Lime Creek Photoset • Oregon_Hiker • 2014-02-13 • HikeArizona.COM

Lime Creek, AZ

	2014-02-13
	15 by Oregon_Hiker

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Lime Creek

Phoenix, AZ

Lime Creek

Phoenix, AZ

Hiking	7.50 Miles	890 AEG

Hiking	7.50 Miles
	890 ft AEG

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no linked trail guides

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My plan was to drive out to the mouth of Lime Creek Canyon where it dumps in to the Verde River and Horseshoe Reservoir. I was hoping to find the lower end of the old horse pack trail that goes all the way up Lime Creek Canyon from the Verde River to the Lime Creek Cabin and hike up this trail for a few miles. I had been on the upper portion of this trail during a backpacking trip in January, http://hikearizona.com/photoset=28527. That section of the trail appeared to have a lot of recent use and even some trail maintenance.

Horseshoe Reservoir had quite a bit of water in it, enough to make the cement launch ramp useable. I half expected to see the SS Aviator plying the lake but there were no water craft to be seen.

The 4x4 spur road to Lime Creek is definitely a high clearance 4x4 road. I chickened out at a washed out section - would have tried it if I had someone with me to act as a spotter to guide me through. So I hiked the remainder of the road to the canyon and down to Lime creek. This added about 3 miles round trip to the hike. I had expected to see the old pack trail taking off from this road somewhere along the hillside on the southwest side of the creek. Not seeing anything resembling the well traveled trail I had seen further up the canyon I proceeded on to the creek and started following it up-canyon.

The creek was dry where the 4x4 road descended to the canyon bottom but a trickle of water appeared a few hundred yards up canyon. This trickle turned into a small flowing stream further up the canyon. Once past the end of the ATV track there was no sign of an established trail. It was fairly easy going up the rocky bottom of the canyon with an absence of thorn bushes. :y:

Not long after leaving the ATV track behind I noticed an orange ribbon hanging from a tree on the creek bank. Checking it out I found a trail with horse hoof prints paralleling the creek and bypassing a section that would have been tough going for someone on horseback. It ended a short distance later after returning to the creek bed. These marked bypass trails continued in a couple more places bypassing difficult sections of creek bed. This made for an easier hike all the way to the fish barrier dam but I wasn't sure if this was the trail that went all the way to the upper canyon. I got to the fish dam at my turn around time without even getting my feet wet. I didn't have time to look for a bypass trail around the dam but it looked like this was probably the end of the "horse trail" going up the creek bottom. So I headed back to the car disappointed that I hadn't found the trail I was looking for. But the tranquility of a flowing stream in this desert canyon made the effort worthwhile.

That evening at home I used Google Earth to search for more horse bypass trails along the canyon bottom at the fish barrier dam and further up-canyon. To my surprise, a trail could be seen bypassing the dam on the northeast bank that I had not seen on the hike. There were also several more sections of bypass trail visible further up the creek bottom and one finally leading up the west side and starting a traverse along this hillside that I assume would connect with the trail I had seen in the upper canyon. So, it appears that this old (and still used) pack trail followed the creek bottom in the lower part of the canyon to a point well past the dam. One of the bypass sections I found on the hike was on an excavated trail/road bed cut into the steep hillside. I suspect this pack trail had been established long ago to supply the mining operation at the old smelter located about 4 miles up canyon from the Verde River.

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Horseshoe Reservoir Humboldt Mountain Lime Creek Lime Peak 3789 Mazatzal Wilderness

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