Prescott, Arizona is about an hour and a half from Scottsdale. A nice, easy drive Northwest will lead you to this bustling little area with some of the neatest rock formations I’ve seen.
I started my day trip with a stop at the Constellation Trail System. The trail is free and is a total of 2.74 miles with plenty of off shoots to choose between! Going through the Dells is a really unique experience with very well marked pathways. The granite juts out of the ground, is growing inside other rocks and all-in-all makes it a really pretty trail (if you like rocks and things!)
There’s a nice monument with several benches at the beginning along with a shaded grouping of trees for when the exposure gets a little too toasty. Once you head out on the trails, there are plenty of rocks to scramble up, between and over. I thoroughly enjoyed all the water markings, rock coloring, formations and looking out into the distance where it looks like an ocean of flowing rocks.
I meandered around taking photos and enjoying the formations for about an hour before heading towards Watson Lake. Since I had never visited Prescott before, I tried to not set expectations of experiencing something “really cool”. I pulled up to one of the parking lots above the lake, looking out at paddle boarders and kayaks leisurely venturing across the lake. It was serene and beautiful with the multicolored rocks jutting out and cropping up to the left. I noticed a frisbee golf course in the same direction and thought it was a gorgeous backdrop for a day of fun.
With another free trail on my hands I headed down the ravine to what is listed as the Watson Lake Circle Loop, meets Flume trail, meets Mile High Trail. I started walking on the graveled path nearing a big canopy of shaded marsh area with pretty budding flowers, vines, cattails and trees. There was a social trail that branched off that included plaques that shared information about the different flora along the way that I really enjoyed reading about. It looped me up and above to another wide, dirt trail headed back towards the lake, passing a police shooting range on my right. Once I got to the lake, Granite Dells and fun shaped rock formations appeared. I began to climb and veer off the trail, exploring in between these rock groupings and towards the water. The ground was super soft, although it looked hard and cracked. I watched herons and ducks wading and bobbing in the water before following the trail marked the “Mile High Route” and advised as “more tactical and harder” than the previous one I’d been on –perfect.
I followed the white markings along the rocks and wove up and down, between and below all different kinds of rock mounds. The views as you scramble around are lovely and the rocks themselves make for a diverse viewing. At one point you begin to descend and reach an area that is lush with high green fronds. It immediately reminded me of Havasupai and soon, I heard that same bellowing roar, knowing very well I was about to see a waterfall. I walked up the trail between the high grass and saw the creek dump from a large stagnant pool. Above it shoots out a large, prominent waterfall that is coming from the lake dam. It has smaller waterfalls trickling from its sides and, although it’s in a dam reservoir, it is really pretty to see! There are metal ladders and a chain to use if you want to shimmy over for a closer look (but there is a bit of a potent smell!)
Once you’re done oogling over the waterfall, you cross a small grated ladder over the creek and begin your ascent out of the small canyon area. You reach a higher point where the trail taunts you with a “steep or steeper” sign, pointing in two directions. I chose to use the steeper section and felt a little out of breath once I reached the top! It is definitely a fun, good workout doing this loop around the lake and is just enough to get the blood pumping. I climbed up and over, down and around the lake, admiring the rocks with their blue and purple rings along the bottom. Soon, I saw the kayak rental area appear in the distance and my car above it. The total hike was about 7.5 miles for me after adding in the nature trail at the beginning. I spent a lot of time meandering through the rocks, climbing off trail and enjoying the area and the views it had to offer. You could spend so much time here but remember, it is almost all exposed with no shading and a lot of rock, so it gets toasty — bring plenty of water, a hat and sunscreen!
Bri With A View 