Interstate Trail

INTERSTATE TRAIL

Canyon view point on Frog Tank Loop

If there has been an upside to the global pandemic, it has been in discovering hiking destinations that are far from the hordes. After listening to a recent radio program in which a public health expert stated that coronavirus will probably be with us “forever”, I resolved to actively knock off the outlier trails on my ever-expanding “someday” list.

Lichen and cacti grown on boulders on Interstate Trail

While many unknowns swirl around when we might once again be able to safely que up for that Instagram moment atop Sedona’s notoriously crowded Devil's Bridge, what is known is that there are plenty of areas to hike that do not require jockeying for space. One good place to find room to roam freely is in the section of Coconino National Forest that surrounds Interstate 17 near Munds Park 20 miles south of Flagstaff.

Rose hips ripen in a drainage area

Within this who-knew plot, the short, easy paths of the Munds Park Trail System serve as a launch point into the meandering routes of the 100+-mile Kelly Motorized Trail System.

Frog Tank is an important wildlife water source

The divergent shared-use routes are made up of long airy roads, repurposed railroad beds and dirt single tracks that swoop through spaces far removed from the masses and the Interstate Trail makes for a good segue into the maze.

To reach this pleasant outlier, begin at the Janice Place trailhead. Follow the access path 0.2 mile to a “T” junction at Frog Tank Loop. Before heading left to continue the hike, look for an informal footpath behind the trail sign that leads a few yards to an overlook above a drainage gorge. A peek into the stony corridor that’s cluttered with willows and brambles, is a not-to-be-missed diversion. About 0.2 mile farther down Frog Tank Loop, the trail crosses a spillway at the mouth of the mini canyon for a close up look at the water-loving riparian vegetation.

Beyond the spillway crossing, continue hiking the road to the 1.3-mile point at Frog Tank where a connector trail that leads to Forest Road 78A veers off to the left.  Take a few minutes here to check out the tank which serves as an important water source for waterfowl, deer, elk, myriad little critters and a vociferous flock of mountain bluebirds.

From the tank, follow the signs 0.1 mile to Forest Road 78A, cross it and pick up the Interstate Trail which is marked with a Kelly Motorized Trail System sign.

Gambel oaks arch over Interstate Trail

The route is open to motorized use, but its narrow cut appears only wide enough to accommodate dirt bikes. This simple north-south route makes a twisted course that runs parallel to Interstate 17 for roughly 7 miles ending just south of the Kelly Canyon area.  Although the trail is located only a mile east of the freeway, the hilly terrain and thick tree cover muffles most of the noise. 

Hike begins at the Janice Place trailhead in Munds Park

 

It’s a mostly easy walk that ducks among ponderosa pine and exposed spreads of alligator juniper and high desert cacti with intermittent mountain vistas.  But the most underappreciated and fascinating sights along this trail can be found growing on outcroppings of volcanic rocks.  Lichens, crusty-looking composites of fungi and algae, form a sort of natural art gallery of colorful splatters, leafy medallions and web-like masses that cling to rock surfaces like layers of old paint.

Beginning of the Interstate Trail

Sometimes found growing alongside mosses, the microscopic organisms that exist through a symbiotic relationship of creating and sharing nutrients are also essential to forest and environmental health.

Redroot buckwheat is a common summer bloomer

The odd organisms contribute to soil building by helping break down rock and absorb pollutants from the atmosphere.  Although they may appear “dead”, lichens have remarkable survival skills and can spring back to life after rains. Growths of the blue-green, gold and rust-colored curiosities are abundant along the trail.  No two are alike.

Winged buckwheat blooms July - October

Interstate Trail is a twisting single track route

Willows, wild grapes and roses thrive in a drainage

Lichen clings to a boulder on Interstate Trail

Because an incoming thunderstorm was moving in from the north, I decided to turn around after just 3 miles on the Interstate trail. But, with several more miles left to explore, I will return after a few good storms wet the area enough to coax the lichen back to life. 

Interstate Trail is accessed via Frog Tank Loop

LENGTH: 8.6 miles roundtrip (as described here)

RATING: moderate

ELEVATION:  6,446 – 7,000 feet

GETTING THERE:

Janice Place trailhead:

From Interstate 17 in Munds Park, take the Pinewood Blvd. exit 322. Turn right and follow Pinewood Blvd. 0.1 mile, turn left on Fairway Drive (which will turn into N. Lodge Dr.) continue 0.3 mile to Janice Place, turn right and go 0.2 mile to the trailhead on the left.

INFO & MAPS:

https://mundsparktrailstewards.com/

ABOUT LICHENS:

https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/beauty/lichens/about.shtml

Porter Mountain via Flume Connector

PORTER MOUNTAIN via FLUME CONNECTOR

White Mountains views from the summit of Porter Mtn.

