Sandy Seep Trail

SANDY SEEP TRAIL

Sandy Seep Trail below east slopes of Elden Mtn

Short, easy and scenic, the Sandy Seep Trail offers quick access to a network of routes on the east flanks of Mount Elden in northeast Flagstaff.  While the 1.5-mile path makes for a sweet standalone hike, it also serves as an on-ramp for the 42-mile, city-circling Flagstaff Loop Trail and the 800+-mile, state-traversing Arizona National Scenic Trail. 

Extend the hike at the "sign vortex"

In addition, the route can be used to access two heart-pumping trails---Little Bear and Heart--that climb steep slopes to the ridgelines of Elden Mountain. 

Slimleaf lima beans bloom May - October

Located just a few clicks north of downtown off US 89, the old standard trail has been a stalwart pillar of the Mount Elden/Dry Lakes Hills trail system in Coconino National Forest. 

Mt. Elden seen from Sandy Seep Trail

Having already survived several devastating wildfires including the 1977 Radio Fire and the 2010 Schultz Fire, the trail is also within the scope of proposed changes that will improve forest health and enhance user experience in the popular recreation hub.  You can weigh in on how the changes might roll out.

Western blue flax blooms in clearings Apr-Sept

Coconino National Forest is asking for public input regarding proposed improvements to the non-motorized trails in the Mount Elden/Dry Lake Hills area in northeast Flagstaff.  Popular hiking, biking and equestrian trails in the heavily-used area have been deteriorating and a maze of unauthorized paths have resulted in environmental damage, trail-user confusion and safety concerns.  The proposed project includes plans for sustainable new trail construction, re-routes of existing trails, trailhead improvements and closure of some wildcat paths.

The public may comment online or at scheduled in-person events between June 1 and July 1, 2021.  Here’s the link to the plan maps, environmental analysis, contacts and comment form: https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/coconino/news-events/?cid=FSEPRD917886

View of the seep from the Arizona Trail

In the meantime, hit the Sandy Seep Trail to gain an appreciation for this beautiful mountainous region and see for yourself what a re-boot will do for the area.  From the trailhead, the path is wide and easy to follow.  You’ll pass the first Arizona Trail/Flagstaff Loop junction at the 0.1-mile point before the path veers right through spotty pines and oak glens.  Views of 9,299-foot Mount Elden and 9,018-foot Little Elden Mountain bolster the trail’s western edge.  Sandy Seep Trail ends at the “sign vortex” at the 1.5-mile point.  Interestingly, the seep is not located on the eponymous trail, but a few yards ahead on the Little Elden Trail.  

Look for Spreading Dogbane June-August

Use this trail to access the Little Bear Trail

To get there, follow the Little Elden/Arizona Trail another 0.2-mile to where an Arizona Trail sign steers hikers to the right.  Within a few yards, the trail rises above a sunken basin ringed with reeds and wildflowers.

Sandy Seep is an onramp to the AZT and Flagstaff Loop

Sometimes soggy, but mostly dry, the seep is a favorite hangout for local wildlife like deer, squirrels and rabbits.  For an easy stroll, make the seep your turnaround point, or another good day hike out-and-back option is to continue another 2.7 miles to the Little Elden Springs trailhead.

Scenic spot on the Little Elden/Arizona Trail

LENGTH: 3 miles round trip for Sandy Seep or 8.4 miles roundtrip to the Little Elden Spring trailhead and back.

RATING: easy

ELEVATION: 6,885 – 7,270 feet or 6,885 - 7,320 feet

GETTING THERE:

Sandy Seep Trailhead as described here:

In Flagstaff, take US 89 north toward Page. One half mile beyond the Townsend/Winona Road intersection, turn left onto Forest Road 9139 and continue a few yards to the trailhead.

Little Elden Spring Trailhead option:

Drive 5 miles northeast of In Flagstaff go 5 miles north on US 89 to Elden Spring Road (Forest Road 556), turn left and continue 3.5 miles to the Little Elden Springs trailhead on the right.

