short, interconnected trails offer access to a diverse pocket of Prescott National Forest.  

Banning Creek Trail

Pine forests, riparian corridors, historic relics, and a strangely out-of-place garden of fruit trees contribute to a continual sting of eye candy in the Central Arizona hike hub.

Water pools in Banning Creek

Collectively known as the White Spar Loop Trails, the shaded singletracks may be explored by way of the White Spar Campground located just a couple of miles south of Prescott’s historic Whiskey Row.

Apple blossoms on April 21, 2023.

Well signed and maintained, the loops are a mash up of newer trails and old standards that also link up with the 50-mile, city-circumnavigating Prescott Circle Trail.  While there are dozens of ways to use the White Spar Loops to cobble together a day hike or backpack trek, a short circuit using the Goldwater Lake #396, Banning Creek #81 (the old standards), Apple Blossom #373 and Twist & Shout #372 (new kids on the block) trails is a perfect introduction to the area’s many faces.

Tall pines on Goldwater Lake Trail

From the dirt trailhead parking lot before the campground entrance, the circuit begins with a 1.5-mile walk on Goldwater Lake #396. This leg climbs easily through stands of Ponderosa pine, alligator junipers and oaks passing by the Hidden Valley trail junction.  

Old water pipeline on Banning Creek Trail

The hike hits its highest elevation (5,920 feet) at the one-mile point, where nice views of iconic Thumb Butte and Granite Mountain peek through coniferous tree cover.  The route then begins a gradual, half-mile  descent to the course of Banning Creek. 

White Spar Loops are well-signed & maintained

The Banning Creek trail #81 junction can be a little confusing. Hikers may head left (north) and follow the wide dirt road that traces the creek’s west banks or go right at the “81” sign and slingshot around to get on the east bank trail. Either way, the two options converge less than a half-mile north where the creek crosses the dirt road.

Golden currant blooms along Granite Creek

Adding notes of history to the hike, an old, elevated water pipeline—a relic of  early 20^th century water supply technology-- can be seen following the course of the creek. 

Goldwater Lake Trail is part of the Prescott Circle Trail

Vegetation along this watery leg includes classic riparian species like willows, cottonwoods, boxelder, and golden currant shrubs growing in mucky shallows and boulder-bound bends. At the 2.2-mile point, the route heads left onto Apple Blossom trail #373 among magnificent cottonwoods that stand along a trickling creek crossing.  Within a few yards, the trail comes to another junction where it veers right to meet the eponymous apple blossoms. 

Common mullein is a familiar plant along the trails

Several small, spindly fruit trees line the trail, looking sort of lost among towering pines.  In spring, creamy flowers scent the air and attract pollinators.  Beyond the blooming trees, the route continues straight ahead and uphill the somewhat befuddling  #373/#374 junction.  Now back in pine-oak woodlands, the trail passes by a forested subdivision before meeting the Twist & Shout  trail #372 junction for the loop’s final leg.  

Granite Mountain seen from Goldwater Lake Trail

True to its name, the path winds among oak canopies, making hairpin turns around ravines before rejoining Goldwater Lake trail for the return trip to the trailhead.

LENGTH:  3.7 miles

RATING: moderate

ELEVATION: 5,517 – 5,920 feet

GETTING THERE:

From Courthouse Square in historic downtown Prescott, go 2.8 miles south on Montezuma Street (U.S. 89/White Spar Road) and turn left into the White Spar Campground.  Trailhead parking in on the right before entering the campground. No fee or facilities.

INFO:

Prescott National Forest, Bradshaw Ranger District

https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/prescott/recreation/recarea/?recid=75171