Prescott Hiking

Hi all, this is Joel. I am rescheduling this event for 8:30 a.m, and will be leading it on Saturday. So if you still wish to attend, even though you signed up for the canceled event, please press the ATTEND button here so I know you are coming. Thanks!

Let’s walk off all that turkey and Thanksgiving pie on this 6.9 mile hike. We will be hiking Willow Trail 347 from the Williamson Valley Trailhead down to the Ho-Kay-Gan Trailhead.
We will be hiking below Granite Mountain’s rugged east face through rolling terrain. The trees and vegetation include mountain mahogany, scrub oak, cliffrose, manzanita, ponderosa pine and juniper. This area is popular for large and little cats (mountain lions and bobcats) and their paw tracks are often seen on the trail, but don’t worry, they leave large groups alone, want nothing to do with us, and I have bear spray. Ha! This is a great hike for the winter because we will have little shade and no steep drop offs.
This trail is an out and back, but we will carpool because if we don’t, we would be hiking 13.8 miles!
Let’s meet at the Ho-Kay-Gan Trailhead, which is located at the end of West Katahn Drive. The trailhead in on the right in a small dirt parking lot
As always, since this is a long hike, bring plenty of water, electrolytes, and snacks.
Attached is a map and a photo of the hike.

This is our last leg of the Prescott Circle Trail! You wil have completed over 60 miles of hiking around the entire mountains, valleys, and lakes that beautiful Prescott has to offer.

We will begin hiking from the Pioneer Park Trailhead onto Legacy Trail, to Circle Trail, and onto Longview Trail. From here we will have to hike alongside Williamson Valley Road, and into a residential neighborhood to bridge the gap between sections 11 and 1. (A trail has not yet been made to bridge the gap.) We will hike west on Yampa Drive, south on Hozoni, and west on Katahn to the Ho-Kay-Gan Trailhead. We will continue hiking on Willow Trail 347, to Hoykaygan Trail 341, back onto Willow Trail 347, to Willow Connector Trail 346 for a very short distance, and finally finishing on Javalina Trail 332 for a total of 10.6 miles.

The first part of the hike is very easy. Once we bridge the gap, the first 1.5 miles will be steady climbing and rocky. Hiking poles are recommended if you use them. The trail will then even out until the last mile on Javalina Trail, where we will continue climbing again. This part of the trail is so beautiful once we reach the tree line.

This hike has no shade, until the last 1.5 miles, so please remembered to wear hats and sunscreen.

Attached are photos and maps of the hike. My dog chewed the bottom of my map book so I am sorry if parts of the pages are missing. 😂

You can now submit your Prescott Circle Trail challenge paperwork on the yavapai-trails.org website to receive a PCT patch or bumper sticker and a certificate of completion.

We will meet at the Iron Springs Trailhead, where we will park and carpool. Directions to the trailhead:

From the intersection of Williamson Valley Road and Iron Springs Road, travel west on Iron Springs Road for approximately 3 miles. Pass mile marker 4. Shortly thereafter you will see a brown hiking sign on your right. The dirt, trailhead parking lot is directly across from the brown hiking sign on the left side of road. There is not a trailhead sign clearly indicating Iron Springs Trailhead in sight, so please drive slow and pay attention or you will miss the trailhead.