Vista Park

How can the Willow Lake Loop Trail turn into a misadventure? Rain impacts where most hikers, including myself, hike. If it’s going to be heavy rain, particularly in areas that flood, hiking groups will postpone hikes. I’m always adjusting my hikes due to weather.

The recent rains have caused a number of changes. My mad-scientist hiking buddy and I were going to hike the Javelina Trail, but rain was expected, so he called an audible and we decided to do the Willow Lake Loop Trail, which is considerably shorter.

We decided to take a side trail to get to Willow Lake Loop, but it came to a dead end, so we decided to scramble over boulders. The good news was it gave us a great view of the dam and the deepest part of the lake.

When we came down on the other side, and he came down first, he got stuck in the mud. Literally. Almost like quicksand. He was able to get himself out, but his boots didn’t come out with his feet. I wish I’d taken a photo. Not wanting to get stuck again, he put his science brain to work, gathered some branches and built a bridge to get back to his footwear. He was able to put them on despite the muck on them. Then we were able to slog half a mile through a riparian area full of tall weeds to reach the Willow Lake Loop Trail. We made it to an area with a beautiful view, looking down at the dam as it started to rain. We turned around.

Following rainfall on another day and still under perilous clouds, I decided just to walk the Upper Willow Lake neighborhood. From Samantha Street you see Vista Park, which looks so small that if you sneeze you’ll fly by it. It didn’t look very inviting, but I noticed a trailhead there, and figured I’d see whether it was muddy, and if not I’d rock on. The graveled path was good, but more important was what I heard: cascading water.

I followed the sound for just a couple of minutes and there it was, a running stream. The first spot was only a few feet wide, but the more I followed it the bigger it got, till I found a stretch that’s six to eight feet wide. It eventually led to a nice footbridge crossing the creek at its widest. This leads to the other side of Vista Park, which comes out on Sarafina Street, and has a playground, restrooms and ramadas where you can hide from the weather when it’s raining or just hang out when it’s nice.

Another part of this great find is a series of small trails from here, with all sorts of trees, bushes and flowers making this a real gem. The trails are mostly used by dog-walkers and immediate neighbors. The trail is equipped with plenty of benches, many shaded by trees or little roofs. This isn’t one of my beloved wilderness trails, but when you can’t go that far, this is nice place to enjoy nature close to home.

The Vista, Sarafina, Hawkeye Loop and Panorama trails are all short for leisurely walks, and can be strung together for a workout of several miles. This is part of the Prescott Parks Department system. Keep exploring and check out that unknown trail, you never know where it might lead!