September Trips   

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Canyon de Chelly, an amazing other-worldly landscape of 800-foot tall red cliffs, includes spectacular cliff dwellings and mystical rock art from centuries in the past.  The canyon was once home to the ancestral Hopi and today sustains a living community of Navajo (the Dine’) living in spiritual connection with this beautiful landscape.  We’ll tour the canyon’s south rim, viewing its beauty from above, and also take a 4x4 tour into the canyon with Navajo guides who will share their stories with us.  During our journey there and back, we’ll visit Petrified Forest, the Painted Desert, and historic Hubbell Trading Post as well as traveling paved back road across Navajo land (Dinetlah).  A fair amount of walkng is included, some optional, but all on easy terrain. 

Activity Rating: 1-2

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Follow Diamond Creek Road as it winds through Peach Springs Canyon – the only road access to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Diamond Creek Road will take us down the canyon to the banks of the Colorado River. Along the way, we will stop to enjoy the views and learn about Hualapai history, cultures, and the geology and the natural history of the canyon. You will enjoy a picnic lunch with an optional walk the last mile to the Colorado River following a narrow canyon that crosses Diamond Creek. Includes driving on a bumpy and winding dirt road to the Colorado River.  Activity Rating: 1-2. 

 -Tuition includes transportation, Hualapai permits, box lunch and field instruction. Departs at 7:30AM from Prescott Campus.

*Chino Valley pickup available. 

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Follow Diamond Creek Road as it winds through Peach Springs Canyon – the only road access to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Diamond Creek Road will take us down the canyon to the banks of the Colorado River. Along the way, we will stop to enjoy the views and learn about Hualapai history, cultures, and the geology and the natural history of the canyon. You will enjoy a picnic lunch with an optional walk the last mile to the Colorado River following a narrow canyon that crosses Diamond Creek. Includes driving on a bumpy and winding dirt road to the Colorado River.  Activity Rating: 1-2. 

 -Tuition includes transportation, Hualapai permits, box lunch and field instruction. Departs at 7:30AM from Prescott Campus.

*Chino Valley pickup available. 

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Northwest of Flagstaff is a little-known crater lake, surrounded by meadow and aspen groves, hidden inside a small volcanic cinder cone just east of the Kendricks Mountain Wilderness Area. Our day afield will focus heavily on the volcanic history of the San Francisco Volcano Field surrounding Flagstaff and Williams. We will drive up the access road to the ski area on San Francisco Peaks, hike into Crater Lake for lunch, then in the afternoon visit a lava tube (with optional exploration of the tube) south of Kendrick's Peak. We will also traverse some of old Route 66 on the way home. Total hiking distance for the day about two miles at elevations near 8,000 feet. Activity Rating: 3

Tuition includes transportation, box lunch and field instruction. Departs 7AM from Prescott Campus.

*Chino Valley pickup available

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Northwest of Flagstaff is a little-known crater lake, surrounded by meadow and aspen groves, hidden inside a small volcanic cinder cone just east of the Kendricks Mountain Wilderness Area. Our day afield will focus heavily on the volcanic history of the San Francisco Volcano Field surrounding Flagstaff and Williams. We will drive up the access road to the ski area on San Francisco Peaks, hike into Crater Lake for lunch, then in the afternoon visit a lava tube (with optional exploration of the tube) south of Kendrick's Peak. We will also traverse some of old Route 66 on the way home. Total hiking distance for the day about two miles at elevations near 8,000 feet. Activity Rating: 3

Tuition includes transportation, box lunch and field instruction. Departs 7AM from Prescott Campus.

*Chino Valley pickup available

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Near the northern edge of the great field of volcanos that surrounds Williams and Flagstaff is an otherwise average cinder cone, about 1,000 feet tall, called Red Mountain. What makes this little mountain unique is how erosion has carved a spectacular amphitheater out of the heart of this extinct volcano, creating a magical landscape of cliffs, spires, and little slot canyons. While talking about the history and dynamics of the San Francisco Volcano Field, and the local ecosystems, we will hike into the heart of Red Mountain, enjoying our lunch inside the volcano.  After our main hike, we’ll travel back roads south to Parks, then west on Historic Route 66 to Keyhole Sink, hiking into this unusual feature with petroglyphs and a seasonal waterfall.  Hiking distance is about 4.5 miles, mostly on well-maintained trail; inside Red Mountain there’s some optional off-trail exploring. Activity Rating: Level 3.

Tuition includes ground transportation, box lunch and field instruction. Departs 8AM from Prescott campus.

*Chino valley pickup available.

