This was me & my wife’s fourth annual Flagstaff Fall romantic getaway. Normally, I do a moderate leg stretching hike the day we arrive, then a longer hike the next day, before we spend the third day touristing.
I overdid my “leg stretcher” last year, hiking over 14 miles on the Arizona Trail from Marshall Lake to Flagstaff, via Fisher Point. So, we touristed for two days. (Does it count as touristing if one is visiting a city one used to live in?)
This year I intended to hike the Two Spot Trail and Gold Digger Trail at Rogers Lake, west of Flagstaff, throwing in a short climb up Woody Mountain to explore the historic fire lookout. 7-8 miles: Not too bad.
The last time I had been out to Rogers Lake was for a weekend-long Army ROTC FTX just before we were commissioned. The seniors acted as cadre, while the underclassmen were good guys and OPFOR. Unlike the previous year, when we had to EndEx before dusk for safety reasons — hypothermia, as it was low 30’s and sleeting — we went 24 hours straight, before I returned to my ghetto apartment at Franklin & Verde St. across from the old football stadium. 🏈
This weekend, as we have the last three years, my wife and I stayed in much better accomodation: the wonderful Inn at 410.
Driving down Woody Mountain Rd. from Route 66, I noticed that it was a much smoother drive than when I negotiated it in my bitchin’ ’78 Camaro. (I had left something behind after the ROTC FTX.)
I also noticed that the gravel pit on FR 231 seemed to have gone bye-bye. Probably lying under the golf course. I had swore when I got my Camaro that I would take my previous car out there and shoot it full of holes. (The Pontiac T-1000 was the worst piece of 💩 ever built: I bought it brand new for $6200 in 1981, and in 6 years put 50% of that back into the car in repairs, including replacing the alternator three times.) But I decided I prefer to avoid pound me in the ass prison, so I sold the Pontiac to my roommate for $50 after I could not pay a junk yard to tow it away.
There’s two trailheads at Rogers Lake, the first a mile north of the other. Not sure which I would start at, I drove past the north trailhead to the south trailhead. There is no pit toilet at either. The south trailhead has the usual info kiosk, while the north trailhead has that, plus info displays on Rogers Lake wildlife and bird migration, life-size metal replicas of elk antlers and various critter skulls, and two telescopes to check out the views.
After spending some time looking at the displays with my wife, I started walking south on Two Spot Trail, along Rogers Lake.
Two Spot Trail is not actually on the shore of Rogers Lake, but follows a small berm that looks like it might be an old rail bed. Two Spot is flat as a board. Rogers Lake is usually dry, so I was not surprised by the lack of water. I was kind of hoping for flowers, since the lake must retain some life-giving moisture. Nada. There were tons of cattle though! 🐮
If you see some blue roofs across Rogers Lake, that is the Frontiere Ranch, which was owned by Georgia Frontiere, who finally scored when husband #6 conveniently drowned. I wonder if she’s who the Gold Digger Trail is named after? 🤔
At least Two Spot Trail was a decent leg warmer, before I started up Gold Digger Trail towards Woody Mountain.
At the south trailhead, turn left across the road, through the green metal gate. Though the blue trail sign says “Two Spot Trail”, if you split right just after that, you will be on Gold Digger Trail. (Two Spot Trail loops back through the woods to the north trailhead: A Two Sport Trail-only loop is 2.4 miles and 100 AEG.)
Gold Digger Trail climbs 400 ft. in 2.5 miles to the Woody Mountain fire lookout access road.
Gold Digger skirts some small meadows, and crosses others. The trees are mostly pine, with some deciduous mixed in. The only fall color was some very faint yellow in some of the leaves. There is no undergrowth at all, and very minimal dead fall. Cross country travel would be easy.
I started finding flowers along Gold Digger Trail: western yarrow, lupine and especially thistle. The thistle were deep pink-purple. Some of the prettiest thistle I’ve ever seen, including Scotland. 🏴
Gold Digger Trail crosses the fire lookout access road, continuing two miles back down hill to the north trailhead. If you simply make a loop of Two Spot Trail and Gold Digger, that would be a 5.5 mile, 500 AEG hike.
There’s a very nice picnic ramada just across the access road, and slightly downhill. If you hike straight there from the north trailhead — a decent hike for kids — it would be 3.8 mile, 425 AEG, round trip.
About halfway between the picnic ramada and the north trailhead, there is a Rogers Lake overlook with a bench. Hiking from the north trailhead to the overlook would be a 2.8 mile, 370 AEG, round trip.
Instead, I turned right heading towards Woody Mountain.
The fire lookout access road is a decent little climb, 375 ft. in 0.9 miles, with plenty of shade. A few hundred yards from Gold Digger Trail, there is a gate. The vehicle gate was locked. The pedestrian gate open, with no chain. I closed it and stuck a stick where the bolt would have been.
There’s quite a bit of stuff to check out at the top of Woody Mountain — see it all in my video below! 😉 — but the highlight is obviously the fire lookout.
Woody Mountain fire lookout’s bottom section of stairs was quite wobbly. I figure because if they were solidly anchored, then the flexing of the tower in high winds would break the stairs. Even on the steadier upper sections of stairs, it was still disorienting to have that open space so close by.
Unfortunately, the observation deck was locked. Still, there were great 360° great views from the Nearly Top: A-1 Mountain, the San Francisco Peaks, Mount Elden, the U.S. Naval Observatory, Flagstaff, the airport, Mormon Mountain, etc. Not Bill Williams Mountain, though: That was obscured by smoke from the Platypus Fire controlled burn near Sycamore Canyon. (The smoke would get so bad that later in the afternoon you could not see the Peaks from downtown Flagstaff.) 🔥
After I returned, my wife & I repaired to The Lumberyard where I had a few beers while we watched endless trains go by. (One was, no lie, 211 cars, with pusher engines not only at the end, but in the middle!) 😳
Directions: From Phoenix, head north on I-17 until it turns into a city street in Flagstaff. Turn left at the first stop light, onto Forest Meadows St. Turn right at the second light, onto Woodlands Village Blvd. In 0.7 miles, turn left on Route 66. In 1.2 miles, turn left onto Woody Mountain Rd. It starts out paved, but becomes the car-drivable dirt of FR 231. In 6.3 miles, park at the trailhead on the right.
GPS File: Rogers_Lake_Woody_Mountain
Distance: 8.17 mi.
AEG: 988 ft.
Time: 3h 02m
Hiking Video
Fire Lookout Exploration
Woody Mountain Fire Lookout, Arizona from Preston McMurry on Vimeo.