INFO: Coconino National Forest

https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/coconino/recarea/?recid=55170

Arizona Trail Association

https://aztrail.org/explore/passages/passage-32-elden-mountain/

Flagstaff Loop Trail

https://www.flagstaff.az.gov/1521/Flagstaff-Urban-Trails-Bikeways-Map

Embracing the details of an ordinary trail

SANDY SEEP TRAIL

Flagstaff

Fire scars visible on the ridge

This easy trail at the base of Elden Mountain rarely makes it onto the typical hiker's bucket list.  Widely regarded as a "connector" route for some of Flagstaff's more iconic trails (Fat Mans Loop, Little Elden, Arizona Trail) trekkers plow through this repurposed Jeep road like rockets on their way to the moon.  Although power hiking is valid use of public lands, there's also much to be gained by embarking on pensive sightseeing walks. This style of hiking embraces the details of otherwise "throw away" trails making them journeys to savor rather than tedious means to an end.  And, there's a lot to see on Sandy Seep trail.  Here's a sample of how to savor the details:

Hug a Yellow belly. Ponderosa pines that are at least 150 years old develop scaly yellowish bark with aromas similar to butterscotch, vanilla, cherry-almond and other sweet confections---take whiff!

Brush up on your geology. Bring a guidebook and learn to identify volcanic rocks like pumice, basalt, and obsidian.

Stop and smell the cliff-rose. The dominant flowering shrub on the trail blooms from April through September.

Survey Fire scars: Witness how the landscape is recovering from both the 1977 Radio Fire and 2010 Schultz Fire. The scars are visible on the high slopes to the west of the trail.

Sing with Stellars jays. These vociferous, electric blue birds sport pronounced feathered head crests and are easy to spot rustling about in the pines.

See the "seep". Located about 0.5 mile past the Little Elden/Christmas Tree junction (go right) a 

water-hogging depression feeds a tiny green cienega.

Hound for horned lizards. They're talented at hiding in plain sight, so be wary of stepping on one. Look for them near their food source--anthills.

Horned lizard

LENGTH: 6 miles roundtrip

RATING: easy

ELEVATION: 6900' - 7300'

GETTING THERE:

Sandy Seep trailhead:

From Phoenix, travel north on I17 to the I40 interchange in Flagstaff.  Head east on I40 to exit 201 for US89 north.  Drive north on US89 to milepost 421 (0.5 mile north of  Townsend-Winona Road) and turn left onto FR 9139 and drive 0.1 mile to the trailhead.

INFO:

Yellow belly Ponderosa pine

Flagstaff Ranger District, Coconino National Forest, 928-526-0866

http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/coconino/recreation/hiking/recarea/?recid=55170&actid=50

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Marvelous places with lots of trees

MOUNT ELDEN ENVIRONMENTAL STUDY AREA

Flagstaff

I grew up in the projects outside of Hartford CT.  As kids, the nearest semblance of the great outdoors for my friends and I was “Clay Mountain”, a vacant lot across the street, which the town folks used as an impromptu dump and summer car burning venue.  Next to chasing tar trucks through our asphalt jungle, escaping to Clay Mountain, with its scraggly, over-climbed trees, anemic scrub and festering pools of tetanus-infused toxic waste, was our go-to destination for recreation.  We thought we were the luckiest kids in the universe.    Of course, we really weren’t allowed to go there, but, well, what can I say?  Summer camp and trips to fishing lakes had exposed us to the bigger wonders of Nature, but our worlds were still too cloistered to grasp the concept that some kids actually lived within walking distance of marvelous places with lots of trees.

Grave of John Elden

Since then, my hiking habit has lead me to many easy-access, kid-friendly and educational outdoor classrooms.  One of my favorites is a familiar haunt to the lucky kids at Flagstaff’s Christensen School.  Mount Elden Environmental Study Area is a maze of short exploratory trails with intriguing names like “Forces of Nature” and “Walk Through Time”.  Located a stone’s throw from busy Flagstaff Mall and just a short walk from the school, the easy trails are intended to educate young and old alike about the natural and human history unfolding at the base of Elden Mountain.  The trails are a wiggle through a concoction of volcanic boulders, spring water, Ponderosa pines and blooming shrubs backed by a muffled soundtrack of trains and traffic along Route 66.  This forest-urban interface at the edge of a trailer park where everybody has chickens, kind of reminds me of my childhood stopping grounds---except without the biohazards---unless you count the underground gas lines.  Lucky kids.  Yet, in the middle of all this wonderful, walk-able wilds lies one not so lucky kid. Six-year-old John Elden, (the youngest son of the family for whom the mountain is named) who in 1887 was tragically killed by a renegade muleskinner’s errant bullet is buried beneath a sprawling Alligator juniper tree along the main trail just beyond the spring at the base of what was undoubtedly his own version of Clay Mountain.

Elden Spring

LENGTH:  2.5 miles (I actually hiked on Pipeline up to Oldham trail and back to add a few more miles, but, that’s not this story)

RATING:  easy

ELEVATION:  6800’ – 7200’

FACILITIES: none, but there are restrooms and ice cream (lucky kids) at the Mall.

