Big Rock Canyon Circuit

BIG ROCK CANYON

Billion-year-old stone in Big Rock Canyon

Some trails have a way of rousing long buried memories.  Whether it’s the trail name, location or ambience that rustles the cranial recesses, the results can have surprising impacts on the hike experience. Consider the Big Rock Canyon trail in Prescott’s granite dells.

View of Watson Lake from Capts Trail

Its name conjures sweetness and an ear worm. Grown up kids of a certain age might remember a tooth-rotting confection called rock candy—word play on rock canyon. It was—and still is, if you can find it—pure sugar.  

The route crosses Boulder Creek

Rock candy Classic had no color or added flavor, just 100% nutritionally void carbohydrate manufactured to resemble quartz crystals. Sometimes, it came embedded on strings.

Hike begins on the Peavine NRT

While the treat was a step up from the chalky candy cigarettes and wax lips frequently bought together, it never made it off the dentist’s no-no list. Other than providing a brief energy rush, it has no redeeming qualities.

Peavine NRT passes by Watson Woods Riparian Preserve

There’s also a ditty about hiking in an imaginary paradise called Big Rock Candy Mountain (evidently located somewhere beyond the scope Google Maps), that can commandeer the brain with a continuous loop of “Where the lemonade springs and the bluebird sings in that Big Rock Candy Mountain.”

Even with a candy song banging around in the skull, the treat’s word-play trail is the opposite of empty calories. Replete in healthful elements all wrapped in a fantastical landscape of rocks of the volcanic sort, the trail delivers a steady stream of serotonin without the junk propellant. It could easily be the rock paradise imagined in the 1928 ballad.

View from Big Rock Canyon trail

Big Rock Canyon trail is located east of Watson Lake in the heart of a maze of routes collectively called the Storm Trails.  The City of Prescott owned property spans the other-worldly innards of the granite dells—a landscape of weathered billion-year-old granite formations.  Fractured and rounded by years of geological upheavals and exposure to the sculpting effects of weather, the dells are a cluster of nooks, crannies and blind curves interrupted by the course of Boulder Creek.  

Watson Lake seen from Capts Trail junction

There are several ways to get to Big Rock Canyon, but the quick way begins at the Peavine-Watson Woods trailhead with a mile-long hike on the Peavine National Recreation Trail. At the Capts Trail junction, located across from a scenic view of the lake, the route heads inland and is quickly absorbed into stony corridors. 

Big Rock Canyon Trail

Map signs are posted at all junctions. Here are the breadcrumbs for this hike:

• Peavine National Recreation Trail to Capts Trail.

• Capts Trail (sometimes called Captain’s Trail on apps) to Easter Island Trail

• Easter Island Trail to Big Rock Canyon Trail

• Big Rock Canyon Trail to Big Piney Trail

• Big Piney to Boulder Creek Trail

• Boulder Creek back to Peavine for the return leg.

Where the trails pass over slickrock, white dots painted on the russet stone show the way.  It’s very much a game of connect-the-dots and follow-the-signs. A hop over Boulder Creek signals the entry to the canyon. Once inside, the route ducks among vertical escarpments, oddly balanced rocks and contorted pillars.  Highpoint vistas showcase a fringe of mountains including iconic Granite Mountain, Glassford Hill and the peaks of Prescott National Forest.  The Storm Trails feel purpose-built for those with adventurous proclivities.

Map signs are posted at all trail junctions

Side trip on the Blaster Trail

Many are short loops and connectors, so there’s a natural magnetism for impulsive side trips.  Surprises emerge around every bend in the forms of oak thickets, quartz deposits, errant water birds and lakeside riparian vegetation.  North of Big Rock Canyon, there’s a trail called Candy. Really, there is.  It’s new, so trail signs may not yet be in place. But like a folksy ear worm, the urge to find it within this wilderness of rock might be hard to shake.

LENGTH: 8 miles roundtrip

RATING: moderate

ELEVATION: 5,166 – 5,340 feet

GETTING THERE:

Peavine-Watson Woods Riparian Preserve trailhead.

