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| Hiking | 5.25 Miles |
2,572 AEG |
| | Hiking | 5.25 Miles | 4 Hrs | | 1.31 mph |
| 2,572 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Rain Tank Hill and Government Knolls on Government Prairie
(side note: this is by far my favorite section of the Beale Wagon Road)
Skippy and I headed up to Flagstaff Sunday morning to take Hannah and Pauli hiking. Main objective was to get Skippy and Pauli out into the country to stretch their legs. Rain Tank Hill and Government Knolls on the northern side of Government Prairie were on the agenda...
Took the I-40 west out of Flagstaff to Exit 185 "Transwestern Road - Bellemont" and continued along the northside frontage road which happens to be remnants of Route 66. Travel about 7 miles until you reach Government Prairie Road - FR107. Head north on FR107 about 5 miles until you see a Y-intersection double track heading east near Rain Tank Hill. This is FR730/793. There isn't any signage near the intersection, but as you progress east along the double track you will see faded Forest Road signs indicating FR730 or FR793. You will come to a fork in the road on the northern side of Rain Tank Hill with the namesake rain tank visible to the south. Take the left fork heading towards the cattle fence.
We stopped here to make a trek up Rain Tank Hill. Dogs were endlessly entertained chasing the tennis ball Hannah brought along for the hike.
Back in the truck again, you pass through the gate (note the sign requesting that you keep the gate closed - "Loose cows eat cars") and onto the expanses of Government Prairie. About a ¼ mile past the gate you cross the Historic Beale Wagon Road. There used to be a posted sign with the ubiquitous camel emblem denoting the wagon road - I don't know where that's gone, but did manage to locate a nearby 4x4 post marker and ground marker (see http://hikearizona.com/t2007/12/09/5929 ... 036-30.jpg )...
We continued along FR730/793 towards Government Knolls. At the signage near Horseshoe Tank and the western base of Government Knolls, we stopped for a short photo op. I've previously used this location to park the truck (see http://hikearizona.com/phoZOOM.php?ZIP=71435 ) and hike a circuitous route up to the top of the knoll. This time we continued along the forest road to the north side of Government Knolls and parked where the knoll has a V-shaped notch. This notch leads you to the central caldera of this cinder cone. From here the hiking grades are much less steep than those near Horseshoe Tank.
At the top of the knoll is a fantastic payoff -- stellar 360 degree views with the San Francisco Peaks to the east, expansive Government Prairie to the south, Sitgreaves Mountain to the west and Kendrick Peak to the north. Worth just sitting there taking it all in...
A couple of light showers passed through - nothing substantial to interupt our hike. Odd that the wind was gusting from the west, yet clouds were rolling in from the east!
Continued northeast on the forest road beyond Government Knoll and "discovered" what looks like an abandoned water tanker truck used by fire fighting crews. Continued beyond the abandonded tanker until we came to a gated field marked with many signs indicating "Private Property - trespassers will be shot". Sounds friendly...
Back-tracked to Government Prairie Road, and headed north to FR100 to Hwy 180. Once in Flagstaff, Hannah and I went to check out Diablo Burger http://www.diabloburger.com/Diablo_Burger/home.html I've been curious about this establishment since an it appeared in the Arizona Republic last month as serving one of the "10 Best Burgers in Arizona". Unfortunately it's closed on Sunday... |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
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