Snowslide Spring via Inner Basin • Hike • Arizona • All Triplogs • HikeArizona.COM

Flagstaff, AZ

Hiking		Aug 02 2025
		ScaredyCat • Triplogs 205

Hiking	15.04 Miles	3,394 AEG

Hiking	15.04 Miles	7 Hrs 5 Mns	2.75 mph
	3,394 ft AEG	1 Hour 37 Mns Break

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Meetup showed 10 going. Only 5 showed up.

Parking area near road block. Bout one mile in on dirt roads. Hike next 3 miles of dirt road with 900 ft gain. Some great views.

Locket Meadow burn area smaller than expected.

Inner Basin with less people. At a sign pointing to continue on Inner Basin we turned right. Now it gets hella steep. Ends at spring which is a pretty area.

Kept strong pace back. Would surely have taken longer if others had shown up. Next up AZT...

Oct 07 2023

Guides 94
Routes 840
Photos 22,055
Triplogs 1,993

52 male

Joined Sep 18 2002
Tempe, AZ

Inner Basin Cirque Hike

Inner Basin Cirque Hike

Flagstaff, AZ

Hiking		Oct 07 2023
		chumley • Triplogs 1,993

Hiking	14.13 Miles	2,890 AEG

Hiking	14.13 Miles	5 Hrs 23 Mns	2.74 mph
	2,890 ft AEG	14 Mns Break

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Waterline Trail #146

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John9L

As always, the inner basin of the San Francisco Peaks is a gem of autumn. Unlike always, it is significantly more pleasant because the road to Lockett Meadow is closed to motor vehicles (there's really no logical reason for this, as it's in the best condition of my lifetime, but I'm not complaining). This results in not completely deserted enjoyment, but significantly reduced amusement park atmosphere.

We started up 151 and continued beyond the bus stop before cutting across toward the road up to snowslide spring. In addition to the still closed 522, the FS (or perhaps Flag Water Co) has cleared and graded ALL the roads in the inner basin. If legal, you could drive a prius to any destination on the map. It's really quite something to see, though I'm not entirely sure I'm thrilled about the recent improvements.

Work at the molestation snow shed had an open spring box with running water, and a broken pipe farther up in the bowl resulted in that rare treat of a running stream. The colors are a week later than what I expected. Still plenty of green, especially down low. Still no shortage of golden hues to be found.

Autumn Foliage Observation Moderate
A week early. Lower stretches mostly green. Better patches of solid gold higher up.

_____________________

I'm not sure what my spirit animal is, but I'm confident it has rabies.

Jun 24 2020

Guides 94
Routes 840
Photos 22,055
Triplogs 1,993

52 male

Joined Sep 18 2002
Tempe, AZ

Flagstaff, AZ

Hiking		Jun 24 2020
		chumley • Triplogs 1,993

Hiking	15.07 Miles	5,351 AEG

Hiking	15.07 Miles	7 Hrs 43 Mns	2.08 mph
	5,351 ft AEG	29 Mns Break

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FOTG

A beautiful day on the mountain. There's some old snow drifts hanging on in the woods all the way down into the inner basin, but only a short stretch along the Weatherford. Didn't see anybody else going up from this side, but passed a couple runners in the inner basin doing a weatherford waterline loop.

Maybe two dozen people between the saddle and the summit, a quite a tolerable density for this one. Clouds kept things shaded about half the time, and a light breeze was just enough to make it borderline chilly. A very refreshing sensation in Arizona on June 24.

Saw Pam on the summit. Always a treat to run into another hazzer on the trails.

I had forgotten to move water from my cooler to my backpack, so I was out with more than 8 miles to go. With no treatment options on hand, melting nasty spring snow didn't appeal to me so I made the side trip over to Snowslide Spring, the only spot in the basin where I was confident in finding clean running water. After two liters I continued back to Lockett Meadow where I delayed the drive back to the furnace for an enjoyable nap in the shade of the quaking aspens.

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Alpine Penstemon Yellow Columbine

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] HAZ - Selfie

	Snowslide Spring	Gallon + per minute	Gallon + per minute
	At least 5gpm.

_____________________

I'm not sure what my spirit animal is, but I'm confident it has rabies.

