Location: Prescott, Arizona
Distance: 1/2 Mile Out and Back Time: 20 Minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Season: Year Round
Foot Traffic: Light
Date Hiked: Saturday, October 21, 2023
Overview
The Walker Charcoal Kiln is a lightly visited trail tucked into the Prescott National Forest. The short trek takes visitors to an old Charcoal Kiln, locally known as the “Beehive”.
The “trail” is incredibly short at only a 1/2 mile altogether. The Kiln was built sometime around 1880 and is a fun sight to visit, with minimal effort warranted. Once at the site of the kiln, there is a sign that will explain a little more about it. Some of the information on the sign includes, “This kiln was constructed around 1880 by Jake and Joe Carmichael to convert oak wood into charcoal for use at nearby smelters. The surrounding forest was cut so heavily for charcoal and mine props in the late 1800’s that it is just now becoming productive again.”
While this site isn’t overly exciting, it’s a lot of fun to check out, especially for those on their way to Lynx Lake, which is just down the street. The entirety of the visit won’t take more than twenty minutes but is very enjoyable.
Trail Description and Scout’s Story
Our family couldn’t have been more excited to take a road trip and get out of town. After stopping in the Phoenix and Scottsdale area for a few days, we finally made our way towards the much cooler, Prescott area, where my in-laws live. Our daughter, Scout, who is now 2 and a half, had been battling stage 4 cancer since being diagnosed at 15 months old. After almost a year of treatment and a recent major surgery, her cancer was placed into remission. This was an exciting movement for our family as this would be our first trip out of the state since Scout had started her fight against cancer more than a year ago. We were really looking forward to getting back to traveling and doing what we love and regaining some semblance of normal life, while celebrating Scout’s progress.
On top of spending time with Scout’s grandparents, we wanted to make sure to get out and enjoy nature with Scout as much as possible as well. We have spent lots of time over the years in Prescott, but the Walker Charcoal Kiln was not something I was familiar with. As I was navigating through google maps, I happened to stumble upon it and figured it would be something new and fun to do.
After a few other, fun morning outings, we arrived at the Walker Charcoal Kiln parking area around 11 AM. Google maps did a horrible job of getting us to the right spot but we finally found the parking area. There’s literally room for maybe two or three cars at the trailhead.
“Hiking” to the Walker Charcoal Kiln
I am gonna use the word “hiking” very loosely here. This is about as leisurely and short of a walk as you will find. However, the trail is located in the national forest, so the short walk still gives a great sense of being in nature. A little metal trellis that reads “Kiln” marks the start of the trail.
Scout led the way, heading through the trellis and had a great time walking through the tall, overgrown grass.
The fall colors on the nearby aspens were in full force and our surroundings were spectacular. The trail briefly and gently descended until after a short 1/4 mile we reached the charcoal kiln.
The length of our walk was less than five minutes.
The charcoal kiln was super neat to see and in relatively good shape.
I stopped to read the sign, which gave a lot of information on the kiln. After that we made our way inside the spacious kiln and watched as Scout listened to her voice echo and ran around in circles.
The charcoal kiln is by no means super exciting, but I nevertheless, thoroughly enjoyed it. Scout had a great time as well and within a half hour we were back in the car and ready to explore some more of the area. For those making there way towards Lynx Lake, I would highly recommend checking this neat site out.
Getting to Walker Charcoal Kiln
Pathway Trailhead for Walker Charcoal Kiln, Prescott, AZ 86303
