Crown King & Horsethief Basin Scenic Road Trip

This tour will take you from the Bumble Bee exit off Interstate 17 to Horsethief Basin, one of the most popular recreation areas in central Arizona. On your way to Crown King, you will pass Turkey Creek siding - now known as Cleator - past Crazy Basin, Middleton and Alexandra, all the while skirting the Castle Creek Wilderness Area that offers several hiking trails.

Driving past Crown King, it is 5.5 miles to Horsethief Basin recreation area, which offers three different campgrounds, numerous hiking trails, and Horsethief Lake offering boating, fishing, and wildlife viewing.

Don’t forget to pack a lunch (and your binoculars!) and enjoy the view at the Horsethief Lookout picnic area.

Recommended Maps:

• Prescott National Forest Map

• USGS 7.5’ Maps:

  • Battle Flat

  • Black Canyon City

  • Bumble Bee

  • Cleator

  • Crown King

Mile: 0.0
Landmark: I-17 AND THE BUMBLE BEE EXIT

Travel on the Bumble Bee Road until it reaches 28 miles to Crown King.

Mile: 5.0
Landmark: BUMBLE BEE

Mile: 11.0
Landmark: PRESCOTT NATIONAL FOREST BOUNDARY

Mile: 12.5
Landmark: TOWNSEND BUTTE

To the right is Townsend Butte.

Mile: 14.0
Landmark: CLEATOR

About 100 years ago, the Bradshaw Mountain Railroad climbs the mountains to Crown King. Cleator began as Turkey Creek siding. The railroad, during 1903, talked of building a branch from Turkey Creed siding to Phoenix. James P. Cleator promoted a new town there at Turkey Creek siding. Ore came from several surrounding mines to be loaded on the trains.

Mile: 16.0
Landmark: CRAZY BASIN

They call the area Crazy Basin. The high peak to the north is S A Hill. Traveling to Crown King, the land on the left side of the road contains the Castle Creek Wilderness Area. A 0.5-mile to the south is Poor Man’s Gulch. (Up to milepost 27, the east side of Yavapai Route #59 is the wilderness area.)

Mile: 17.0
Landmark: MIDDLETON

Here you find the old town site of Middleton. Above the old town site are the DeSoto mines. George W. Middleton promoted the Copper Cobre Mining Company. The Bradshaw Mountain Railroad opened a station in 1903 to serve the DeSoto mines. A 4,000 - foot tramway brings 300 tons of copper ore daily to the siding.

Today, you can see the remains of a few tramway spires dotting the hillside.

Mile: 20.0
Landmark: ALEXANDRA

You need to leave Yavapai #59 and travel 2.0 miles west on a jeep trail.

Page 1 of 3