1 archive

Oct 05 2019

Guides 94
Routes 840
Photos 22,055
Triplogs 1,993

52 male

Joined Sep 18 2002
Tempe, AZ

Snowslide - Fremont - Doyle, AZ

Hiking		Oct 05 2019
		chumley • Triplogs 1,993

Hiking	12.63 Miles	4,532 AEG

Hiking	12.63 Miles	8 Hrs 43 Mns	1.76 mph
	4,532 ft AEG	1 Hour 32 Mns Break

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[ checklist ] Agassiz Peak Doyle Peak Elden Fire Lookout Elden Mountain Humphreys Peak Inner Basin Kachina Peaks Wilderness San Francisco Mountains - Kachina Peaks Wilderness Snowslide Spring

Doyle Peak

Fremont & Doyle Peaks

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JoelHazelton

Got started early to get past the green and into the gold by the time the sun cast the first light into the basin.

I left Joel to photo things and opted to continue up Snowslide Canyon, which I had not previously done. I was pleasantly surprised to hike along a flowing creek above the spring, enjoying the rare treat of listening to cascading water running in the basin.

From the spring I made a beeline to the first Weatherford switchback where I encountered an enormous and majestic elk buck hiking the trail just below treeline. I headed down to Doyle Saddle and then up to Fremont Peak. The old register is gone, and the new one was placed just this year. It was windy on the summit so I sheltered behind the rock wall for a bit and enjoyed the views. I spotted a group of 12 camped 1,100 feet below me at Fremont Saddle but they were gone before I got there. At this point I was pretty tired and it was a slow climb up to Doyle where I took another nice break. Somebody had placed a homemade flag up there which I dismantled and carried down with me.

Doyle is such a scenic peak, and the views along the ridge on the way down were a highlight today. Despite 9 hours of hiking in one of the premier fall hiking locations in the state, I didn't see HAZ members Nightstalker, Kingsnake, or caragruey -- in fact, I encountered exactly zero other hikers until I was back at the parking lot at the end of my hike!

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Elk

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

Meteorology

Meteorology [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Alpenglow Autumn - Color Foliage Fire Burn Area & Recovery

Autumn Foliage Observation Substantial
Still early below the waterline road with mostly green aspens. Higher up some patches approaching prime. Virtually no leaves have fallen yet. The next week will provide excellent color and the beginnings of some good litter on the ground.

_____________________

I'm not sure what my spirit animal is, but I'm confident it has rabies.

3 archives

May 18 2018

Boothroyd

Photos 26
Triplogs 10

57 male

Joined Oct 12 2013
Flagstaff, AZ

Flagstaff, AZ

Hiking		May 18 2018
		Boothroyd • Triplogs 10

Hiking	8.90 Miles	2,430 AEG

Hiking	8.90 Miles	4 Hrs 59 Mns		2.10 mph
	2,430 ft AEG	45 Mns Break	10 LBS Pack

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My first +10K' hike of the season, and kinda kicked my butt. Thought this would be a good one for the dogs, as it's somewhat "off the beaten path" of the ordinary Inner Basin hike most choose. There was an abundance of elk sign between 9-10K, so if your dogs are animal chasers, might be best to keep them leashed. Was also intrigued by previous triplogs describing bountiful water issuing forth from Snowslide Spring at this time of year. But, alas, the water was barely flowing . . . and not much snow to boot. Makes me think about the possibility of forest closures due to the enhanced fire danger from a historically dry fall/winter/spring.

A good workout hike, views are mostly rocks and trees, but a few decent glimpses of the surrounding landscape, especially on the way down.

Wildflowers Observation Isolated
Still early, mostly of the tiny ground hugging variety in yellow and white. Aspens are leafing out at lower elevations, but bare above 10K.

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8 archives

Jun 21 2017

FOTG

Guides 37
Routes 556
Photos 10,872
Triplogs 1,052

43 male

Joined Jan 21 2013
AZ

Flagstaff, AZ

Hiking		Jun 21 2017
		FOTG • Triplogs 1,052

Hiking	7.96 Miles	1,996 AEG

Hiking	7.96 Miles	3 Hrs 50 Mns	2.22 mph
	1,996 ft AEG	15 Mns Break

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This was just a glorified dog walk, as I was seeking a little quality time with the pups before I leave for the northern Rockies and I was feeling bad for making them endure the heat in the valley these last few days. The inner basin offered the quickest coolest temps we could reach in my estimate, so that is where we headed and pretty early too, in order to beat the unseasonably warm temperatures at the higher levels as well.

The conditions ended up being pretty good, as we were the beneficiary of some pretty good cloud cover at times. The trails were a little busier than I had thought they would be, but nothing like a weekend. There was not much snow lingering in the inner basin, however, there was some significant water flowing from what appears to be an overflow pipe in the Snowslide Spring drainage and it was creating quite the robust little stream for the pups to play and drink from. After an extended break, it was pretty straightforward hiking out and then a stop at Locket Meadow Tank to cool the pups down one last time.