GETTING THERE:

From Phoenix, travel north on I17 to Flagstaff.  Drive into town and head east on Route66/US 89 to the traffic signal at Flagstaff Mall.  Turn left on Cummings and drive 0.2 mile to the Christensen School, veer left onto El Paso and go 0.3 mile to a parking lot on the right across from Hamblin Road. The trailhead is the unsigned, white gate. 

HIKE DIRECTIONS:

From the trailhead, hike 0.25 mile uphill on the pipeline road to a large wooden Elden Environmental Study Area sign.  Turn right and follow the main path that will lead to the spring, Elden homestead site and John Elden’s grave.  A few yards beyond the gravesite turn left and follow Pipeline Trail back to the trailhead.  NOTE:  explore the many side trails at will.  Just return to the main path to complete the loop.

INFO: Flagstaff Ranger District, Coconino National Forest

http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/coconino/recreation/recarea/?recid=55152&actid=104 

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The back way up Mount Elden

MOUNT ELDEN via UPPER OLDHAM TRAIL

Flagstaff

Heading out on the "catwalk"

Final approach to Mount Elden

There's more than one way to tackle Mount Elden.  The most popular route begins off US89 in east Flagstaff and climbs 2300 feet in a short, steep 3 miles.  This way is great for a thigh-burning workout, but also earns a pox upon its ambience due to its proximity to two major highways and views dominated by industrial complexes.  However, the west side of the mountain holds an alternative route that's less steep, better shaded and cloistered in woodland vistas stretching all the way to Williams. Except for the occasional car on adjacent FR557, there's nary a hint of civilization on the west route until it crests on the Sunset trail.  Here, the hike lands on a scenic saddle overlooking the railways and warehouses of east Flagstaff, then heads south up to Mount Elden.  This short path is a beautiful trek sandwiched between pine-fir forests on the right and steep drop offs on the left.  Soon after passing through a dense stand of young aspens, the trail leaves the woods to  teeter on a barren, knife-edge ridgeline scarred by the 1977 Radio Fire.  Depending on your point of view, this open-to-the-sky, catwalk-like segment is either profoundly gorgeous or viscerally depressing. Fire damage notwithstanding, the terrain is very interesting---massive lava boulders, juvenile aspens and blooming shrubs lend an air of resurgence to the otherwise bald tread.    Charred snags bleached grey by years of harsh weather coat the slopes like toppled matchsticks and a few remaining upright torched trunks stand sentry above a volcano-studded landscape.  Sunset Crater, Strawberry Crater, O'Leary Peak and the Bonito Lava flow are all visible from the exposed path that feels as if the patches of clumpy grasses and wild roses growing on its margins serve as the glue that keeps it from slumping into oblivion.  Also, the damage done by the June 2010 Schultz Fire is visible to the north.  After passing the wildfire vistas, the catwalk meets FR577 for the final slog to the microwave-and-cellular-tower-cluttered summit with a fire lookout and 360-degree views.

HIKE DIRECTIONS FOR WEST APPROACH AS DESCRIBED HERE:

From the Lower Oldham-Rocky Ridge trailhead, hike 0.2 mile north to the turn off for the Brookbank trail.  Veer right here on an unsigned path and hike 0.5 mile to the Upper Oldham trail junction.  Follow Upper Oldham 1.5 miles, cross FR557, and pick up Sunset trail.  At the sign for Sunset-Schultz Tank-Elden, go right and hike 1 mile to the summit of Elden Mountain.

View from Upper Oldham Trail

LENGTH: 6.4 miles roundtrip

ELEVATION: 7,380'- 9,300'

RATING: moderate

BEST SEASON: April - October

DISTANCE FROM PHOENIX: 147 miles one way

GETTING THERE:

West approach trailhead:

From Flagstaff, travel north on US180 to Shultz Pass Road (FR420) at milepost 218.6.

Turn right and go 0.5 mile, veer right onto Elden Lookout Road (FR557) and continue roughly 2.5 miles to the signed Lower Oldham-Rocky Ridge trailhead on the right. FR557 is maintained dirt, passable by sedan. NOTE: to shorten the hike, drive another mile up FR557 to the Upper Oldham trailhead where there's parking on the left across the road from the trail sign.

East approach trailhead:

From Flagstaff, travel east on US89 to just past the Flagstaff Mall at milepost 419.5. Turn at the Mt. Elden Trailhead sign.

INFO: Flagstaff Ranger District, Coconino National Forest, 928-526-0866

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