We decided to explore a different part of Watson Woods, the park land south of Watson Lake. We have hiked the Peavine Trail before - it is the rails to trails path that borders the east side of the park. Several times, we had gone north from the trail head and the Prescott Lakes Parkway. This time, we went south and under the Parkway. We started on the Peavine Trail which follows the former Santa Fe, Prescott & Phoenix Railway corridor that fed into Prescott. But as we went south, the railroad trail had to jog and go under the Parkway bridge that goes over Watson Woods and Granite Creek.
As we continued south from the Parkway, we passed the Prescott Water Treatment plant and after a mile or so, decided to come down off the former railroad trail that follows the edge of Watson Woods and go into the trails within the Woods which meander along both sides of Granite Creek - which was dry at the present time.
Some wildflowers are still in bloom.
We noticed a lot of trees that had bark stripped from them, with some, but not all, of the stripped back on the ground around the trees. After our hike, I searched online to find out what was happening, but to no avail. It does not appear to be done by animals, and is in a section of Watson Woods where they are working on restoration of the riparian habitat along Granite Creek.
Signs educated us about the water table here being close enough to the surface that many trees and plants can access the water even though this is a near desert area. We came across many large Fremont cottonwood, Arizona walnut and western cedar trees, plus many young plants that have been planted as part of the restoration of the area. We came by an area where there were several dozen large ravens, many in this one large tree.
We crossed over Granite Creek which was dry - our crossings were on bridges constructed as part of BSA Eagle Scout projects. But while the Creek was dry, we also came by a pond that signs indicated was created by a gravel pit. The water table/aquifer was close enough to the surface that water is constantly surfacing here, helping to sustain the riparian plants and animals in the area. We also learned about the many stations they have for monitoring the groundwater levels.
After hiking for a couple of hours, we then headed off to Costco to stock up on supplies for our stay in Prescott Valley.
As we continued south from the Parkway, we passed the Prescott Water Treatment plant and after a mile or so, decided to come down off the former railroad trail that follows the edge of Watson Woods and go into the trails within the Woods which meander along both sides of Granite Creek - which was dry at the present time.
Some wildflowers are still in bloom.
We noticed a lot of trees that had bark stripped from them, with some, but not all, of the stripped back on the ground around the trees. After our hike, I searched online to find out what was happening, but to no avail. It does not appear to be done by animals, and is in a section of Watson Woods where they are working on restoration of the riparian habitat along Granite Creek.
Signs educated us about the water table here being close enough to the surface that many trees and plants can access the water even though this is a near desert area. We came across many large Fremont cottonwood, Arizona walnut and western cedar trees, plus many young plants that have been planted as part of the restoration of the area. We came by an area where there were several dozen large ravens, many in this one large tree.
We crossed over Granite Creek which was dry - our crossings were on bridges constructed as part of BSA Eagle Scout projects. But while the Creek was dry, we also came by a pond that signs indicated was created by a gravel pit. The water table/aquifer was close enough to the surface that water is constantly surfacing here, helping to sustain the riparian plants and animals in the area. We also learned about the many stations they have for monitoring the groundwater levels.
After hiking for a couple of hours, we then headed off to Costco to stock up on supplies for our stay in Prescott Valley.
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