Anchoring the heart of the 200+-mile White Mountains Trail System (TRACKS), the Timber Mesa and Panorama loop trails offer easy access, moderate workouts and abundant scenic beauty.

Exposed cinders along the road to Porter Mountain

The popular, close-to-town loops are tethered by two lesser-used connector routes: Sawmill #626A and Flume #636B. While enabling seamless travel between the two big circuits, the auxiliary routes also demonstrate that, like a crèam-filled sandwich cookie, the best stuff is in the middle.

Porter Mountain seen from the Panorama trailhead

Prickly poppies bloom April - November

Of the two, the Flume Connector is the easiest to reach. Beginning at the Panorama trailhead, the shady single track moves through the woody space between Flume and Porter Mountains before making a mild ascent to the top of Timber Mesa. But to add some extra punch to the hike, a detour up Porter Mountain delivers the goods.

See-forever vistas from the scenic lookout point

From the trailhead, follow Flume Connector 0.4-mile to where it crosses Forest Road 223, the summit road. Make a mental note of this spot as it’s easy to miss on the way back. Head right and begin hiking uphill, veer left at the first fork and get ready for amazing displays of bizarre geology and White Mountains scenery. Within a few yards, the road makes a hairpin turn through a broken flank of the extinct cone volcano. Below, a gaping cinder pit sits below volcanic outcroppings and disintegrating slopes of russet and black cinders. Farther up the road, views of Scott Reservoir, Show Low Lake and the wetlands of Jacques Marsh sparkle through acres of pine forests and rangelands. This area is particularly beautiful in late summer when  sunflowers paint the landscape brilliant yellow.

At the 1.1-mile point, a dirt turnout serves as a scenic lookout for enjoying see-forever views of the Mogollon Rim and pockets of civilization surrounded by a patchwork of trees, plains and isolated peaks. To get to the summit proper, hike past the vehicle gate and make the final 0.4-mile climb toward an array of communication towers. This final section showcases glimpses of Mount Baldy (11,403 feet) to the southeast and dozens of lumps, bumps and prairies of the  Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest. In between ogling the sights, don’t forget to look down to see the potpourri of plant life protruding from the disturbed road margins and mountain escarpments. Wax current shrubs, prickly poppies, globe mallow, rare Graham’s tick-trefoil and the ubiquitous sunflowers sprout from seemingly inhospitable volcanic scree.

Flume Connector is part of TRACKS 

Prickly poppies are abundant along the route

Distant Mogollon Rim viewed from Porter Mountain

Black cinders spill from a break in Porter Mountain

Wax current shrubs grow near the summit of Porter Mtn.

Scott Reservoir (left) & Show Low Lake from Porter Mtn.

The ponds of Jacques Marsh viewed from Porter Mtn.

Mt. Baldy seen from Porter Mountain

Graham's tick-trefoil is a rare sight along the route

Beginning of the Flume Connector at Panorama trailhead

Flume Connector toggles Timber Mesa & Panorama trails

At road’s end, wander around on several dirt paths that lead to photogenic vantage points to cap off the show. When done exploring, descend back to the Flume Connector and hike 2 miles west on the pleasantly shady, sparsely traveled route to where the trail joins the Timber Mesa loop, the turnaround point for the hike.

LENGTH:

Porter Mountain: 3 miles up-and-back

Porter Mountain with Flume Trail: 8 miles out-and-back

Flume Connector alone: 5 miles out-and-back

RATING: moderate

ELEVATION:

Porter Mountain: 6,961 – 7,584 feet

Flume Trail #636B: 6,961 – 7,184 feet

GETTING THERE:

From State Route 260 (White Mountain Blvd.) in Pinetop-Lakeside, turn left on Porter Mountain Road (Forest Road 45) and go 5 miles—watch for a sharp right turn-- to the Panorama trailhead on the left. Roads are 100% paved.

INFO: White Mountains Trail System

https://www.trackswhitemountains.org/trails/

White Horse Hills

White Horse Hills

The mouth of the north pass at White Horse Hills

Within the pass that cuts through the pyramid-shaped pinnacles of the White Horse Hills, voices carry. But, voices are rare in the barren cluster of vertical mounds located below the north face of the San Francisco Peaks 20 miles north of Flagstaff in Coconino National Forest.

This is not the kind of place hikers drool over visiting, it’s allure draws more curiosity seekers than hard-core trekkers, especially since it competes with nearby Passage 34 of the Arizona Trail.   Inquiring minds might well find amusement on the obscure dirt road that shows up on topographic maps as a oversimplified line connecting Forest Roads 514 and 418.

A storm brews above Saddle Mountain (left)

Kendrick Mountain seen from FR 9219M

Painted Desert views stand out on the route

But the reality of hiking the deceptively straight forward course of Forest Road 9219M, which runs down the center of the lumpy conglomerate, is a bit more complicated.

