Hiking, mountain biking, running, birding, horseback riding: Prescott's trail system offers countless pathways for many outdoor pastimes. While I don't use my rickety bike much anymore, or ever saddle up a horse, I regularly partake in all the other activities. But I discovered a new pastime on these paths over the past weekend: butterfly watching.
The City of Prescott, Prescott National Forest and Yavapai Trails Association have teamed up to create and maintain this network of trails for easy and free non-motorized recreational use by both residents and visitors. There are lots of ways to enter the mostly forested and mountainous spaces - at least that's the way they are in my far west side neighborhood of Kingswood - with Trail 317 being the most convenient to me.
The trail is descriptively known as Ridge Top and it quickly connects to other footpaths that lead directly to Thumb Butte - the iconic mountain landmark that appears on many Prescott government and business motifs - just a couple of miles away. But recently I followed Ridge Top for a shorter distance, turning at Trail 318 (West Trail: guess what direction?) and then taking Trail 325 (Firewater: steep and potent like moonshine) into a dense forest of ponderosa pine and gambel oak. It connected to Trail 332 (Javelina: I've scene this local peccary along it) that ultimately brought me home through Emmanuel Pines Camp and the community of Pine Lake via Spence Springs Road and Pine Lake Drive.
This approximately five mile long loop of colorfully named dirt paths and roads might more poetically be called the Butterfly Trail in homage to the numerous gossamer insects that I observed along the way. Arizona sister, mourning cloak, red-spotted purple: the names are befitting of some of the most beautiful creatures on Earth. Meanwhile, the scant birds I observed along the trail - the phainopeplas, canyon towhees and spotted towhees - all seemed dull and drab in comparison.
Butterflies, moths, and skimmers are all in the same order of insects, taxonomically known as lepidoptera. Worldwide, scientists count over 200,000 species in this grouping! (In comparison, there are only 10,000 species of birds.) So I guess I shouldn't be overly surprised when I run into hundreds of these individuals on a morning out hiking my neighborhood trails.
The City of Prescott, Prescott National Forest and Yavapai Trails Association have teamed up to create and maintain this network of trails for easy and free non-motorized recreational use by both residents and visitors. There are lots of ways to enter the mostly forested and mountainous spaces - at least that's the way they are in my far west side neighborhood of Kingswood - with Trail 317 being the most convenient to me.
The trail is descriptively known as Ridge Top and it quickly connects to other footpaths that lead directly to Thumb Butte - the iconic mountain landmark that appears on many Prescott government and business motifs - just a couple of miles away. But recently I followed Ridge Top for a shorter distance, turning at Trail 318 (West Trail: guess what direction?) and then taking Trail 325 (Firewater: steep and potent like moonshine) into a dense forest of ponderosa pine and gambel oak. It connected to Trail 332 (Javelina: I've scene this local peccary along it) that ultimately brought me home through Emmanuel Pines Camp and the community of Pine Lake via Spence Springs Road and Pine Lake Drive.
This approximately five mile long loop of colorfully named dirt paths and roads might more poetically be called the Butterfly Trail in homage to the numerous gossamer insects that I observed along the way. Arizona sister, mourning cloak, red-spotted purple: the names are befitting of some of the most beautiful creatures on Earth. Meanwhile, the scant birds I observed along the trail - the phainopeplas, canyon towhees and spotted towhees - all seemed dull and drab in comparison.
Butterflies, moths, and skimmers are all in the same order of insects, taxonomically known as lepidoptera. Worldwide, scientists count over 200,000 species in this grouping! (In comparison, there are only 10,000 species of birds.) So I guess I shouldn't be overly surprised when I run into hundreds of these individuals on a morning out hiking my neighborhood trails.
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| Clouded yellow in Prescott. |
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| Clouded yellow in Prescott. |
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| Arizona sister in Prescott. |
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| Arizona sister in Prescott. |
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| Mourning cloak in Prescott. |
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| Red-spotted purple in Prescott. |
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| Type of duskywing in Prescott. |
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| Type of checkered skipper in Prescott. |
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| Queen butterfly in Prescott. |
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| Common buckeye in Prescott. |
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| Common buckeye in Prescott. |
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