Mack's Crossing via FR#137, AZ

This is the trail coming down from Clear Creek Pines Subdivision to Mack's Crossing. It was an old road that was abandoned in the 1940s. The trail is an old road and is very rocky and has some river damage across it. Just recently, the road is closed from Cedar Road. There is a sign that says Road Closed. You can park here, or just past the sign is a bigger pull-out.


The trail is straightforward to find since it is an old road. There are very nice views of the East Clear Creek Canyon and all the layers of Kaibab Limestone. You wander down through the limestone, and the cliffs are very fossiliferous. If you stop and look, you can see shells and even a rare Permian Trilobite. The limestone is Permian in age. As you wind down the road, you will cross many washouts on the road. (I even saw motorized tire tracks on the road even though they aren't supposed to be there) You go through the Permian Coconino Sandstone just before the creek. It is about 1.5 miles from the sign at the top till you get to the bottom. This trail could be pretty warm in the summer since it is South facing and not much shade. Unless you are going down to play in the creek, it would not be a good trail in the summertime. There are some pools at the bottom that you could use to play in.When you get to the bottom, you can cross the creek at Mack's Crossing and continue up the road to the top of the canyon. I have been to the bottom before but hadn't gone over and wanted to see what it was like. Continue up the trail as far as you would like since it is an out and back. If you have some beginning backpackers, I think this could be a good one for them. About halfway up the road on the south side of the river, there is lots of camping space. Or you can continue up the trail to an old sign. This is about 3.5 miles from the TH. It would have been nice to know what it used to say, but it is so faded I could see that it said Upper something, and that was about it. Right here is a road that goes off that could be used for another camping area as well as all along 137. I didn't see any traffic and don't know how many people come back that far on FR#137. There is a fence with a gate across the road here. Continue down the road. I did till I got to FR#711 before I turned around. It ends up being 5.5 miles to the junction of these two roads. It looks like from the map; you could go all the way to Horse Crossing down this road.

Reference; Geologic Eras

2013-10-03 Dschur