The section of FR 9219M that ascends the mountain pass is now closed to motorized traffic and its point-to-point length is only 2.8 miles, yet for those without a good sense of direction, picking out the overgrown path can be a challenge. Still, with two options to explore the area, expert and novice hikers alike can experience this unusual landform.

Ponderosa pines shade segments of both routes

The North Route

View from the high pass of White Horse Hills

The easiest route begins at Forest Road 514. From a trailhead that’s shared with the Arizona Trail, follow Forest Road 9006R for a half-mile to Forest Road 9219M. Veer right and hike the dirt two-track as it makes an mild 400-foot climb through patches of pines and shadeless meadows. Views along this nondescript backroad are astonishing. Dozens of volcanic landforms including 8,880-foot Saddle Mountain and 10,418-foot Kendrick Mountain fill the horizons while hazy glimpses of the Painted Desert and the rim of the Grand Canyon roll out to the northeast.

The route shares a trailhead with the Arizona Trail

Straight ahead, Arizona’s highest peaks that top out at 12,643 feet, cast shadows on the destination: the White Horse Hills. Also known as Marble Mountain, the geological curiosity is a dome laccolith, a volcanic feature that forms when subterranean magma pushes up layers of older rocks from below, sort of like a blister that never breaks the surface.  Described by geologist John V. Bezy in A Guide to the Geology of the Flagstaff Area, the multi-peaked massif formed around 850,000 years ago. 

There's lots of solitude in the White Horse Hills

A faint trail ascends to the top of the pass

Thousands of years of erosion and recent wildfires have shaped the terrain into a desolate yet oddly appealing pocket of stark rhyolite hills and exposed layers of ancient sediments, previous volcanic flows and ragged outcroppings of Redwall limestone that were changed into marble by the heat of rising magma. At the 1.5-mile point, the road hike ends in a patch of Ponderosa pines at the mouth of the mountain pass where a barbed wire fence and a toppled sign bar motorized travel into the hills. There’s no gate and no easy way to get through the fence. As it’s important to never cut or alter fences on forest lands, I called this scenic spot the turnaround point and set out to explore the hills from the south.

Thistle are plentiful along the routes

White Horse Hills is a dome laccolith volcanic feature

The South Route

Although hiking the hills from the Forest Road 418 access point is more difficult, it gets you into the guts of the laccolith. A short but steep and slippery climb on a disintegrating road leads to a landing where the road seems to disappear entirely. To find the fading track, look ahead to spot a barely discernable road cut between two conical peaks, the highest of which reaches 9,065 feet. Follow this path 300 feet uphill to the highpoint saddle—a dizzying perch surrounded by sheer bluffs, broken clefts and boulder-filled ravines. Through the V-shaped gap in the pass situated at 8,738 feet, flatlands dotted with cinder cone volcanoes and the contrasting green pastures of Kendrick Park are visible 1,000 feet below. From this point, the path becomes clearer, but still tricky in places, and can be spotted snaking across the eastern (to the right) slopes below. Carefully work your way down the incline and walk toward the barbed wire fence (8,062 feet) at the 1.3-mile point. Again, unless you can squeeze under the wire without causing damage, return the way you came.

Common mullien thrive in meadows below the hills

White Horse Hills sit at the base of San Francisco Mountain

Wildfires and erosion have shaped the White Horse Hills

Southern access point to White Horse Hills

The eroded innards of White Horse Hills

LENGTH:

From the North to the fence:  3 miles round trip

From the South to the fence: 2.6 miles  round trip

RATING: easy or difficult depending on route

ELEVATION:

North access: 7,647 – 8,062 feet

South access: 8,062 – 8,738 feet

GETTING THERE:

North Access FR 514:

From Flagstaff, go 21 miles north on U.S. 180 to Forest Road 514 (Kendrick Park Road). Turn right and continue to just past the 3-mile marker at Kelly Tank and park in the dirt lot on the right at the beginning of Forest Road 9006R. This is directly across from an Arizona Trail gate.

South Access FR 418:

From Flagstaff,  go 19.5 miles north on U.S. 180 to the north access for Forest Road 151 (Hart Prairie Road) located past milepost 235. Turn right and continue 1.6 miles to Forest Road 418, veer left and go 2 miles to a small dirt turnout just past a 2-mile post where there’s a “closed to motorized use” sign on the left. Parking is limited to turnouts along the road. Do not block private driveways.

Access roads to both trailheads are rough dirt suitable for all carefully driven vehicles.

