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| Hiking | 10.36 Miles |
564 AEG |
| | Hiking | 10.36 Miles | 2 Hrs 46 Mns | | 3.74 mph |
| 564 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Early morning hike in Prescott. Continued working the trails in the White Spar TH area. Today I did the Schoolhouse Gulch “trail” along with all the user trails that head off to the north of Schoolhouse, as well as 1 track that headed off to the south.
Got to the TH just after 6am. Schoolhouse Gulch(#67) is one of the those annoying “trails” that is a road and yet, somehow got the designation of trail. There are two roads/trails that take off from this TH: the Schoolhouse Gulch trail and the Ponderosa trail. Both roads/trails are barricaded and signed. The Schoolhouse Gulch trail is the road that takes off in a more eastwardly direction. There is a wooden sign that mentions Schoolhouse, along with a couple of other trails. This is the only signage you will see for this trail until you get to the other end where there is a more simple, plastic trail marker with the number 67 on it. It is a road, so as long as the hiker knows they need to stay on the road to be on the trail, the hiker shouldn’t get lost. There are a couple of roads or tracks that interact with Schoolhouse, but there was never any question which was the main road/trail. There are only two noteworthy facts (for most users). At about .65 miles in, there is a dilapidated trail marker propped up against a tree with the word “trail” on it. Frustratingly, it is not labeled, but this is the connection to the Banning Creek trail (#81). This trail cuts between two large rocks and heads off to the north. (This offers hikers a shorter loop with connections to some nice, well signed, single track trails). Since I was doing Schoolhouse Gulch, I simply stayed on the road. At about 1 mile in the road splits. The main road (Schoolhouse Gulch) is obvious and stays to the left (north). This is significant not because of the split but because of the climb. The road/trail gains some decent elevation over the next .25 miles and as most roads do, it is a straight up climb, no switchbacking. After reaching this high point, the rest of the trail will seems relatively flat, though there will be one more down, then up, along the way.
The trail, from end to end, is about 2.5 miles long. The views, initially, are very limited as hills rise up on both sides of the road for the first mile. There is a wash that borders the road for a short period during this stretch. If you are lucky, you might catch water flowing; either after a good rain or snow melt. During these times there is a spot where this stream will actually cross the road. As mentioned, at about the 1 mile mark the trail starts to gain elevation, allowing for views to the north, west and south depending upon the lay of the land and where you are on the trail. Forest coverage is nice. Because you are on a road, you never have trees over you, but the trees are thick enough to give a forest feeling. I never got a good look at Bean Peak until I hit the end of Schoolhouse Gulch and started heading back west, then the peak seems to “pop” at you and I wonder how I missed it.
There are 6 tracks that take off to the north from Schoolhouse Gulch; four of which connect to the Goldwater trail (#396). Three of these “trails” are roads and three of them are single tracks. I hit all of these as I headed back west. Briefly. The first path was a single track that headed to a group of homes. The second path was a road that split .25 miles in and then again about .4 miles in. The first split leads to the above mentioned homes and the second split headed back to Schoolhouse (path #3) while the main path made it all the way in to Goldwater trail. The third path is a road that ties into the second path, but is noteworthy because it has a stone monument at the Schoolhouse Gulch juncture commemorating the Hassayampa water pipeline. The fourth path is also a road and ties into the Goldwater trail at almost the exact same spot as path #2. The fifth path is well marked by a giant cairn and is a very short single track that connects to Goldwater. The sixth path is a little harder to pick up from Schoolhouse Gulch, but it also connects Schoolhouse to Goldwater. (I actually discovered it when I was Goldwater trail a few years ago, where it is much easier to identify). Having done all these side trails I still felt like I was good on time, so on the way back I decided to do the most western path that takes off to the south. This path was almost directly across from the Banning Creek juncture. This path goes steeply up the side of a hill. The path looks like an old ATV track and currently has a sign at its base saying “no motorized vehicles”. The track is solid and easy to follow (though the majority of it doesn’t appear to get much use) and it was surprising how much it continued to climb before intersecting a more well used ATV road. I took the branch that headed north and after much descending it eventually connected back to the Schoolhouse Gulch trail. (Side note: there were 2 tracks that took off to the east from this ATV road, which I will have to explore later). Once I got back on Schoolhouse Gulch I then proceeded back to the TH for a very convoluted in and out. 
Nice thing about doing this trail is that I didn’t see anyone (except at a distance), until the very end when I encountered a biker heading in. Wildlife was fantastic! I saw 4 rabbits, 9 squirrels, 14 deer and 2 bucks. About 10 deer were seen at one location. One of the deer had been spooked by something and was running right for me, I thought I was going have to move to get out of its way. It veered before it got to me, but still passed within 20 feet of me.
T minus 6 and counting. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
the beginner trails Green Bean, Mr. Bean, Rice and Beans, and Beany Baby, at Bean Peaks Gravity Flow Trails -- a new system at White Spar, just south of Prescott. 
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