The North Kaibab Ranger District (NKRD)—the “north rim” in common terms—is a fabulous, distant pristine forest offering cool summer temperatures, billowing white clouds in incredible blue skies, and green forests, when much of Arizona is wilting in the summer heat. The ATA has traditionally held at least one summer event to take advantage of these conditions, attracting stalwart volunteers willing to drive the distance for fun times in the cool pine trees. This year’s objective was to help the NKRD rebuild the decaying log fences at Orderville and East Rim View trailheads. The “usual suspects” plus a few more volunteers gathered at Orderville August 23 to get started. After the early arrivals had set up camp, they gathered and hauled several loads of native rock to the site, to serve as foundations for the fence. The fences are assembled out of the rock foundations, twelve-foot long pine logs up to nearly a foot in diameter, and two twelve-inch spikes for each log. Specifications called for 5-7 inch logs but the logger delivered many much larger ones. Other than that it took five people to lift the big ones, this was just fine, they make good tall fences. The first task Friday morning was to demolish...
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Location
- Telephone Hill to US 89A
Length
- 16.6 miles
Southern Access Point: Telephone Hill
- GPS Coordinates: 36.55147° N, 112.17560° W
Access
About 13.5 miles south of Jacob Lake on AZ 67, look for a sign pointing to FR 429 on the west side. Do not turn right onto FR 429, but instead turn left (east) onto FR 241. In 0.1 miles, the AZT crosses the road, but there is no parking here. Continue another 0.1 miles to a little campsite on the left, where you may be able to park.
Northern Trailhead: Orderville Trailhead
- GPS Coordinates: 36.73646° N, 112.18889° W
Access
From Jacob Lake, head east on US 89A for 2.2 miles, then turn right (south) on FR 205. The trailhead is on the left in 50 yards.
Trail Route Description
Throughout this passage the route follows Trail #101 and it begins at the Telephone Hill Trailhead on FR 241. From here it heads generally north and parallels Highway 67. The trail reaches a drainage and crosses it, and at the top of the drainage a road is crossed and then the trail continues in a north/northeast direction. The trail crosses FR 205 twice and then crosses FR 205B. It runs next to FR 225 for a while and then begins a long gradual descent. It follows a drainage all the way down to Big Ridge Tank, and after a short climb the trail continues descending until it reaches the Orderville Canyon Trailhead and Highway 89A.
Difficulty
- Easy to Moderate
Season(s)
- Spring, Summer and Fall
- Current weather forecast
Water
Water sources are scarce and unreliable on the Kaibab Plateau. Check with the Forest Service for current conditions.
Notes/Warnings
- All water along this passage should be purified prior to use.
- The Arizona Trail is marked with brown fiberglass posts with a Kaibab Plateau Trail decal near the top.
Resources
- USGS Topographic Maps: Telephone Hill and Jacob Lake.
- Kaibab National Forest map.
- BLM Information Center maps.
For more information
- The Passage Steward
- Kaibab National Forest, North Kaibab Ranger District, P.O. Box 248, Fredonia, AZ 86022 (928) 643-7298.
- Kaibab Plateau Visitor Center, Jacob Lake, AZ (928) 643-7298.
- BLM Information Center (602) 417-9300.
Current Passage Info
Flickr Photos
Photos from the Arizona Trail Association’s Flickr galleries, for this specific passage. View the entire Flickr account.
[AFG_gallery id=’42’]