Shoofly and Peach Loop near Payson

Highlights Map

Even though we have just returned from a major trip we are raring to go and explore Arizona again. The weather is still reasonably good so we settle on an area near Payson that we wanted to explore for some time, Shoofly Village, an old Native American village. The village is believed to have been occupied between A.D. 1000-1250 and had a total of 79 structures of which the rock outlines, once the base of the walls, are still visible. We find the parking lot easily and we are the only car until another one arrives right after us. We decide to still start on the well outlined trail and explore the village first.

Soon we arrive at the ruins, you can guess where the protective wall stood and then we start seeing the remains of the buildings. Some of them are easily recognizable and we always enjoy visiting these ancient sites.

We explore a bit more the site while avoiding the many grasshoppers that really have us surrounded and seem to want to use us as a tree or hiding place.

From the archaeological site we decide to search a cache which is about 1/2 mi away. It is on some dirt roads which are easy to follow and full of flowering sandmats.

Then while looking for birds one of us notices something fast and brown and relatively bif coming out of a bush and running in another bushy area. They are quite adamant that it was not a deer and a cow is not fast so it is a mystery what our “brown monster” was, maybe a Mogollon Monster? And then we arrive at a RV that looks ok from a distance and is parked quite close to our cache.

After we find the cache we observe that the RV has an open door so we decide to investigate. And lo and behold it is abandoned but with lots of stuff still left inside. It is surprising how much stuf is left including photo albums, TV, casette player and other things that you wouldn’t expect to be abandoned.

The kitchen still has most of the utensils but the bathroom is clogged. The windows are also broken and lots of stuff is on the floor so some vandals have been here since it was abandoned. But overall it is a mystery what happened, it looks like the owner left leaving everything behind and then someone broke in, vandalized it a bit and then left with only the wasps remaining as permanent occupants.

As we return back to the ruins and the car we have a lunch in the forest and notice that a nearby bird is quite annoyed for a while before disappearing in the tree. We follow it with our eyes and discover it has a nest there, so there was a reason for her acting so stressed out. We decide to move away afterwards to ensure she is not disturbed and after our snack break we return to the car.

Now it is time to explore another trail, the Peach Orchard loop trail on the other side of Payson. We have done part of it some time ago but we want to do the full loop today. And right at the entrance we are rewarded with a beautiful view of a Bullock’s Oriole, the first one for this year.

Given how relatively unused the trail system is we find it quite surprising that right as we enter another person also enters through the gate to do the trail, or at least to do a run with her dog. We do a short climb to the top of a ridge followed by them and this is where the loop starts and we choose randomly what seems to be the most difficult section – and they of course follow us…..

Then we see something in the distance, there are white-tailed deer there. So we take photos and wait for the other hiker to pass, we never see her again or anyone else on the trail as we continue downwards through the beautiful landscape.

We find caches along the way from which the most fun is one that looks like a raccoon and gives us a scare when we find it. Bird-wise we see a curious spotted towhee, they are always well hidden so even catching a glimpse is quite special.

After reaching the bottom of the hill we the continue towards the Orchard Tank which still has some water in it. That is great news for the many butterflies that cover the shore, they likely enjoy both the humidity and the minerals.

From here the loop climbs steeply, really steeply back towards the ridgeline. It is great that the views are beautiful so we have something to enjoy when we stop multiple times to catch our breath and cool ourselves.

Back on the ridgeline it is easy going again. The only blockage is a gate, but it is a flimsy one as it is easy to open and close. We are more surprised by the signs of construction in a valley, we do not see any roads to that location and it is quite well hidden in a valley. It is also not a house but something more industrial, weird.

This part is the best part of the loop, the trail/road is beautiful, it is covered in fluff, the weather is gorgeous and overall we really enjoy it.

There are also quite a few birds here from which the best special to us is a Cassin’s Kingbird, our first for the year. And then we are back at the intersection which marks the loop close and soon we are at the car.

On the trail we decided to eat in town to celebrate our first Arizona trip after our return. We find a new restaurant that serves Chinese and Thai cuisine and we decide to explore it today.

The food is quite good and we even order dessert, the usual mango sticky rice. We have to take the leftovers with us as we are quite full and then it is time to return back to Phoenix after a beautiful day out.