Walker Basin Trail #81, AZ

There's a classic western landscape waiting for you along this trail, with broad panoramas on the horizon and a collection of bluff-rimmed basins, basalt buttes, rocky canyons and lots of cactus covered desert closer at hand.


Once used mainly to move livestock between seasonal pastures, the Walker Basin Trail now provides forest visitors with an access route into this land of big skies and expansive views. A short distance from the upper trailhead, the panorama unfolds like a gigantic mural painted on the sky. Prominent on the horizon are the San Francisco Peaks, with the northern Arizona rim country stretching out at their feet. Wet Beaver Creek and Woods Canyons are obvious as jagged rifts in this otherwise flat plateau. Off to the west, the sculptured buttes and pinnacles of Sedona Red Rock Country are plainly visible.

The route leads from one forest road to another as it drops off the southern edge of the Colorado Plateau. For the best views you'll want to start from the upper end and walk downhill. That way you'll always be facing the broadest overlooks. From the trailhead, the route follows a rough jeep track through an old juniper push. Here the trees have been removed to promote grass growth for grazing. The trail quickly enters the trees, however, and wanders into Walker Basin, a forested depression rimmed by volcanic cliffs. The trail then gradually descends from the basin into a desert canyonscape of red rock cliffs, volcanic buttes, and prickly pear cactus.

2008-04-21 HAZ_Hikebot