Back-country exploration: Limestone canyon.

You can be forgiven if you don't know where Limestone canyon is....I didn't, and I live only minutes away. The canyon itself has historical significance in part by being the original location of the Santa Fe, Prescott & Phoenix railroad route ( today's BNSF ). But it's value extends beyond history or the interest of a rail buff...it is also home to many miles of trails both in the canyon itself and the surrounding area. I have now been on several rides in the area...along with a few Jeep trips. None of these trails are particularly hard, nor did I really expect much from this area, but as usual, I got a few surprises....and I have just scratched the surface of this trail-riddled area. Unfortunately, many of the trails are not on most maps...and many are not marked. The best thing to do is just go out and start following trails....

The main street for the area is FS573 just north of Paulden, and just south of the Drake cement plant that serves as a distant sentinel for most of the riding here. There are a number of places to stage just off the main road, and trails start going in all directions. FS573 itself travels north several miles and eventually becomes Bullock road that connects back to hwy 89 just south of Ash Fork. The railroad history will soon make itself present with arrow-straight tangents, cuts and fills.
One item of interest you will encounter of FS573 is a crumbling old kiln that dates from the late 1800's.

The old kiln on FS573.

The kiln is in pretty bad shape, and is fenced off to keep stupid people from hurting themselves.
After passing the kiln you will climb a bit, passing the remains of an old trestle on the left, and rejoin the old railroad ROW ( right-of-way ), as evidenced by the shelf road you will now be traveling on.. After a bit you will encounter a large fill with a sign marking Lower Limestone tank and FS9017R.

FS9017R heads in a north-easterly direction and into some open grasslands with many trails heading off. In general, stay to the left and you will be on the main trail. This trail is pretty cool and winds its way back and forth across a small canyon, and is just a cool little 2-track. On the day of this pic, monsoon season rains born rise to a sea of wildflowers in one of the open areas.

Thanks to monsoon rains, a little extra color was present on this day.

Like a number of north-heading trails on the lower part of FS573, 9017 dumps you out on FS640. 640 can also be accessed via hwy 89 just north of the turn for 573.

FS640 is perhaps my favorite trail in the area. Maps show it ending after a few miles, but in reality it travels for several miles adjacent to hwy 89, following the same general route as 573, but some miles to the east. 640 finally splits, then ends in the area of the upper hell's canyon crossing of hwy 89 ( where the train trestle is visible on the left heading north ). On the way, it winds over ridges, past old tanks and corrals, and is just fun to ride. There are some scenic bluffs on side trails to the west, but none actually go anywhere.

Beautiful peaks on FS640.

FS640 will eventually force you to go right at a "T" . This will take you across Hell's Canyon and over to the current ROW for the BNSF railway where it ends.

Fall has come to Hells Canyon!

End of the line for FS640 to the east.

Turning left ( west ) at the "T" will take you back up into a small side wash where the trail fades, but not before I noticed an unexpected find: Petroglyph rock art! They look genuine. Very cool.

An unexpected find: 2 rocks covered with petroglyphs. Awesome!

If you decide to go check these out, remember that they are protected by Federal law!
Back down 640, several trails head east, and most of these have to go over to HC. I picked one unmarked trail that just happened to be a pretty neat little trail into, and across HC....just ( canyon ) north of the first hwy 89 crossing at Drake cement. Despite it's name, hell's canyon has some beautiful scenery....

Another trail crossing Hell's canyon. I'm heading west here...but a large bit of leftover water complete with plenty of prints was just out-of-frame to the left.

After heading across the canyon this trail heads in the general direction of hwy 89 and meets up with numerous other trails, but I did not explore these save for 1 that led up to the east rim of HC with a nice view of the hwy 89 crossing.

Highway 89 bridge to the left.

Now back to FS573...
North of  9017R, FS172 heads east for a few miles. There are numerous side trails, and this trail crosses the old railroad ROW with some pretty extensive rock-work. This trail simply ends at a tank overlooking a slot canyon. Worth riding just to explore....and who knows where all those other trails go.....

Further north on FS573 you will encounter FS601 heading east. This goes over the ridge and down to a sizable old railroad cut and fill. Once at the bottom of the hill, this trail runs into others, but these are all very lightly used, and hard to follow...although there are markers for them. More exploration is needed here. Nice views from the top.

I haven't mentioned trails heading west from FS573 yet. There are a few....and most don't seem to go anywhere. After passing 173 heading north on 573, an unmarked trail will head left at the top of the ridge. This leads to a sizable tank and what seems to be a wet-weather lake. The main trail continues to the west past these, but the trail simply seems to fade. Considering other finds just north of here, I would like to re-visit this trail to see where it may go...

North of FS601 you will encounter FS174 heading west. This was one of the surprises of the area. 174 turns down into an open field with a raised roadway. 174 will soon head west while what seems to be the main trail ( FS174A ) continues north. 174A twists and turns for some miles through the trees with numerous trails going in every direction. I have yet to ride many of these.
The real treat here is 174 that turned off earlier. This heads west, curves around a cattle pin and tank, and heads out on a high ridge overlooking canyons and a large, flat plain.

Quite a view from 174.

174 alone is worth the trip up here. 

174 ends near the top of a canyon , but there is a hiking/biking/dirt bike trail that seems to lead into the valley. I'm not sure what area this is, but the view here must be seen, and judging from the amount of use this trail has seen, many agree.

FS573 soon turns into Bullock road north of here. There are a few other trails here that need to be explored...but I don't have much hope of them going anywhere....but you never know. They are on my to-do list anyway. Hopefully I'll get back soon...

Back-country exploration: Battle flats/ DeSoto mine trail

The sign says it all. This trail has some challenges.

