Length: 12 miles roundtrip

Difficulty: Moderate

Wilderness Area: Cedar Bench Wilderness

Journal: "Easter Punny"

From Camp Verde, head east on SR 260. Just before you cross the Verde River, turn right on Salt Mine Road. Follow this paved road 8.5 miles. The road turns to the left, but stay straight and continue on dirt FR 574. Follow FR 574 8.0 miles to its end at Gap Creek. FR 574 is OK for all vehicles, but I would recommend at least a high clearance vehicle. It may be impassable when wet.

Trail Description:

I did not bring a topo map on this trail but certainly should have.

From the trailhead, pass around the locked gate and climb the road for .1 miles to the signed marker for TR 163. The trail follows and old jeep road uphill for 2 tenths of a mile before reaching a meadow with three gates. The trail goes through the on in front of you and to the left (I do not know how else to describe it).

No the trail becomes single track. This trail is heavily overgrown and difficult to follow. When it is not overgrown, the tread is practically nonexistent. The trail climbs steadily and the views are good. We hacked out way along the trail for about a mile before ending up at a very beautiful dry creek. Having a baby with us we were unwilling to try to squeeze though anymore of the overgrown trail. On our return we lost the trail several times.

Only after I returned home and compared my GPS readings to my topo map, did I discover that the creek we ended up at was not along the trail. We were off trail by a quarter mile.

This area is very pretty and I definitely want to try this again. Next time, however, I will be sure to bring topo map.