[AZ-Observing] Re: 5 Mile Meadow
- From: Paul Dickson <dickson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 14 Aug 2003 18:59:55 -0700
On Thu, 14 Aug 2003 04:48:38 -0700, Steve Coe wrote:
>
> Steve Coe
>
> Dark Site near Happy Jack, Arizona
> Star Party for Sept. 26 and 27 at "Five Mile Meadow"
>
> Take I-17 north to the Verde Valley turnoff and go east on Hwy. 260, the
> General Crook Trail, for about 30 miles east of the town of Camp Verde. The
> road ends in a "T" with Hwy. 87. Turn left (generally north) and drive about
> 12 miles, through the little town of Clint's Well. This is the gas station,
> restaurant and ranger station on your left. After you pass through Clint's
> Well, there is a left turn lane that will allow you to turn left onto Forest
> Highway 3, aka Lake Mary Rd. As you drive north on Lake Mary Road you will
> pass the Happy Jack RV park on the left and pass through a large area of
> trees where there has been a forest fire.
>
> After about 12 miles on Lake Mary Road, look for mile marker 301 and slow
> down to look for a dirt road on your left. The sign for this road says "Bar
> D Ranch". You will know you are on the correct forestry road by two brown
> signs, a small one with number 229 and another, larger, with Bar D Ranch
> distance. You will pass under high voltage power lines at about 1.5 miles
> and there is a cattle guard at about 3 miles. If you make no turns off the
> well maintained road then you will reach a cross road marked 305, on a brown
> sign. The meadow is straight ahead, past the cross road and just to the
> left. The meadow is elongated in an easterly direction and, if you stay on
> the original road 229 it will take you just to the north side, where it is
> best to set up. About 1/10 of a mile past the cross road is an opening in
> the trees to your left that leads to an opening where you can set up. I
> called this site "Five Mile Meadow" because it is about 5 miles from the
> pavement on the fo
> restry road.
>
> I have marked the turn off from FR 229 with my usual white rocks.
>
> Important: the one major restriction from the ranger station is "do not
> drive into the middle of the meadow"!
>
> Stay near the tree line.
>
What's the access like via I-17 and Stoneman Lake Rd? It looks like one
can drive around Stoneman Lake to get to Happy Jack, then it's 3 or 4
miles to FR 229. My AZ Atlas & Gazetteer shows this to be paved to this
point.
Probably not as good, FR 229 meets Stoneman Lake Rd prior to the Lake.
This goes by Apache Maid Mountain and is paved. Just past there, the road
becomes rough for about 5 miles to the site. This route might not be good
for low clearance vehicles.
Anyone have info on either of these two routes? They appear shorter due
to I-17 being on a diagonal coming out of Camp Verde.
-Paul
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