SPRING - FALL - WINTER

SUMMER

14. Rim Lake Vista Trail
Mogollon Rim
Trail No. 622 along the Mogollon Rim is basically a long and winding photo op. Part of the trail is paved (read: stroller- and wheelchair-friendly), and nearly all of it skirts the edge of the rim, offering views that ripple over forest-blanketed hills and stretch as far as Four Peaks, some 120 miles away. The name Rim Lake Vista Trail hints at both the seven nearby Rim lakes and the sweeping views from acrophilia-testing rock outcroppings. Mother Nature even planned for picnickers, smoothing out boulders large enough in some places for families to sit while eating lunch and drinking in the landscape. The four-mile out-and-back trail is easy, but cut yourself slack if you’re sucking wind. It’s a sneaky-high 7,500 feet.
ELEVATION: 7,500 feet
DIRECTIONS: Take Highway 87 north to Payson. Go east (right) on Highway 260 to Forest Road 300 (Rim Road). The trailhead is between mile markers 39 and 40.
DRIVING TIME: 2 hours, 30 minutes (130 miles)
LODGING: The spacious and modern Mogollon Resort Cabins, Overgaard (azresortcabins.com)
INFO: 928-535-7300, fs.usda.gov/asnf
TRAVEL TIP: The Mogollon Rim is the second most lightning-struck area in the world. Get off the rim if a monsoon strikes.
KIDS: Take ’em, but beware: There are no guard rails.

15. Iron Springs Road
Near Prescott
This drive from the Prescott National Forest through Skull Valley and Kirkland swells with scenery worthy of a classic John Wayne Western. It starts with a counterclockwise spin down Iron Springs Road – a rugged byway that twists, turns and tilts into the cool pines of Prescott National Forest, then plummets 2,200 feet through Skull Valley into Kirkland’s low-desert floor. In Skull Valley – so-named because of bleached bones leftover from Indian battles – you’ll find a surprising stretch of cottonwoods and a quaint general store. Driving onward, with the Weaver Mountains before you, make it a point to stop at the 1863 Kirkland Bar & Steakhouse before looping back up through mountain curves into Prescott on Highway 89.
ELEVATION: 6,170 to 3,930 feet
DIRECTIONS: From Highway 89 in Prescott, take N. Montezuma Street and follow curve left into Whipple Street. This becomes Iron Springs Road. Continue through Skull Valley and Kirkland to Kirkland Junction. Return to Prescott on Highway 89.
DRIVING TIME: 1 hour, 30 minutes (52 miles round trip)
LODGING: The comfy and groovy Motor Lodge, a historic motel decked out in honey hues and lavender-lilac schemes (themotorlodge.com)
KIDS: Leave ’em.

For more of PHOENIX magazine’s '52 Weekend Adventures', check back soon, find us at newsstands Valleywide or call 480-664-3960.  Subscribe today so you don’t miss another issue!

                                                                 <------ Back to Article Home Page