Leaving the comfort and crushed granite of Buffalo Park for the technical and boulder-strewn Lower Oldham Trail can be a tough transition, hard on the body and the psyche.
Past the gate, you plunge down a fairly steep ravine that not only slows you down and makes you become meticulous of every footfall. It bottoms out and then heading up what old-timers like to call the Oldham Steps on the south slopes of Mount Elden.
That downhill segment, between Buffalo Park’s border and the true start of the Lower Oldham Trail is one of my least favorite parts of any run in greater Flagstaff, save perhaps the beginning of Sandy’s Canyon down to the Arizona Trail.
The other day, though, I happened to look up while carefully zigzagging around the rocks on the downhill stretch and noticed a small grader or backhoe, at rest, just to the east. It looked as if it was in the process of forging a new path, and the part I saw looked like it would be wide and smooth.
Turns out, I was right. The Flagstaff Biking Organization, in conjunction with the Coconino National Forest, is rerouting the portion of Buffalo/Oldham mentioned above as part of the Mount Elden Dry Lake Hills Recreation Plan.
Soon, perhaps as early as mid-October, I and other trail users won’t have to gripe about that steep, rocky downhill anymore.
A new smooth path — organizers report it will be 48-inch wide, aggregate (crushed granite) surfaced pathway — will replace the existing single track. It will still include a steep downhill, of course, but the face-plant quotient will be significantly reduced. It looks as if the total distance will be slightly longer, but it definitely worth it.
You can read all about the project here.
So, with that change in the offing, it gives people all the more reason to imbibe in the pleasures and challenges of the 7.8-mile Buffalo Park-Lower Oldham-Rocky Ridge-Easy Oldham loop.
In one run, you get to do a full traverse of the iconic 2-mile Buffalo Park main path – albeit split up, roughly half at the start, the rest to finish up – experience the big boulders and technical tiptoeing on the climb up the Lower Oldham, a single-track portion of the Rocky Ridge Trail that goes through the Museum Fire scar, and then a nice, mostly downhill jaunt back on Easy Oldham, where you can peek into the backyards of some mansions backing up to the forest.
And maybe, just maybe, you’ll see some wildlife along the way.
The only time I’ve seen a bear anywhere on either the San Francisco Peaks, Mount Elden or any other forested area was on the Lower Oldham early on a Sunday morning in June of 2020. I wrote about that incident for the Arizona Daily Sun shortly thereafter. Here’s an excerpt:
I turned a corner on the trail and saw, not 20 feet in front of me, a bear.
I stopped dead in my tracks.
Time didn’t slow; it stopped.
I was struck, simultaneously, with wonder and fear.
Wonder, because in nearly a year traipsing around the mountains of Flagstaff I had not seen much wildlife, certainly not a bear. Most days, I was lucky to catch sight of a squirrel. Fear, because, well, it’s a freakin’ bear.
Now, I’ve encountered bears before while living in northern California, including an early-morning encounter on the Foresthill Loop in Auburn in which the sight (and, perhaps, smell) of me sent a huge and hulking ursine rambling down a steep embankment to flee, crunching tree branches in its wake. California bears: kind of wimpy. I also had one bear sighting in the Bridger Mountains near Bozeman, Montana, home of grizzlies. I can’t be certain if it had been a black bear or grizzly; I didn’t stick around long enough to find out.
But here, on a silent Sunday morning, I encountered my first Flagstaff bear. I wished, in that moment, I had brought my smart phone to snap a photo. It was walking — no, lumbering — down the trail ahead of me. I stood there staring. It was a small bear, as bears go, about the height of large dog, say, a Great Pyrenees. But stout and wide, nearly filling up the entire singletrack. It paws were the size of sauce pans.
Could it be, I wondered, a cub? If it were a cub, that would not be good news. Because where there are cubs, there are mama bears around. And if there’s one thing I do know, you never want to startle a mama bear protecting her young.
Just then, the bear stopped and slowly craned its neck to the left. It was looking back at me. Now, I know I’m anthropomorphizing here, but the look on the bear’s face was one of annoyance, as if wondering why I was spoiling its morning stroll, the quest for breakfast. Maybe this wasn’t a cub; maybe it was a teenage bear, I thought, because I’ve seen that look of disdain on my own kids’ faces. All that was missing was acne and eye rolling.
We made eye contact then, the bear and I. We had a moment. Then, as quickly as the bear stopped and looked back, it turned its gaze around and started walking — no, ambling — away from me once more. This bear was slow. It must have taken a minute for it to reach the next bend, where large boulders lined the right side of the trail and open grassland dotted with pines on the left.
That ursine encounter aside, the Lower Oldham Trail has other highlights, including cave-like dwellings below ginormous looming boulders.
It’s a good workout, the Lower Oldham, soul cleansing (and sole punishing) in a way. Climbing The Steps, as they call it, feels meditative: not a mindless slog, but more of a contemplative churning, step by step, rock by rock. Don’t even bother to look down at your smart watch; time matters little, just keep moving.
The Steps show mercy after a while. You reach plateaus, and even a few downhills, before the climbing resumes. After a while, I was able to get in a fugue state, to nearly dissociate, because not a soul was stirring on this day.
You’re rudely reintroduced to civilization when you reach the junction with the Rocky Ridge Trail at Mount Elden Lookout Road. Yes, traffic is back on the road now, along with many mountain bikers. Rocky Ridge runs parallel, just west of the dirt and gravel road, and that stretch is only slightly less than a mile before recrossing Elden Road and hooking up with the Easy Oldham.
Then, after running back up the rock-strewn path that soon will be history, thanks to the biking folks, you’re back on the terra firma that is Buffalo Park to complete the loop.
Oldham Loop, Flagstaff
Distance: 7.8 miles
Driving Directions: Park at Buffalo Park, 2400 North Gemini Road, Flagstaff.
The Route: From the trailhead at Buffalo Park, start on the main route going counterclockwise until you hit the middle trail in the park and pass by the Nate Avery Trail intersection to the signed Arizona Trail. Follow the rocky trail downhill. At just past 1 mile, veer slightly left and uphill and continue uphill past several intersections, including one for the Pipeline Trail. When you reach the signed Lower Oldham Trail sign, it’s a two-mile climb to the junction with Elden Lookout Road and the Brookbank Trail. Cross the fire road and veer left onto the Rocky Ridge Trail. Go 0.8 of a mile until you reach a sign saying “Rocky Ridge Access, Buffalo Park 2.8 mi.” Recross the fire road and follow arrows. Stay on the unmarked dirt road for 0.25 of a mile and then veer right on an unmarked singletrack (heading toward some houses in the distance). This is the Easy Oldham Trail. Follow that path, staying to the right on the many intersections with social trails, until you reach the right turn to go uphill on the AZT to Buffalo Park.
Elevation gain: 1,089 feet
Highest Elevation: 7,553 feet
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