HikeArizona.COM

Hey guys/gals Im new to the forum and just started looking around. Im looking into west fork oak creek for a 2 night short backpacking trip. The directions that I found have the trail starting "near mile marker 385 on alt 89." I would like to hike in and set up camp and then take a few hikes from camp. I have never been on this trail and I am wondering if there are decent camp sites just off the water and how high the risk will be for flash flooding (if at all). Ill probably leave Monday Aug 9th. Any info about the trail is appreciated

Thanks

As for the flash flooding, its monsoon, and there is a risk. There is a parking lot there with a fee (7 bucks I think) There is some decent places to camp but I think you have to be out of the red rock area to camp legally. The first 4 miles will be crowded with lots of dayhikers.

The fee is now $10/vehicle.

The FS website has good information: http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coconino/recrea ... k-tr.shtml. There are rules about fires (none) and stoves. The water needs to be filtered for drinking. There is no camping for the first 4 miles. Then there are the pools that you have to swim..... You might want to consider someplace else. If you do go, have fun and be safe.

fotogirl53 wrote:There is no camping for the first 4 miles.

It used to be 6 miles, did it change recently?

You're probably right, Joe. When I first hiked and camped up West Fork many years ago, it was 3 miles, but they have increased the mileage. I tried to research it just now, but couldn't find it.

From the USFS website.... "NOTE: Hikers must be 6 miles or more from trailhead before camping."
A more interesting trip is from the top down... yes, there are a few pools to swim and a significant shuttle, but you'll only need to see the hoards one time.
The hours at call o the canyon are weird and they lock the gate when the site is not open. Call the Red Rock Ranger District to get the current details/hours, or, better yet, you can park alongside 89A just north of the call o the canyon lot.

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=3432&start=0

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... found.html

FLAGSTAFF - Two overdue hikers have been located after becoming lost in northern Arizona's West Fork Canyon.

Coconino County Sheriff's officials say the two Phoenix-area residents were found early Friday and didn't need any medical attention.

The names of the two hikers haven't been released.

The sheriff's office received a call Thursday from the Sedona Fire Department about lost hikers in the West Fork Canyon area.

The hikers had a cell phone and said they were somewhere near the Cave Springs Campground, but were disoriented and didn't know how to find their way out.

The hiker's cell phone tower activation placed them approximately five miles north of the West Fork parking lot. Search crews were deployed from the West Fork trailhead parking lot and located the hikers as they were walking out.

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... z1COLyCXHW

Since when is Sedona in Northern Arizona? Flagstaff barely even qualifies for that designation.

azbackpackr wrote:Since when is Sedona in Northern Arizona? Flagstaff barely even qualifies for that designation.

Since when is Columbus OH in the "midwest?" Doesn't look very far west to me...

A more interesting question is how can somebody get lost in that area?

Why, because you think the canyon walls, road and creek would give them clues as to where the were? How can anyone get lost on the Peaks? You just go down.

azbackpackr wrote:Since when is Sedona in Northern Arizona? Flagstaff barely even qualifies for that designation.

im guessing geography is not a course you study at NAU?

How the heck do you get lost in a canyon? - You either go downstream or upstream. I could understand overdue, but lost?

2 hikers, dogs rescued from Arizona canyon

FLAGSTAFF - Two hikers were rescued from Oak Creek Canyon over the weekend.

The Coconino County Sheriff's Office said Monday that the two 21-year-old Northern Arizona University students went for a day hike Saturday in the west fork of the canyon.

When the two men didn't return home, they were reported as overdue.

The sheriff's office found the men's car parked at a trail head, and rescuers spotted a campfire in steep and rugged terrain from afar using night vision goggles.

Rescuers found the men and their dogs on the rim of the west fork at 7:15 a.m. Sunday.

All were in good condition and didn't need medical attention. The hikers told rescuers that they overextended themselves during the hike.

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... z1DL51Yaav