Accessing Arizona

Its not too often you visit a 100-year old schoolhouse and find a wheelchair-accessible trail out back. And I’m not talking about your garden variety semi-accessible trail either. This may be one of the best short trails in Arizona.

Groom Creek is 6 miles south of Prescott. It’s at 6,200 elevation so we’re in Ponderosa pine tree country. The Groom Creek Schoolhouse was originally built about 1896. Today the stone building is not open to the public, but is used by the Prescott National Forest as an administrative site, although I found a site that said it can be rented for group outings.

The first thing you notice is that it is very peaceful and quiet here. Some time back, some pretty ambitious people from the local Lion’s Club put in a 1,500’ long asphalt path the wonders through the pines. What makes this a great path is that these people didn’t just find the flattest patch of earth nearby and slap some asphalt about and the call it accessible. They plotted out a very scenic path that takes you in and around some tall pines and very large boulders. It’s boggling to think how these big rocks got here. And the designers didn’t take shortcuts either. The path has two very sturdy wooden bridges that span a creek bed.

One very interesting feature of this interpretive trail is the molded signs for blind folks. The signs basically have a miniature statue of the native animals. People can feel the animal to better understand the animal’s appearance. There is a squirrel, bird, and deer depicted. The last sign is of a mountain lion, and I couldn’t help but imagine a real cat perched up atop one of the nearby boulders just watching us feel the cat. I got the feeling I was being watched.

Today I brought a power chair which traversed the trail easily. There is a number of spots along the oval which are steep enough to give a manual chair user some difficulty. But this is a well planned trail for everyone’s needs. The trail has logs positioned as guard rails and there is plenty of flat areas and benches for catching your breath.

This trail is a real gem. Arizona has other trails that are more scenic, but this quarter mile trail really allows you to get close to nature. We saw a red headed woodpecker and some beautiful Blue Jays in the trees. We watched two squirrels chase each other, and there were rabbits scurrying around everywhere.

For directions visit Recreation.gov.

Similar WheelChair Arizona Posts:

1. Goldwater Lake I’ve been hanging around Prescott lately. When it is 110°...
2. Crescent Moon Picnic Area Up until recently I thought the only two parks offering...
3. Cresent Moon Picnic Area Editor’s note: This entry marks the first of hopefully many...
4. Thumb Butte Park You wont find any "Accessible Trail" signs at Thumb Butte...
5. Lynx Lake Offers Great Wheelchair Accessibility If you think a trail around a beautiful lake is...