Prescott's Javelina Trail #332, A Rails to Trails Story

West of Prescott, where the city borders mostly National Forest, a network of trails and forest roads reaches deep into the wooded landscape. But many people may not realize that one of the trails, part of the Javelina Trail #332 just south of Iron Springs Road, is the engineered pathway of an abandoned railroad line.

The line goes back to the late nineteenth century, connecting the new mining town of Prescott to communities laying southwest like Skull Valley, Wickenburg, and eventually even Phoenix. It also continued north, to Ash Fork, where it connected to Chicago bound trains. It entered the area from the west over the steep Sierra Prieta Mountain Range between Granite Mountain and Thumb Butte, following part of what is Iron Springs Road before curving onto today's Javelina Trail for its entry into Prescott.

This trail actually has an even wider reputation, being a restricted forest road when the forest service needs access for fire management. Even more, it's a segment of the Prescott Circle Trail that loops the city in just over 54 miles, connecting high, forested peaks in the south to dry grasslands in the north.

South of Iron Springs Road, Trail #332 initially cuts through juniper trees before entering a dense forest of ponderosa pine trees. After almost two miles, hikers and bikers can leave the formal trail system by entering Emmanuel Pines Camp and continuing through the neighborhoods of Pine Lakes and Kingswood via local roads. All along this route, you remain on the old rail bed, whose tracks have since been removed. Wildlife abounds in this area, where in addition to many birds, there are numerous fox, javelina, squirrel and deer sightings.

The old right of way appears to become private land shortly after entering these populated communities, so it might be impossible to cover the exact journey of the old steam engines that whistled into the Prescott train station until the 1960's. But the old 1907 passenger terminal still remains today, anchoring a downtown retail development.

The Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix Railroad, or the Peavine as the area's Skull Valley to Paulden segment was referred, is now just a memory. Its steep ascent and descent over the Sierra Prietas was too difficult, so a bypass was routed 28 miles north and around Prescott's rocky terrain. But at least one verdant and protected trail remains in its place, a gift for the nature lover who rarely wins in a business decision.