Wildflowers Observation Isolated

Locket Meadow Tank

26-50% full

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Jun 03 2017

Guides 94
Routes 840
Photos 22,055
Triplogs 1,993

52 male

Joined Sep 18 2002
Tempe, AZ

Flagstaff, AZ

Hiking		Jun 03 2017
		chumley • Triplogs 1,993

Hiking	14.02 Miles	4,744 AEG

Hiking	14.02 Miles	9 Hrs 4 Mns	1.71 mph
	4,744 ft AEG	53 Mns Break

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Humphreys Summit Trail #151

Weatherford Trail #102

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Blanco

FOTG

Lee and I decided to summit Humphreys from the Inner Basin. I knew there was still plenty of snow, so we both grabbed our microspikes, and I decided to bring my snowshoes along too, thinking that there might be places they would come in handy to prevent postholing.

The aspens are popping and the lower inner basin is alive with the fresh color of spring. The first half mile or so of IB29 has not been cleared of winter deadfall. Once you get to the aspen grove, it's mostly clear sailing above there.

We hit the first snow drifts at 10k, alternating between dry trail and climbing over 5 foot drifts. It wasn't long before it was totally snow covered. There was no level ground, and travel was tiring. I opted for the snowshoes here, while Lee was able to make do with spikes. We almost missed the start of the switchbacks up to Weatherford, and there was no chance of following the route here, so we just made our way up the ridge. Worked out pretty good as we topped out exactly at the sign!

On Weatherford, we were able to stick to the trail for the most part, but it was 100% snow covered and the drifts made for mostly side-hill footing. After Doyle Saddle, the snow thinned a bit and patches of dirt appeared before giving way to a bare hillside to start the traverse. That didnt last long however, and the most harrowing part of our day was crossing the half-mile snowfield in the upper basin that took us over half an hour.

It would have been nice to have an ice axe since a slip here would not have ended well. It's a lot steeper than you realize either from photos or when hiking the traverse on a nicely cut trail, which of course was a few feet below us on this day! Each step was deliberate and dug deep. There was no room for error. A little slip could result in a slide that would be difficult to self-arrest. :scared:

Finally we reached the ridge and dropped down to the saddle and the indescribable filth of humanity. I'm just gonna skip the trip to the summit and back as I don't want to remember it or really ever want to think about it again.

On our return we opted to avoide the treacherous traverse and just ride the snow straight down into the inner basin. Again, we wished we had ice axes as the glissade would have been much easier and less tiring. Nonetheless, we managed okay and somewhere around 11k reached some dry ground and ultimately dropped into the drainage below Snowslide Spring. From there it was a very welcome road walk back to the trailhead.

We did get to see a nice stretch of "roaring" surface water, of which I drank a liter. It's a rare sight to see a nice creek running in the Inner Basin.

Humphreys has moved over into my Camelback / Squaw equivalent. The Inner Basin is still a winner, though I may wait for a bit more snow to melt before I attempt a spring run in the future.

	Spring Water Valve	Dry	Dry
	Running great but spigot still turned off so no access to water here.

_____________________

I'm not sure what my spirit animal is, but I'm confident it has rabies.

1 archive

Oct 24 2015

The_Eagle

Guides 41
Routes 1,626
Photos 14,983
Triplogs 2,762

69 male

Joined Jan 20 2009
Far NE Phoenix,

Flagstaff, AZ

Hiking		Oct 24 2015
		The_Eagle • Triplogs 2,762

Hiking	9.75 Miles	2,774 AEG

Hiking	9.75 Miles	5 Hrs 56 Mns		2.02 mph
	2,774 ft AEG	1 Hour 7 Mns Break	12 LBS Pack

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[ checklist ] Locket Meadow Tank Lockett Meadow Spring Snowslide Spring

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Eaglet

My son and I have been trying to get our schedules to coincide. It finally worked out Saturday.

He really wanted to go up and photograph Lockett Meadow, even though I told him it'd be past prime.
He said he wanted to photograph Sunrise or Sunset there. Knowing he wouldn't want a 3:15am leave time from the Valley, we got to the TH around 9am and planned to spend the day roaming around the area. We actually got a spot in the front row.

I wanted to visit a canyon/spring that'd been on my list awhile, so we made that our destination with lots of time for photos on the way.

