The trail head at Green Gulch offers a lot of variety with open grass and shrub at the beginning,…read morerocky stream bed forested trails, and valley views from the Red Mountain trail. You begin on #9419 Charcoal Gulch trail which is a wide double track road suitable for ATVs. At about one mile the trail meets up with Red Mountain Trail #43 to the right which becomes narrower and rocky and winds through beautiful stream beds with abundant shade. After about a half mile on #43 switchbacks start climbing up to Red Mountain which offers great views to the east and north to Prescott Valley. This climb is rocky and a bit steep so will get your lungs going. Good hiking boots are needed, prefab let high top for ankle stability. We did a total of about 3 miles out and back but you can make this much longer as this trail connects to #42 Prospector Trail which is part of Lynx Lake. We will plan to go back and checkout a bit of #42 next time. On a cloudy and cool Friday in December we encountered only one person on the flat beginning section of the trail so this a great area for some solitude.

This stunning lake is just outside of Prescott. The scenery is spectacular, with amazing rock…read moreformations around and in the lake. There are several hiking trails around it. There is some boating/kayaking allowed. Boat ramps, some playground equipment, picnic tables. It costs to get in, but you can buy an annual pass which gets you into other parks in the area. We love coming here when we're in the area.

Beautiful trail with lots of pathways and cool scenery. Also can get a really nice view of the lake…read moreand hear the ducks. Would for sure recommend checking this trail out if you can and just enjoy the scenery.

Great place for short, well marked hikes with a lot of variety. Grab a trail map near the…read moreamphitheater and take the highlands trail for 360 views on the north part of the loop, plus creek side walking and interesting geology. The trail guide points out numerous topographic, geologic and historical areas. Finish up with a walk along the gardens. There are many benches along the way and also a children's play area.

Absolutely beautiful grounds, and free!! Easily walkable paths for the kids. The large bug…read moresculptures were super cool. Kiddos loved the play area and could have stayed there all day. We look forward to coming back next time we're in Prescott.

This is a decent hiking spot. While it does have a ton of space, it still is kind of small too and…read moregoes around in a quick circle. The biggest complaint I have is needing to pay for parking because it's not that big of a hiking trail or spot. But it can still give you a decent view of the scenery as well as see beautiful rock formations. Will also say that the spot where the memorial for where the constellation crashed is touching. However, again this is not the best hiking spot.

The Constellation trail is a great local hiking area with a series of trails through the north end…read moreof the granite dells outcropping. So if you're looking for a short easy one to three hour walk this is a great place to visit. See my older review about the naming of this park dedicated to the Navy Constellation which crashed here. There is ample parking at the trailhead and restrooms. Make sure to bring your water though because it can be hot in the summer. However their are great trees to provide rest areas. It is full of birds and wildlife.

Ranch Trail #62 from Senator highway is part of the Prescott Circle trail and has fabulous 270…read moredegree views from west to east taking in the Sierra Prietas to the west, Thumb Butte, the San Francisco Peaks and Prescott Valley. Access the trail from the Watershed parking lot on the east side of Senator highway near Goldwater lake. The trail starts in scrub oak and within 1/2 mile you will have nice views west including Goldwater Lakes. This first part is unshaded so best to do early if you are going in the summer or hike fall through spring. As you turn to face north the trail is nicely shaded and pines and oaks take over as you meander in the forest. In late October the fall colors were stunning. You can take this trail about 5 miles in to the junction with 9854, and go back the way you came, which is the most scenic; or shorten your round trip by 3 miles by taking the 9854 south for 0.8 min, the taking the Watershed trail #299 southwest and back to your parking spot. Watershed is a rough, hilly and rocky ATV trail, but on a Saturday in peak leaf viewing season, I saw no ATVs or even other hikers. #299 has views to the south giving you a full 360 experience, but it is not a particularly attractive trail other than a nice flat portion in the pines so if you have the time, go back the way you came.

My daughter Zoe rented Loop B at Lynx Lake from 8/23/24 - 8/26/24. Rich & Jenny are AWESOME…read moreVolunteers who take care of the area & they are amazing folks. Very helpful & ready to tell you any helpful information you need while staying. We left a night early because my daughter rented the amount of days just in case we wanted to stay longer. Yet the 25th(today) is my 54th birthday & I was ready to be home for the week. We came home very rested with plenty of beautiful pics & cool experiences to tell friends & family.

I have camped in Prescott before, but never at this lake. I had heard great things about Lynx Lake…read moreand have always wanted to check it out. This lake was formed in the 1960s when they dammed Lynx Creek. It is stocked for fishing and has a campground and hiking trails around it. There are lots of animals that are native to this area like mule deer, osprey and bald eagles. I booked a campsite here during the summer because I own a kayak and wanted to get out on the water. After setting up my site, I headed over to Lynx Lake. I was a little disappointed to see the water so low. I guess in late 2024, the lake was partially drained to fix a mechanical failure in the dam's outlet valve. It has to rely entirely on natural rain and snow to be refilled and could take years to get back to normal. So we just did a hike around the lake and headed back to our campsite. Lynx Campground has around 35 campsites with a picnic table, fire ring and a grill at each site. There are no RV hook-ups, but they do have drinking water and toilets. The campsite is about half a mile directly south of Lynx Lake. We enjoyed our campsite and had a fun time. We had to partially share our site with another family because their giant tent spilled onto our site (which was annoying). But we made the most of it. The nice thing is that the Town of Prescott isn't too far away if you need any food or supplies. As for kayaking, we were able to do that over at Watson Lake. You can book a campsite ahead of time on Recreation.gov.

Trail is absolutely amazing and beautiful. It has some nice sculptures to pass by along the way and…read morewhen you reach the top it gives a beautiful view of all of Prescott and Prescott valley. It can be exhausting or rough, but there are plenty of benches you can stop at along the way to take a breather. As well as bring plenty of water too. You can also stop by the nearby radio towers too but can't go inside but that's good. Overall I would recommend this spot to get some air and enjoy the scenery. Just make sure to use your GPS so you don't get lost along the way.

This 4.2 mile out and back trail offers 360 degree views from the top, a rarity for such a short…read moreand easily accessible trail right in town. The parking area is found at the SW intersection of Antelope Ln and N Castle Dr and is quite large. I went on a cold weekday and only saw 5 other hikers but undoubtedly this gets very busy on a weekend judging by the size of the parking lot. There is an installation of contemporary artwork of foraging deer / horses as you start the trail. The trail itself is very wide and a mix of dirt with some rock and climbs at a gradual incline all the way up. At each of the major switchbacks there are nicely maintained picnic tables offering great views of the valleys to the east and north. A handful of interpretive signs offer information about wildlife, geology and history of the hill. There are also GPS and mile markers at regular intervals. As you approach the top a few of the switchbacks are a bit steeper but the view at the top is worth it as you are now able to see the southern and western mountain ranges as well as all the way around to the east and north. A picnic table is also situated the top along with additional historical info. The top can be windy so be prepared, also this is not the best trail to take right after a rain or snow. I went two days after a snow and even though the majority of snow had melted it felt like I had an extra 2 pounds of mud on my boots at times !

This hiking spot is pretty good. It has lots of beautiful scenery and rock formations. If you can…read morefollow the trail using the provided white dots you can get a beautiful view of the damage and listen to the water as it falls. Just be careful of high grass as well as snakes. There could be some if you're not careful. The biggest problem otherwise is the parking lot. It's very small and almost always full. There's no spot then just find another spot.

Great short hike with shade on half the trail along the stream. Nice easy hike through the rocks…read moretoo.