A.B. Young Trail
The A.B.Young Trail leaves from the southernmost end of the Bootlegger Picnic Area in Oak Creek Canyon north of Sedona, Arizona. Take steps down to Oak Creek, find a suitable place to "boulder hop" or wade the stream, cross the creek, follow the telephone line north to find a rusty metal sign indicating the trailhead.
The trail immediately begins a moderately steep ascent and enters wilderness area. The shade of the creek area is left behind, and nice views of Oak Creek Canyon and interesting rock formations open up. The trail climbs 1600 feet over 1.6 miles, with 33 switchbacks, to the rim of Oak Creek Canyon. At this point, the trail enters the shade of ponderosa pine and heads west for 0.8 miles on a gradual ascent (this portion of the trail not well marked), ending at the East Pocket Fire Lookout Tower.
The trail is believed to have been built originally by C.S. (Bear) Howard in the 1880's and it was reconstructed in the 1930's by the Civilian Conservation Corp and supervised by A.B. Young.
Photo by Deborah Lee Soltesz, November 24, 2017. For trail and recreation information, see A.B. Young Trail No. 100 on the Coconino National Forest. Original public domain image from Flickr