The aspens were at least a week past their prime, but there was still some vibrant pockets hanging around. Sweet views. We started seeing snow at about 9,500'. By the time we got to our spot to turn up the canyon (10,000') the ground was snow covered in all the exposed areas. A mile later and 1000' higher, the snow was calf to knee deep in spots.

We saw water from the spring beginning .2 of a mile away by some sort of a grate structure. There was evidence of an old sign there.
We continued on to the spring itself, which is located at the base of a rocky mound.

Back on down and we had some lunch at a dry spot and then I took him past the Snowtel site. :next:

fam.nwcg.gov/roman/ ... SCA3

So, now back on the Inner Basin Trail, after 3pm ish, (ie, less than 2 hours of light) I'm still amazed at the amount of people still going up. People in street shoes and skirts, people with babies in back packs, tourists with cameras, people wrapped in blankets, people on clearly their first hike EVER. Also, for the first time, I passed 3 Elk hunters, in full camo, with their rifles, going up to camp for the night.

We made it back to the truck and drove to find a place in the Meadow for my son to set up for a Sunset. It wasn't going to be what he wanted, but we'd come this far, might as well wait it out and do what he could.

A fun day with my son! He got a bunch of photos. I guess I'll have to see if any are Arizona Highways Magazine worthy. If you happen to get the Arizona Highways Magazine, check out this Month (Oct 2015, Page 5), that his.

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

Autumn Foliage Observation Moderate

	Jack Smith Spring	Dry	Dry
	There was water there, but it's all enclosed and locked

	Locket Meadow Tank	51-75% full	51-75% full
	plenty to filter

	Lockett Meadow Spring	Gallon per minute	Gallon per minute
	Plenty to filter

	Snowslide Spring	Quart per minute	Quart per minute
	Beautiful clear cold water

_____________________

There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
Dave Barry

1 archive

Oct 04 2014

The_Eagle

Guides 41
Routes 1,626
Photos 14,983
Triplogs 2,762

69 male

Joined Jan 20 2009
Far NE Phoenix,

Inner Basin Cirque Plus, AZ

Hiking		Oct 04 2014
		The_Eagle • Triplogs 2,762

Hiking	13.40 Miles	3,882 AEG

Hiking	13.40 Miles	7 Hrs 25 Mns		2.05 mph
	3,882 ft AEG	53 Mns Break	16 LBS Pack

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Waterline Trail #146

Inner Basin Cirque Hike

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joebartels

I needed a color fix and had not been to Flag in awhile. The Aspens in the Inner Basin (I always want to call it the Inter Basin) should be at their peak and the Inner Basin Trail is a favorite.

Jake's Cirque hike had always held my curiosity and well as checking out some of the spring areas.

A cirque
1) a semicircular or crescent-shaped basin with steep sides and a gently sloping floor formed in mountainous regions by the erosive action of a glacier
2) (from a French word for "arena") is an amphitheatre-like valley head, formed at the head of a valley glacier by erosion. Alternative names for this landform are corrie (from Scottish Gaelic coire meaning a pot or cauldron) and cwm (Welsh for "valley", pronounced coom).

A 6:00 meet at Happy Valley Park and Ride had us to the TH by a bit after 8am and a glorious 44 degrees! Temps never got over 75 on the day... Perfect.

There were some campers and a only handful of day hikers on the trail already.. Good. We were worried that parking may be a problem.

The Inner Basin Trail to the Waterline Trail/Road #146, is just laid out perfect in my eyes. It switchbacks gently affording some spectacular views of the golden goodness. It was slow going on the way in, both in full Tibbermode.

The first side trip was up Beard Canyon, looking for Bear Paw Spring. There is a sign indicating the Spring about a 1/2 mile shy of it's location on the map, complete with a sealed metal container with the City of Flagstaff Logos. I followed the steep rocky canyon up, to try and find the map indicated source. There were remnants of old ceramic pipes going close to the spring area, but I could find no spring.

Next, it was time for the Cirque, so back down to find the old road leading towards the Cirque. Not much of a road but defines the path to the Flagstaff Spring area. After this area, the trail climbs steeply to the Cirque. You top out and breakout of the pines to views of Agassiz and Humphrey! Your reward for the steep climb up.

Another couple of side trips on the way back, and we hit the "Corridor" trails.

