Tramway Trail #32, AZ

At the head of the Tramway Trail, one stands atop the Mogollon Rim some 700' above the deep & sinuous curves of West Clear Creek. The extremely steep descent to the creek below covers less than a mile over a for-the-most-part well-designed trail that alternates between switchbacks and some class 4, fall line scrambling; novice hikers beware: with a heavy pack this could be a very difficult & dangerous trail. Those with overnight gear might be better served by accessing this easternmost portion of West Clear Creek via the Maxwell Trail about a mile upstream. Maxwell has approximately the same elevation change, but over roughly twice the distance... a much gentler incline, far easier on the knees, and probably less tumble-inducing!!


As with most of the access trails to this rugged watershed, the last couple of miles on the unmaintained jeep trails take forever. While not necessarily requiring 4x4, the second half of FR 81E and the last mile over FR 693 are nonetheless an extremely slow crawl over basalt bedrock, off-camber rutted & narrow jeep trails in which high clearance is mandatory. Any SUV will make it but count on almost a half hour to go less than two miles!!That said, the route is well signed and quite obvious. FR 81 heads west off of Lake Mary Road approximately 7 miles north of the intersection of LM Road & Hwy 87. FR 81 branches into FR 81E at a clearly marked Y. At the Y intersection of FR 81E & FR 693 head right on 693. It's signed as the access to the Tramway Trail; continuing on FR 81E will take you to the Mawell Trailhead, also clearly marked. Easy to find; even easier with a Coconino National Forest map. Once down the trail, you'll find a lush Mogollon Rim creek biosphere. The perennial watercourse alternates between shallow, rock-strewn stretches of running creek & large, often deep, still pools 50-200 yds. across. While there's no way to avoid getting your footwear wet (thus one would be well advised to bring river shoes and stash your hiking boots for the day's (or days') journey (s) up and down this wild, remote, and exceptionally beautiful canyon), one can find faint trails that skirt all the large, deep pools that at first glance might suggest a mandatory cool dip. In May & beyond, water temperatures are perfect; my feet were wet & comfortable all day (quite a change from a month ago when the temps were painfully cold & numbing).

Pools are filled with crawdads and small trout; I would surmise that this season's floods may have flushed many of the larger fish out. That's only a guess but I didn't see any edible-sized fish the entire day.

In search of photographs, I ventured a mile upstream to the bottom of the Maxwell Trail & another mile and a half downstream to where a charming little spring joins the creek from the south side, under a huge canyon wall of Coconino sandstone covered with lush green flora. All in all, hiking time averaged around 2 mph but my main interest wasn't covering distance as much as discovering the light & angles. Throughout, the steep-walled canyon alternates between Kaibob limestone & Coconino sandstone. Anything but the mid-day hours throws huge portions of the canyon into deep shadow, making for contrasty & challenging photography. The creek twists and turns so a compass is useful for keeping track.

While there is certainly evidence of this season's flooding (smallish debris piles; many large deadfall ponderosa pines angled downward from the rocks above), this portion of West Clear Creek seems to have suffered far less of the damage so evident further downstream (Trail 17 near Bull Pen Ranch) and in the other popular Mogollon Rim creeks (Oak, Wet Beaver, Sycamore, Secret Canyon) in this area.

2005-06-02 dabreeze