From State Route 169 in Prescott, turn right (north) on Prescott Lakes Pkwy and continue 1.7 miles to Sundog Ranch Road, turn right and go 0.2-mile  to Peavine Trail/Watson Woods Riparian Preserve parking area.

FEE: There’s a $3 per vehicle daily parking fee.

FACILITIES: restroom

INFO & MAPS:

prescott-az.gov/rec-services/recreation-areas-prescott/trails/mile-high-trail/

 

Northwest Passage - Peavine Circuit

NORTHWEST PASSAGE-PEAVINE CIRCUIT

High point view on the Northwest Passage Trail

This out-and-back lollipop loop hike uses part of the Peavine National Recreation Trail, to access the Northwest Passage trail which occupies the outlands of the Storm Trails maze of little loops northeast of Prescott’s Watson Lake. 

Watson Lake & Granite Mountain seen from Peavine Trail

For a short, moderate trek, this one packs in a full house of diverse, scenic beauty.

A Great egret forages the shore of Watson Lake

The hike starts out at the south end of the lake where the leafy belt of Watson Woods Riparian Preserve bursts with cottonwood, boxelder, walnut and other water-loving trees that provide living space for dozens of species of birds.

Cottonwood trees in Watson WoodsRiparian Preserve

Great fall color viewing, too! The first two miles follow the Peavine Trail, a 6-mile repurposed railroad bed built in 1893 by the Santa Fe Railway. Passing beneath arching riparian trees, the wide cinder-base road traces the lake that’s as popular with kayakers as it is with waterfowl.  It  takes little effort to spot ducks, herons and egrets gliding over open water and poking around for food among reed-choaked inlets. As the trail plows north past meadows and through stony corridors, it enters the jumbled rock wonderland of the Granite Dells. 

Boxelder trees blush gold in autumn on the Peavine Trail

White dots mark the Northwest Passage Trail

The billion-year-old jointed pillars and blobs of volcanic rock have been weathering and cracking for millions of years, gradually sculpting into a surreal ochre-colored landscape punctuated with junipers, creek beds and a now defunct railroad route.

A cottonwood tree soaks up water in WatsonLake

Benches are placed at dramatic spots along the route including one overlook with amazing views of the lake and distant Granite Mountain.

Bridge over Boulder Creek on the Peavine Trail

A bridge with an old concrete base surrounded by discarded rail ties that spans Boulder Creek marks the second stage of the hike.

Alligator junipers shade Northwest Passage Trail

Over the bridge at just under the 2-mile point, this trip veers right onto the Northwest Passage Connector. After a few yards, turn left onto the Northwest Passage Trail, where a singletrack moves among the innards of the dells. While the trail is mostly obvious, white paint dots mark the route where it traverses bare rock slabs and sketchy passages. 

Hooker's Evening Primrose bloom July - October

Ducking among massive outcroppings resembling melted taffy and yeasty bread dough, the hike tops out on a stony crest before descending back down to the Peavine for the return leg of the outing.

Billion-year-old granite blobs on Northwest Passage

LENGTH: 4.8 miles

RATING: moderate

ELEVATION:  5,135 – 5,200 feet (380 feet of accumulated elevation change)

GETTING THERE:

1626 Sundog Ranch Road, Prescott.

From State Route 69 in Prescott, go 1.7 miles north on Prescott Lakes Parkway to Sundog Ranch Road, turn right and continue 0.2-mile to the Peavine Trail/Watson Woods Riparian Preserve parking area on the left.

FACILITIES: restrooms, picnic tables

HOURS:

Summer: 7:00 a.m.- 10:00 p.m.

Winter: 7:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

FEE: $3 daily fee per vehicle. Self-serve pay station accepts cash and credit cards.

INFO & MAPS:

City of Prescott

https://www.prescott-az.gov/recreation-events/recreation-areas/trails/

STORM TRAILS

STORM TRAILS

Curious rock formations on the Easter Island Trail.

The best trails are those that respect the terrain through which they cut, following the land’s natural contours to unwind like humble spectators rather than intruders. The newest additions to the Prescott Mile-High Trail System do just that in a seemingly impenetrable labyrinth of stone.

