Continuing our series of segments of the Prescott Circle trail, today’s post brings you along the 5 mile segment from Goldwater Lake to White Spar on Route 89. This trail section finds visitors on a well shaded trail that feels more like New England than Arizona. A thick pine forest, two small lakes, and a pleasant walk or ride. In our case, this section was done on foot.
Our hike along this section of trail went from Goldwater Lake to Whitespar. Mostly a downhill hike for us today, which was nice. A vehicle was parked at the White Spar parking lot, and a second vehicle brought our group up to Gold water lake. We didn’t do the round trip, as we’ve all got jobs we had to get to after the hike. In order to start the day right we set out very early for the hike, and it was well worth it. A good hike on a scenic trail goes a long way to starting your day on the right note! And here in Prescott there are plenty of outdoor adventures available for your early mornings!
A shaded hike along trail number 396 on the Circle Trail
For visitors who are interested in things to do outdoors in Prescott, the Circle Trail goes through several very interesting parks surrounding the city. White Spar to Goldwater offers up one 5 mile section of the whole 50+ mile trail. And it’s worth a visit! You don’t have to spend the whole day on any of these sections, so you’re free to explore other features of Prescott while you visit the area.
If you’re looking to stay in the area, you should know the White Spar Forest Service area offers a wonderful and large campground. From tents, to pop up trailers, to travel trailers, 5th wheels, and more, you might consider this campground for your launching point along the circle trail. There are no power hookups in the park, so it is dry camping. But the campground is mere minutes from town and all the services you could possibly need.
Mile by Mile – Not so easy to tell
Unlike other sections of the Circle Trail where you can point out noticable land marks along the way, this section of the trail looks and feels the same the whole way. So distinct mile markers aren’t so easy to share. Whether your starting from White Spar or from Goldwater lake, you’ll be in a pine forest with a well marked trail. Trail #396 is what you follow for the entire hike or ride.
At the bottom of this page you’ll find a link to Prescott’s Trail Map for the greater area. The Circle Trail, along with many other trails can be found on this PDF map. Go ahead and give it a download so you can plan your next adventure here!
Also, don’t forget to check out the video near the bottom of the page to see what the hike was like. If you enjoy the video be sure to subscribe to our channel on YouTube.
The journey we took along Trail 396 this morning