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 Apple Creek (an informal name) is a tributary to the Hassayampa River east of Spruce Mountain and crossed by Senator Highway.  Homesteaders and miners have both left their mark on this little drainage.  During this half-day trip, we’ll hike up the creek (about a mile round trip - fairly easy informal trail) while we visit the old abandoned mine and both homesteads.  There’s a standing cabin at one, and many blackberries and several apple trees. This time of year, we may find the apples in bloom, although ripe blackberries will have to wait for fall. Activity Rating: 2. 

Tuition includes transportation and field instruction. Departs 8AM from Prescott campus. 

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 Apple Creek (an informal name) is a tributary to the Hassayampa River east of Spruce Mountain and crossed by Senator Highway.  Homesteaders and miners have both left their mark on this little drainage.  During this half-day trip, we’ll hike up the creek (about a mile round trip - fairly easy informal trail) while we visit the old abandoned mine and both homesteads.  There’s a standing cabin at one, and many blackberries and several apple trees. This time of year, we may find the apples in bloom, although ripe blackberries will have to wait for fall. Activity Rating: 2. 

Tuition includes transportation and field instruction. Departs 8AM from Prescott campus. 

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The Northern Bradshaw Mountains overlooking Prescott are the highest range in Yavapai County, peaking out near 8,000 feet. We’ll explore south through this region on the old Senator Highway as far as the site of the town of Goodwin, then head east to Mayer and return via Highway 69. Along the way we’ll visit old mining and homestead sites on Wolf Creek, explore the ruins of the Senator Mine, enjoy distant views from the Mt. Union Divide, and other historic and natural features. We’ll also pass though the burn area of the Goodwin fire of 2017 and talk about fire management and the role of fire in the natural ecosystem. The trip will include about two miles of moderate hiking. Expect driving on bumpy, winding roads. Activity Rating: 2

 Tuition includes transportation, box lunch and field instruction. Departs 8 AM from Prescott Campus.

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The Northern Bradshaw Mountains overlooking Prescott are the highest range in Yavapai County, peaking out near 8,000 feet. We’ll explore south through this region on the old Senator Highway as far as the site of the town of Goodwin, then head east to Mayer and return via Highway 69. Along the way we’ll visit old mining and homestead sites on Wolf Creek, explore the ruins of the Senator Mine, enjoy distant views from the Mt. Union Divide, and other historic and natural features. We’ll also pass though the burn area of the Goodwin fire of 2017 and talk about fire management and the role of fire in the natural ecosystem. The trip will include about two miles of moderate hiking. Expect driving on bumpy, winding roads. Activity Rating: 2

 Tuition includes transportation, box lunch and field instruction. Departs 8 AM from Prescott Campus.

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This road trip takes Williamson Valley Road all the way to Seligman with a return via Ash Fork and Highway 89. We’ll visit the areas of many early historic sites, including the town sites of Simmons and Walnut Creek. On the return from Ash Fork we’ll stop at the old Little Hell Canyon stage stop and a mysterious and unique signpost from the earliest days of air travel in the county. Along the way we’ll discuss the geology and natural history and many aspects of the human history of the area. There will be a few short walks of up to a quarter mile, but no serious hiking. Activity Rating: 2

Tuition includes ground transportation, box lunch and field instruction. Departs 8AM from Prescott Campus.

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Tonto Natural Bridge, under the Mogollon Rim north of Payson, is one of the more unusual features of Arizona. The bridge, somewhat more a huge natural tunnel, is 150 feet wide, nearly 200 feet tall, and 400 feet long. Several trails thread their way through and around the bridge. We’ll hike these trails, somewhat flexible on distance, exploring the bridge and its environs and have our lunch at the picnic area there. We’ll also see the historic Goodfellow Lodge adjacent to the bridge, dating from the 1920s. Our journey there and back will feature spectacular views from the Mogollon Rim, an historic stone mileage marker from the original General Crook Trail, and a visit to the historic Strawberry one-room schoolhouse. Activity Rating: 2.  

Tuition includes transportation, box lunch and field instruction. Departs 7:30AM from Prescott Campus. *Camp Verde pickup available. 

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Long-time Prescott resident, Gail Gardner (1892-1988) wrote a poem call “The Sierry Petes:  Tying knots in the Devil’s Tail” that’s performed regularly by many cowboy poets and musicians.  We’ll spend a half-day exploring the Sierra Prieta Mountains south of Prescott, the setting for this poem.  Our time will include a short hike on West Spruce Mountain Trail, a visit to the spectacular Sierra Prieta overlook, with great views of Copper Basin far below, and a visit to one of the few Aspen groves in the area, as we talk about the geology, ecology, and history of the range.  Includes about a mile of moderate trail hiking at near 7,000 feet elevation.  Activity Rating: 2. 

Tuition includes transportation and field instruction. Departs 8AM from Prescott campus. 

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