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| Hiking | 3.82 Miles |
749 AEG |
| | Hiking | 3.82 Miles | 1 Hour 37 Mns | | 2.36 mph |
| 749 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | This is a beautiful and relatively easy, almost four-mile one-way hike winding through Ponderosa pines and oaks, occasionally opening out in meadows studded with a few pines or briefly junipers at the higher elevations. Bird songs provide the soundtrack and the previous week I heard woodpeckers and spotted what I believe was a great horned owl. Much of the time the Sierra Prieta are visible ahead as you hike uphill from White Rock Trailhead to West Spruce Trail #264. As of May 16, 2025, there doesn't appear to be an official route for Williams Peak Trail, so I recorded the entire trail uphill and downhill on May 17.
This route starts at the northeast end of Williams Peak Trail at the White Rock Trailhead on Thumb Butte Road west of the Thumb Butte Recreation Area parking lot. Thumb Butte is west of Prescott, Arizona and is depicted on the seal of both Yavapai County and Prescott, the county seat. Thumb Butte Road is paved beyond the White Rock Trailhead, so access is easy. The waypoint at 1.11 miles indicates where Williams Peak Trail crosses Dearing Road (paved). There is a smaller parking lot here which could be the starting point for a shorter hike.
At 1.33 miles, there is a side trail that may go all the way to Thumb Butte Road. At 1.75 miles from the White Rock Trailhead, Trail #743 also descends toward Thumb Butte Road. Roughly halfway, at 1.9 miles, the trail comes within view of the gully or arroyo that contains Miller Creek (when flowing which it wasn't in May 2025). The trail descends to the gully and follows the creek upstream for a half mile then climbs the side of the gully via a couple switchbacks. Up to this point (2.4 miles), the trail is gently undulating and only gradually going uphill, but it becomes steeper at times from here on. The trail crosses the bed of Miller Creek again at about 3 miles and 3.2 miles with the latter barely noticeable and not waypointed. On the recording, I continued briefly on West Spruce Trail #264, but I plan to try to edit the route to remove that part. The downhill route recorded on May 17, 2025 starts at the junction with West Spruce Trail. |
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Wildflowers Observation Light
Most of the flowers are in the last 1.5 miles with oxeye daisies and especially the last half mile with loads of showy goldeneyes. There were many dalmation toadflaxes, but only a few were in bloom next to Miller Creek where there were also many dandelions. Also, a half dozen very small Fremont's mahonia with clumps of small yellow flowers and a couple small claret cup cacti just beginning to bloom and a single James' cryptantha. |
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| Hiking | 3.75 Miles |
41 AEG |
| | Hiking | 3.75 Miles | 1 Hour 27 Mns | | 2.65 mph |
| 41 ft AEG | 2 Mns Break | | | |
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| Linked |
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none
[ show ]
| no linked trail guides |
| Partners |
|
none
[ show ]
| no partners | | This is a beautiful and relatively easy, almost four-mile one-way hike winding through Ponderosa pines and oaks, occasionally opening out in meadows studded with a few pines or briefly junipers, such as about a mile into this route. Bird songs provide the soundtrack and on May 10, 2025 I heard woodpeckers and spotted what I believe was a great horned owl. As of May 16, 2025, there didn't appear to be an official route for Williams Peak Trail, so I recorded the entire trail uphill and downhill on May 17, 2025. This is the downhill route starting at the southwest end of Williams Peak Trail at the junction with West Spruce Trail #264 in the Prescott National Forest westsouthwest of Prescott.
Just under a half mile from the start, numerous showy goldeneyes lined the trail and ran uphill and downhill (see photos). A tenth of a mile further is the first of several crossings of Miller Creek, followed by another at 0.8 miles, although both are barely noticeable. The first waypointed crossing of Miller Creek is at about 1.35 miles after a couple of a couple switchbacks that descend the side of the gully or arroyo that contains Miller Creek (when flowing which it wasn't in May 2025). There is an alluvial area between these crossings of Miller Creek with several dandelions and lots of dalmation toadflaxes, only a few of which were blooming. After the second waypointed crossing of Miller Creek at 1.6 miles, the trail follows the right bank for two-tenths of a mile to the final creek crossing and gradually climbs the left bank until it finally turns away at about 1.9 miles. A little ways downstream, Thumb Butte Road runs next to Miller Creek and can be seen often from the trail for the next half a mile. From here until the end, the trail is gently undulating with gradual climbs and descents.
At about 2 miles is a junction with Trail #743 which descends towards and then crosses Dearing Road. At 2.43 miles is an unidentified trail that also descends towards Thumb Butte Road. The orange sign waypoint at 2.66 miles incorrectly states that the small parking lot is on Thumb Butte Road, while the map clarifies that it is Dearing Road, a few tenths of a mile from where the two roads meet. After about three miles, there are views of Thumb Butte to the east, then for a longer period of time, Granite Mountain to the north (see photos from 5/10/25 and 5/17/25).
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Wildflowers Observation Light
Most of the flowers are in the first 1.5 miles with oxeye daisies and especially the first half mile with loads of showy goldeneyes. There were many dalmation toadflaxes, but only a few were in bloom. Also, a half dozen very small Fremont's mahonia with clumps of small yellow flowers and a couple small claret cup cacti just beginning to bloom and a single James' cryptantha. |
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