Lime Creek spur trail (near Horseshoe Lake, AZ)

[theksmith 4,019]

there are 2 short spur trails running west from Horseshoe Dam road, FR1063 and FR1530. though both have been on FS and USGS topo maps for a very long time, they'd been unsigned and therefore of questionable status till recently. however, it appears TRAL re-signed them sometime in the past year or 2.

 

this weekend i checked out FR1530, which leads to a couple springs and dead ends in Lime Creek: https://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=33.98394,-111.73818&z=15&b=f16a

 

there's also currently a fork to the lake where 1530 enters the main wash.

 

 

this is near the start of the trail, looking up at the radar dome on Humboldt Mountain (white dot on top of the mountain in the left side of the photo):

 

 

 

and looking back towards the lake/reservoir which is rarely full:

 

 

 

a neat fire ring... the wind must always come from the same direction here!

 

 

 

FR1530 is overall an easy trail with only a couple flexy spots and no rock-crawling. there are a couple washouts to look out for though:

 

 

 

just after the trail turns faint, the dry wash turns into a decently flowing creek.

 

 

 

the vehicle trail just sort of peters out once you've traveled up the wash for a few minutes. there was evidence that both a quad and a Jeep/truck sized rig had recently continued through the boulder field beyond where i stopped.

 

 

 

i found it interesting that there were several large concrete slabs and some sheet metal down in the creek. the topo maps show a "prospect" nearby - but no mine, adits, or buildings. it certainly seemed like there was more here at some point than just a stake in the ground.

 

 

if anyone knows the history of this spot, please post up!

 

 

 

 

the creek was flowing well, but still full of algae - good thing i decided to wear my waterproof hiking boots for once!

 

 

 

i tooled around in the creek for a few minutes, taking photos and watching out for snakes. i never found the actual "prospect" location though.

 

 

 

there were some impressively large Saguaro on the hill above where i parked.

 

 

 

 

on the way back out, i took the fork down into the lake bed.

 

 

 

the lake wasn't low enough to connect back to the boat ramp going this direction, so i had to return to the main gravel road the same way i went in.

 

 

once back on Horseshoe Dam rd i headed on home, stopping only to air up just before the pavement begins.

 

 

FYI - the other trail i mentioned, FR1063 is also very short. you could easily explore both spurs in the same day.

[jgaz 582]

Great write up. It looks like you had an enjoyable day.

Glad you were watching out for snakes:eek:!

[theksmith 4,019]

Great write up. It looks like you had an enjoyable day.

Glad you were watching out for snakes:eek:!

 

thanks... hah, probably too early for them, but with the weird mix of hot and cold days i don't know when they'll come out!

[scottL 179]

Let's run the other spur before it gets hot. I'd like to do them both. Always like camping near lakes..

[Ladybug 469]

Snakes are out Kris! We saw our first last week, and heard of another on Saturday...Glad you kept your eyes open!

Looks like a fun day!

smiles, ladybug

[jgaz 582]

You bet they are Karen!

I’ve officially suspended my off trail, Indian ruins hikes until next winter. We got way closer than I like to rattler in the low brush two weeks ago. He was a bit lethargic but still not happy with being disturbed. I was in Chalk Canyon in the Tonto Forrest about 4 miles north of Spur Cross conservation area.

[Lichen 110]

In the '70s, I did this trail a few times in my International Travelall. If the lake was low, you could just drive up the wash. If it was fuller, there was a numbered FS road that would drop you down into the wash. After the fire in the 90s(?), the road was closed off. Hiking up the wash, we ran into some hikers that had started at 7-Springs and somehow ended up here.

P.S. Yes, the road would be numbered 1530 now.

P.P.S. If you hike up the wash a bit, there is an old mine tunnel on your left hand side. We couldn't go very far in because it was full of water.

[theksmith 4,019]

In the '70s, I did this trail a few times in my International Travelall. If the lake was low, you could just drive up the wash. If it was fuller, there was a numbered FS road that would drop you down into the wash. After the fire in the 90s(?), the road was closed off. Hiking up the wash, we ran into some hikers that had started at 7-Springs and somehow ended up here.

P.S. Yes, the road would be numbered 1530 now.

P.P.S. If you hike up the wash a bit, there is an old mine tunnel on your left hand side. We couldn't go very far in because it was full of water.

 

thanks for posting this Marcus. i'll have to go back and hike a little further to check out the current status of that tunnel!

[ob1jeeper 519]

That rusty piece of steel is a piece of "Morris Matting", AKA landing strips. It was the material the SeaBee's used to quickly construct air strips without the need to add water for compacting the soil, the "saw-tooth" edges simply interlocked, and once the landing area had been graded "sorta-level", they could be laid out more quickly than conventional methods of building surfaces that were sufficiently solid to keep the landing gear from sinking into the soil.

 

For many years after the end of the war, it was readily available as surplus. Have seen it used by the Border Patrol for border fencing, trailer decking, etc. etc.

[theksmith 4,019]

That rusty piece of steel is a piece of "Morris Matting", AKA landing strips. It was the material the SeaBee's used to quickly construct air strips without the need to add water for compacting the soil, the "saw-tooth" edges simply interlocked, and once the landing area had been graded "sorta-level", they could be laid out more quickly than conventional methods of building surfaces that were sufficiently solid to keep the landing gear from sinking into the soil.

 

For many years after the end of the war, it was readily available as surplus. Have seen it used by the Border Patrol for border fencing, trailer decking, etc. etc.

 

neat info OB!