The old pack mule sits there idling in the chilly morning air, with puffs of steam from the exhaust syncopating to its mechanical heart beating away. Waiting....during the packing of the days supplies. Water, a toboggan to ward off cold, a few aspirin, and a few trail snacks from Maverick's. GPS on and smart phone apps engaged,  I am soon heading south from my staging just south of Prescott. This section of Senator highway heads through the pines on the west side of the mountain, and the bitter air hurts my big old Dumbo ears despite the toboggan. I love this section of road, twisting around old mines, past jagged trees that have witnessed man come and go in vain, while the earth remains. Shadows holding even colder temps alternate with the wonderfully warm sun.

I have been through here before....but it's been a few years, and never on my ATV. You seem closer to nature on a quad.

I had been planning riding this area for sometime, but I didn't want to see the remains of the Gladiator fire that destroyed a considerable part of this area last summer. I was surprised to find that the burn area was not the desolate waste-land that I envisioned....it was clearly evident, but regeneration has already begun. My goals for the day: Try and find the "Battle flats" trail I had seen covered by on occasion by 4 Wheel Drive and Sport Utility magazine, and Crown king. If the trails went as they were supposed to, this could be made into a bit of a loop. I also had my AZ Back-roads book mentioned in my other posts, and it proved to be valuable, despite being several years old. By the way...this book refers to Battle flats as the DeSoto mine trail, and it seems to go by both names from what I found on YouTube.

Several miles of pine-covered Senator hwy ( also known as FS 52 ) slowly gives way to more open terrain as it nears my turn off at FS 89 ( and this section added several "to-do's" to my trail list ). 89 heads in an easterly direction for a few miles before the trail seems to split in a few directions. In general, you follow the creek /wash ( with stinky cow-poo scent ) and the trail will zag in and out of it a few times. There will be a gate on a side hill that avoids a large concrete drainage-type structure...if you went the right way. This section of wash provides some rock crawling....and will stop a stock automotive 4x4 save for maybe a Rubicon with good skid plates. Eventually the trail leaves the wash and starts to climb a ridge where the lead photo was taken. The decent on the other side is a narrow shelf-style trail that heads back down into the wash once again after going through another gate. While the trail that starts as 89 doesn't appear to veer off anywhere, all the maps I have seen start referring to this section of trail as Peck mine trail. Whatever it is...if you follow the main trail you will get where you want to go.

Beautiful, remote country. 89 to the left, 9268R heads into the distance on the right....

Once you head down the wash for a short bit you will encounter some adopt-a-trail signs as the trail once again leaves the wash for some climbing action. Eventually you will get to the intersection above ( coming toward the camera from the left ). For this trail you take 9268 while Peck mine continues straight. I usually do a preliminary ride in an area to gain knowledge of distances and time before I start serious exploring...so peck mine was saved for another day. Now on 9268, the trail once again travels trough another canyon with a fairly steep climb out, then follows a ridge and travels through another gate. The next mile or two is the hardest part of the trail with alternating climbs and descents of a seriously steep variety. These will probably stop the less experienced/skittish rider, but they can be done. All that's needed is the proper line. Just for kicks, the most serious of these has a 1-2 foot tall step at the top, but most vehicles will be able to squeeze through the lowest part to the right side ( ascending ). Several YouTube vids show this climb...but as is always the case, photo's and videos don't capture the true scale of it.

It's steeper than it looks here, but it can be done. Hidden to the right, the step at the top is much lower.

After this climb, I came across evidence of some carnage incurred by this trail....

"Lincoln" and other lockered rear-ends put max stress on axles.  This one didn't like it. Welded gears may have prohibited replacing just the axle. Way to haul your trash back out of the desert, jerk!

Once through the series of climbs, you will emerge just north of the DeSoto mine, with and expansive view to the east. Somewhere out there is Cleator and I-17...if you go far enough. First some mine exploring...

I though the view here was nice....

I know little history about DeSoto mine, but it looks as though it was a pretty extensive operation. Tailings piles, scraps of metal, fenced entrances, and the usual desert trash left by those that came later....probably last week. The main shaft appeared to be near the top of the mountain, and the ride up passed by colorful barren rock, perhaps giving away the presence of what man was seeking when he went to the amazing effort it must have taken to build all this. The view was from the top of the world...

Colorful rock formations abound.

Top of the world, courtesy of DeSoto mine. Senator hwy in the distance.

The path to the top. 

Once I was done admiring the view, I headed down the mountain where you will be dumped out onto Senator hwy...so I headed back across the mountain for Crown King. Plenty has been printed and posted about CK, so I wont go into this charming town here. CK is a popular destination for off-roaders from a variety of directions, so traffic was a constant for much of the remaining trip. Main street was jam packed with Jeeps, ATV's, and Side-by-Sides, so I chose to head a few miles toward Horsethief for a photo before finishing up the loop.

Evidence of the Gladiator fire, just south of Crown King.

From here I headed back for Prescott...stopping only to eat lunch in the pines near an old cattle shoot. I wonder who built it....how long it has been there, and the things it has seen over the years. The odd Jeep or dirt bike is the only disturbance to the tranquility of the back country, but I welcome the healthy off-road use. This is why I came here...to the west. To ride and enjoy it...without the posted signs and Cabin building Floridians that have taken over my native North Carolina. A little fuel from the fuel pack and I am back on the trail headed for home. The sun is setting, bringing out the deer....and the cold. Back at the Jeep to load up, after 83 miles of travel. On a rough riding old Foreman, no wonder I am beat-up. But it was worth it....and so it will be the next time around. See you on the trails.

4WD&SUV article from a few years ago....Battle flats