Slow and steady up Bill Williams

Since we didn’t follow the directions to the trailhead, but, instead drove up Bill Williams Road, we had a late start. About halfway up the mountain we decided this was not right. Back down and around to the other side where the ranger station is. The parking area is a bit small but it’s next to the ranger station, so no worries about leaving the vehicle there.

There are several maps on boards in the parking lot, so plenty of information about the trails in the area. There are several, including 3 different ways up to the top. We used trail #21 which is about 3.9 miles each way. Off we go, a very short flat stretch, then upward. This trail has more elevation gain than our last one (Granite Mtn) but it is spread out along the majority of the trail unlike Granite where most of the elevation gain is in one short section. Also, this trail was not a bunch of uneven rock but rather more dirt than rock. This was a nice surprise. The trail winds through the pine forest, so there are not a lot of grand views on the way to the top. On the plus side, it was much cooler than being completely exposed to the sun. According to our mapping software, it was 3.2 miles to the road. The last half mile to the road definitely was steeper, but not that difficult. You follow the road the last half mile or so to the top. There is an old fire lookout tower, it’s not used anymore. I’m guessing because it’s probably not safe to sit in front of a dozen microwave and cell phone antennas. Up on top you can easily see for 30-40 miles in any direction. We were able to pick out several landmarks many miles away. There was a fire between Sedona and Flagstaff (the Pocket Fire) while we were there. It’s scary seeing a 25,000 acre fire burning from that high up.

We are not particularly fast hikers (60+ years) so it took us about 6 hrs roundtrip.

The trail needs some maintenance. As you can see in one of our photos, the trail was overgrown in 2 places and several trees/logs were across the trail. None of which was difficult to maneuver through or around. We went on a Friday (July 3rd) but there were not many people on the trail. We encountered about 10 people total on the trail. There were more people in Jeeps and ATV’s on the road.