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Arizona Hiking Trails
Arizona Hiking Trails
Bannon Creek Trail | Goldwater Lake
Bannon Creek Trail | Goldwater Lake
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Bannon Creek Trail | Goldwater Lake | City of Prescott | Parks and Recreation
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Map and Directions
Rimsurfer Trail Rating and Hike Review
CITY OF PRESCOTT
PARKS AND RECREATION
Goldwater Lake
Bannon Creek Trail
TRAILHEADS (TH)
Goldwater Lake Parking area
ACCESS POINTS
Goldwater Lake Parking area
Circle Trail #396
Trail use: moderate
Trail difficulty: easy
Trail length: short
(about a half mile one way)
Estimated hiking time: 60 minutes +
Season of Use: year round, (subject to weather conditions)
Elevation change: n/a
PARKS AND RECREATION
Goldwater Lake
Bannon Creek Trail
TRAILHEADS (TH)
Goldwater Lake Parking area
ACCESS POINTS
Goldwater Lake Parking area
Circle Trail #396
Trail use: moderate
Trail difficulty: easy
Trail length: short
(about a half mile one way)
Estimated hiking time: 60 minutes +
Season of Use: year round, (subject to weather conditions)
Elevation change: n/a
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221 photos
More trail info:
City of Prescott: Parks and Recreation - Goldwater Lake - MAP
Things to be aware of: Fee parking. Know and obey city park rules, dogs must be on leash, no littering, picnic sites, restrooms, children’s playground area, boating, fishing, beach area.
Regional area of Goldwater Lake Park - Bannon Creek Trail is under the City of Prescott, Arizona Parks and Recreation supervision.
My trail rating: 1.5
My Trail Review:
Goldwater Lake is a fun family park to enjoy the whole day at. From picnics, boating, fishing to short hiking trails, there is lots to do and all are well designed and maintained. There is plenty of paved parking, restrooms, pavillions, new clean park benches located thoughout the park with relaxing scenic views, and the short trails are easy to follow and well marked while offering great views of the lake and surrounding pine forest areas.
Overall Goldwater Lake is top of the line Prescott area outdoors city hiking. Great views, quiet peaceful rest areas, excellent amenities and all just a few miles outside of downtown Prescott.
January 2009
This is a short city park type lakeside hiking trail. Minor elevation changes, lots of shade along the way and some great views of the lake and surrounding area.
You can enter this trail from the parking area by walking down to the lake from the left side of the parking lot area (facing the lake). You will find it just before your reach the lake on your left. Bannon Creek Trail works its way around the east and south sides of the lake and ends just before reaching the dam, which is signed and blocked for your safety.
This is a great little trail for all the family that can get out and walk a little over a mile round trip at a leisurely pace. There is very little altitude gain or hill climbing. The trail is reasonably flat and well maintained. There are lots of scenic view park benches along the way and a cute little wooden bridge that crosses over the creek. The park and trail were surrounded by beautiful tall Ponderoza pine trees.
The creek was running like a tiny waterfall today from the runoff of the recent snow melt. It was very slippery in a few spots where the sun could not reach the trail (south side of lake) due to the tall Ponderosa pine tree shade in that area. I found the snow on portions of the trail was iced over and packed down from earlier hikers but I safely made it through by paying attention to where and how I was placing my feet on the trail mix - ie "rock to rock".
Teddy loved it! Being just over a year old and his first experience on icy packed snow he thought it was the most fun he had this year. He would crouch down and dig in all four feet and toes to stay up and not slide down the little hilly areas. There was some softer snow underneath the ice covering in a few places and he had a great time jumping and running around me on the leash as I kicked it up into the air. Today he discovered the wonderful flavor of ice cold white forest snow - it was all he could do to keep his nose out of it and keep moving down the trail.
I followed the trail up around the south side of the lake to where it ends just before the dam. There were lots of ducks and even a few geese on the lake today. It went up to about 60 degrees with sunny and clear skies. On the way in to the park entrance we spotted a herd of deer eating grass and got a couple good shots of them before they started to move off. You can find those in the beginning area of the photo gallery.
Enjoy the Hike!
Max and Teddy
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MAP AND DIRECTION TIPS
From downtown Prescott go east on Gurley Street to Mount Vernon Street (becomes Senator Hwy), turn right (south) and go about 4 miles to the signed entrance of Goldwater Lake Road, turn right and drive on the blacktop road to the park entrance fee booth then onto the designated parking area. All trails and the lake are accessible from this parking area.
MAP AND DIRECTION TIPS
From downtown Prescott go east on Gurley Street to Mount Vernon Street (becomes Senator Hwy), turn right (south) and go about 4 miles to the signed entrance of Goldwater Lake Road, turn right and drive on the blacktop road to the park entrance fee booth then onto the designated parking area. All trails and the lake are accessible from this parking area.
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This RimSurfer Arizona hiking trail photo gallery review features the City of Prescott, Parks and Recreation, Goldwater Lake, Bannon Creek Trail.