INFO:

http://repository.azgs.az.gov/sites/default/files/dlio/files/nid1540/dte-14_guideflagstaffgeology400dpi.pdf

Brandis Trail

BRANDIS TRAIL

Survivor pines near the Deer Hill Trail junction

Ten years ago this month, the Schultz Fire was ravaging the eastern slopes of Flagstaff’s San Francisco Peaks.

Trailhead gate on the Brandis Trail

The human-caused blaze, ignited from an abandoned camp fire on June 20, 2010, went on to burn more than 15,000 acres of Coconino National Forest before being contained 10 days later. The fire was followed by one of the wettest monsoon seasons on record which lead to devastating flooding. Without trees and other vegetation to stabilize and absorb runoff, heavy rains created rivers of debris that further eroded the landscape leaving behind a charred moonscape of sludge and an eerie wilderness of torched tree trunks and ashen gullies.

Evidence of the 2010 Shultz Fire come early in the hike

Extend the hike on the Deer Hill Trail

Mountain gromwell sprout tiny white flower heads

Sunset Crater (left horizon) seen from Brandis Trail

Pollinators swarm around Rocky Mountain beeplants

Pine sprouts grow among casualties of the Schultz Fire

O'Leary Peak (right horizon) viewed from Brandis Trail

Schultz Fire scar on eastern slopes of San Francisco Peaks

Frothy Apache plume shrubs color the trail.

Borne of volcanism that began shaping the area millions of years ago, this mountainous parcel in Northern Arizona is no stranger to fire. Whether brought on naturally by lighting or lava or by human carelessness, fire drives uneasy cycles of destruction and resurgence that’s aren’t going away anytime soon.

Brandis Trail access point 

Ten years removed from the blaze, the area is in recovery mode, transitioning from what had been a place of thick coniferous woodlands, alpine meadows and forested foothills into a much different, starkly beautiful destination. The blaze damaged several popular hiking trails including the Little Elden, Little Bear, Sunset, Heart and parts of the Arizona Trail. But two outlier routes that suffered the kind of odd, patchy damage to vegetation that melds islands of old growth survivors with resurgent sprouts provide enlightening walking tours of an emerging landscape.

Skunk bush--one of many blooming shrubs on the trail

Even before the fire, the Brandis and Deer Hill trails weren’t big-name attractions but instead offered less crowded, easy treks at the base of San Francisco Mountain with no difficult climbs or confusing junctions. The Brandis Trail, located at the edge of a residential area less than a mile from U.S. 89 north of Flagstaff, wanders through the fire scar and is a good path to follow to see how the forest is regenerating.

The 1.4-mile, straight-shot route heads due west toward the peaks beginning with a short hike among unscathed pines. Within a quarter mile, though, views of charred tree trunks that hover precariously over acres toppled logs deliver a gut-punch to those who recall the woodsy pre-fire environment.  The upside is that the near treeless terrain is now replete with unobstructed views of nearby O’Leary Peak, a 8,916-foot  lava dome volcano and Sunset Crater a young, 8,042-foot cinder cone and focal point of Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. Interestingly, the now dormant volcano turned tourist attraction was the source of a curtain of fire that disrupted life here about 1,000 years ago.

Brandis trail roughly traces a drainage gorge where resurgent shrubs, wildflowers and saplings are encouraging signs of life regaining its hold. Healthy swaths of silvery rabbitbrush, mountain gromwell, penstemons, Rocky Mountain beeplant and Apache plume add color and sink stabilizing roots into the fragile soils while intermittent stands of survivor pines, oaks and junipers stand in testimony to the sometimes bizarre movements of wildfires.  The trail gets a little sketchy where it crosses the winding drainage several times. To stay on track, know that at the crossings, the trail picks up directly on the other side, not down the wash as random footprints might suggest.

At the 1.3-mile point, a livestock gate stands near one of the few shady areas on the trail. Pass through (close it behind you) and continue on to the turnaround point at the Deer Hill trail junction. For an optional, longer hike, the left leg heads 4 miles south to connect with the Little Elden and Arizona Trail while the right leg goes 1.5 miles north to its terminus at Schultz Pass Road.

The trail traces a scoured drainage 

A Yellow salsify flower gone to seed

Yellow salsify is a common bloomer along the route

LENGTH:  3 miles roundtrip (Brandis Trail only)

RATING: easy

ELEVATION:  6,840 – 7,212 feet

GETTING THERE:

From the Interstate 17/40 interchange in Flagstaff, go east on I-40 to exit 201 for U.S. 89 north.

Continue 8.2 miles north on U.S. 89, turn left on Brandis Way and go 0.8-mile to a parking apron at the corner of Brandis Way and Ostrich Lane.  The trailhead is located at the end of a fenced easement at the end of Brandis Way. Please respect private property in the area by not blocking driveways or attempting to drive on the easement.

INFO:

https://www.fs.usda.gov/rmrs/2010-schultz-fire