The Boulder Creek Trail adds a splash of green.

Early in 2018, the City of Prescott purchased a 160-acre parcel east of Watson Lake to preserve the geologically-unique space while allowing for recreational use. Shortly after the land was acquired, work on the Storm Trails system got underway and the first routes officially opened on March 31, 2018.

Use the Peavine Trail to access the Storm Trails

Situated deep in the striking beauty of the Granite Dells, the loopy network spins off from the Prescott Peavine National Recreation Trail 1.5-miles north of the trailhead on Sundog Ranch Road.  

The Storm Trails explore Prescott's Granite Dells area.

The maze of short, interconnected paths meander among billion-year-old granite crags, secluded grasslands, washes and shady corridors of scrub oak. The first of several gateways to the system is located across from a vista point overlooking Watson Lake.  From here, the 0.67-mile Easter Island Trail wastes no time delivering the goods. The low-profile path dives right into a heart-of-rocks, artfully sidestepping obstacles on its way to a knoll above the lake with breathtaking views of Granite Mountain, Glassford Hill and a bizarre landscape of Precambrian stone pillars. Within the first half-mile, how the trail got its name becomes apparent. Perched atop a jumbled mound of weathered granite, two majestic monoliths that resemble the famous ancient sculptures found on Rapa Nui-- the volcanic Pacific reef also known as Easter Island—stand out above a basin of boulders. The nature-sculpted pair of human-esque forms---one with a bulging eye and the other wearing a mischievous smirk-- balance on a crest, silent and focused as if commanding an army of rock goblins.  Beyond the stony sentinels, the trail crosses Boulder Creek and evolves into an insanely entertaining web of stone-age-themed mini loops. 

Woolly Morning glories bloom near Watson Lake.

With names like Pebbles, Bam Bam, Dino Canyon and Bedrock City, the swooping footpaths that propel hikers through nooks, bends and narrow stone corridors are a perfect homage to their 1960s-era Flintstone’s cartoon namesakes. Immerse yourself in the playful theme and it’s almost like hiking in a page right out of history through the courtesy of Fred’s your two feet. (Props to the Hanna-Barbera jingle).

Follow the white paint dots to navigate slick rock sections.

Close up of the Easter Island sculptures look-alikes.

New Storm Trails are located east of Watson Lake.

There are no dull moments in this ticklish intersection of imposing natural wonders and amusing names.

A section smothered in high-desert vegetation.

Every turn reveals a fresh view or an interesting feature.  Even the stuff underfoot changes at the pace of a manic animated flick. 

The trails pass thru many stoney corridors. 

The mix of soft dirt single track, sandy washes and tricky slick rock passages where white paint dots guide the way make for a mildly challenging, ever tantalizing hike.  Even though the bizarre pillars and fractured joints of the Granite Dells are the main attractions, the system’s Boulder Creek Trail adds a splash of blue with a cottonwood-lined waterway, cascades and reflecting pools that soften the high-desert terrain. 

Secluded pockets of water add color to the high-desert trails.

The trails spin off the Peavine Trail 1.5 miles of the TH.

Scenic knoll with views of Watson Lake and Granite Mtn.

As satisfying as the Storm Trails are right now, they’re not finished yet. The planned 6-mile system is on track to be completed by the end of this year. Who knows; maybe Wilma and Fred will get trails too.

A grasshopper alights on a Sacred Datura flower.

LENGTH: 6 miles (not including the 1.5-mile one-way access hike on the Peavine Trail)

RATING: moderate

ELEVATION:  5150 – 5300 feet

GETTING THERE:

1626 Sundog Ranch Road, Prescott.

From State Route 69 in Prescott, go 1.7 miles north on Prescott Lakes Parkway to Sundog Ranch Road, turn right and continue 0.2-mile to the Peavine Trail/Watson Woods Riparian Preserve parking area. There’s a $3 per vehicle daily parking fee.

INFO:

http://www.prescott-az.gov/recreation-area/storm-trails/