Today we want to explore an area of Sycamore Creek we went on a guided trip before. This is actually part of old state route 87 but it has been closed off for cars for some reason instead of providing a scenic detour if the main highway is closed. But it is still paved up to the closure where there is a large parking area where you can park your car before continuing on foot. Today there is no one here which makes for a nice exploration of the area.
The road is always closed from here even though the pavement continues through to the other side as far as we know. But we enjoy walking and exploring this beautiful area with a flowing creek and birds singing along the way.
Soon we arrive at the major attraction here, for us, an abandoned Forest Service station. This seems to have been quite a large station including an area for visitors to stop with modern toilets and a picnic area.
We continue into the heart of the station exploring building by building the many abandoned structures here. To us it seems that originally they planned to return but that never happened, likely after a flood or budget cuts.
Next is time to explore the two main buildings with the first one being the seemingly larger and the living quarters of the rangers.
You can go inside and it seems that some people vandalized them at some point but there is still a lot of furniture left to understand how they looked and how cozy the house was.
The bedroom was surprisingly modern looking with a nice but small bathroom including a bathtub.
The stove and the boiler were gas driven, likely with propane or similar. They are both still here, likely it was not worth to take them out.
There is even access to the basement however it is flooded. It seems, based on online research, that this was one of the reasons it got abandoned, it always got flooded and they decided it was not worth maintaining it in the end.
There was also a beatiful enclosed patio, a place where we would have loved to stay and just enjoy the birds and the beautiful weather. But we still have a lot to explore so outside we go to explore the second building.
The second building is quite interesting, it looks quite small as we approach it versus the one we just left but that is just an illusion, we simply cannot see how long it is when you approach it head on.
It is also split in two. First we enter the first area which is a one bedroom living area with kitchen and bathroom that we duly explore.
As we exit the bathroom the same way we came, as the other door is closed off, we now walk around the building and explore also an annex which seems to hold a lot of the stuff that they tried to save initially from the buildings. Like electric appliances and other things, none of them are working anymore of course.
For the backside of the building there are two entrances, one via a stair to the top level and one via a shed like door to the bottom level. We discuss which one we should try and in the end we decide on the more scenic route via the top level.
Top level seems to have been the living room area of this building with a TV sitting forlorn in the corner while all furniture has been stripped out long ago.
We then descend via the interior staircase to the bottom level which seems to have been the work area of the rangers. Calendars from the early 2000s date the site while a TO DO board has been left unfinished with other people adding their own, funny mostly, entries.
Last but not least is the workshop seemingly left untouched at that point. We are surprised at the number of tools left here as well as instruction manuals and different supplies. Quite surprising that they were not moved to a different location.
And then it is time to leave this abandoned station while passing by the generator and a few other technical buildings. We want to continue exploring further down the road and see how far it goes.
Soon enough the road is really closed for all eternity via an earth wall. While closed that does not mean that it is not paved and that you cannot continue afterwards following the beautiful creek.
It is time for lunch by this time so we make our way to the creekside and eat some snack by the riverside looking for fish in the creek and birds in the air.
And on we go on the road until suddenly we hit a No Tresspassing/Private sign in the middle of it. We decide not to test if it is actual or a fake one and decide to turn around after a nice hike out of about 1.5 miles.
Returning we keep an eye out for any interesting birds while enjoying butterflies and lizards at the many flowers and rocks along the way. And then we are back at the car and there still is time left so we decide to also take a short jaunt on the Arizona Trail nearby.