There was so many people, I didn't have a clue where they had all found parking spots. I was having fun watching the many different types of people out hiking. Jeans vs brand new straight out of the Columbia Catalogs outfits; Huge backpacks vs no backpacks (or water), dozens of dogs, Cellphone Cameras vs expensive setups; 70 year olds vs crying 2 year olds (thought it was Joe at first). Some hate this type of hiking, I was glad to see so many people enjoying the day. If you get tired of the masses, just walk 100 yds off trail.

There is least a week or so left to view the colors up here... Get out and enjoy

37,000 Steps aprox = 13.4 miles

Video at the Cirque http://youtu.be/LxWPUah7sts

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Humphreys Saddle - Kachina Peaks

Meteorology

Meteorology [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Autumn - Color Foliage Forecast

Autumn Foliage Observation Substantial
70-80% of the aspens are in prime color. 5% are past prime, and the rest are a week away from prime.

	Bear Paw Spring	Dry	Dry
	Not Observed

	Beard Canyon	Dry	Dry
	Not Observed

	Beard Spring	Dry	Dry
	Followed the remnants of the old pipeline to the source as indicated on the Topo. The actual spring was not found. There was some moisture in the area, but this could be attributed to recent rains.

	Flagstaff Spring	Dry	Dry
	There's water there, but it's all locked up and unavailable

	Raspberry Spring	Dry	Dry
	Spring was not obvious

_____________________

There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
Dave Barry

1 archive

Jul 24 2011

OZZZ

Photos 229
Triplogs 13

47 male

Joined Jun 11 2011
Flagstaff, AZ

Flagstaff, AZ

Hiking		Jul 24 2011
		OZZZ • Triplogs 13

Hiking	15.00 Miles	3,247 AEG

Hiking	15.00 Miles
	3,247 ft AEG		36 LBS Pack

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This was a great trail. Awesome views and we ran into a black bear. 8 miles my A** though ... the road is closed 3.5 miles before the trailhead, Even though its hiking up a road, its rather steep and a decent elevation gain and turned this trip into a 14-15 mile round trip hike. 8 from the meadow to the inner basin, then 3.5 miles each way to get to the meadow.

Definately takes a lot out of it but it was still a great hike! I definately would have given it a 4 or better if it wasnt for the road being closed.

_____________________

Its never to late to be what you might have been

3 archives

Jun 09 2009

hippiepunkpirate

Guides 25
Routes 36
Photos 2,890
Triplogs 658

39 male

Joined May 30 2008
Peoria, AZ

Flagstaff, AZ

Hiking		Jun 09 2009
		hippiepunkpirate • Triplogs 658

Hiking	8.00 Miles	2,430 AEG

Hiking	8.00 Miles	5 Hrs	1.60 mph
	2,430 ft AEG

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It was kind of a cold and windy day on the mountain, so I didn't really hang out at the spring as long as I had planned. There was more snow up there than when I came last July, but nothing that prevented me from going as far as I did last year. The flow was pretty substantial, and despite the cold, Snowslide Creek was still marvelous!

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] PaleoRob Pose

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Doyle Peak Fremont Peak Snowslide Spring

Wildflowers Observation Isolated

_____________________

My blog: Mountain Tripper
My book: Arizona: A Photographic Journey

Jul 09 2008

hippiepunkpirate

Guides 25
Routes 36
Photos 2,890
Triplogs 658

39 male

Joined May 30 2008
Peoria, AZ

Flagstaff, AZ

Hiking		Jul 09 2008
		hippiepunkpirate • Triplogs 658

Hiking	8.00 Miles	2,430 AEG

Hiking	8.00 Miles	5 Hrs 40 Mns	1.41 mph
	2,430 ft AEG

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My first time to the Inner Basin! Went with my dad. The peaks are old friends of his so we didn't go to Weatherford but up a side road to Snowslide Spring (elevation 11,000 ft). It was a really cool area, and evidently a popular route as we saw to other groups of people at the spring. There were some monsoonal clouds overhead by the time we were leaving but we experienced no rain. Forgot my camera but my dad took some photos so maybe I'll upload them later when I can get a hold of them.

Wildflowers Observation Moderate

_____________________

My blog: Mountain Tripper
My book: Arizona: A Photographic Journey

Oct 08 2000

mazatzal

Routes 36
Photos 2,658
Triplogs 1,347

67 male

Joined Jul 28 2004
Scottsdale, AZ

Flagstaff, AZ

Hiking		Oct 08 2000
		mazatzal • Triplogs 1,347

Hiking	6.90 Miles	2,398 AEG

Hiking	6.90 Miles	4 Hrs 19 Mns	2.08 mph
	2,398 ft AEG	1 Hour Break

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