World United States Arizona Prescott Valley

Art and Connie's RV Adventures Art and Connie's 2012 Adventures

Northern Arizona Apr 22, 2012

We are now parked at the Elks Lodge in Prescott Valley or PV as it is called by the locals. What drew us to the area is the hiking in nearby Prescott National Forest and a rails-to-trail bike path. While PV was incorporated only in 1966, its neighboring town of Prescott was established over 100 years ago and has a long history. It was the territorial capital of Arizona and is now the county seat. The surrounding Bradshaw mountain range was mined in the late 1800s. Today, Prescott has an active downtown that has been designated a National Historic District. We took a bike ride on the former Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix railroad corridor that has been converted to a multi-use trail. At first, we were not too impressed when we arrived at the trailhead. The trailhead sits right next to a used tire dump and sewage treatment plant. What a way to start a ride! However, just a mile down the trail things changed. The Pea vine and the Iron King trails take you through massive granite stone rocks which eventually descend into the desert. The scenery is gorgeous and we would certainly recommend this short 18 mile ride. On another day, we explored a very small portion of the Prescott National Forest by doing a hike in the Lynx Recreation area which is a former mining area. The area has since healed. We did enjoy the four mile hike within the Salida Gulch. And, of course, enjoying history, we explored old town Prescott and visited the Sharlot Hall Museum. This open-air museum is on the site of the original Governor’s mansion dating back to 1864. There are also several other buildings which have been moved here from various locations in Prescott. At the museum we learned that Phoenix was supposed to be the territorial capital but Lincoln moved it to Prescott because of the strong southern sympathizers (the civil war was raging at this time) that were in Phoenix On Monday, we’ll head to an area called Butte Mountain along a trail where we were told there were great views of the valley. So, while a heat wave moves through central Phoenix bringing temperatures to the 100s, we are enjoying cooler weather here. Elevation is 5300 feet. Our next stop – Grand Canyon National Park. The weather gods say that the temperature there should be between 60 and 70 degrees. Great hiking weather! After that we are looking to visit Page, Arizona.

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