Kachina Village, to me, has always seemed a mysterious enclave, somewhat forbidding and not really welcoming to outsiders — meaning folks from Flagstaff. Something about those confusing, serpentine streets precludes exploration, and the squinting mien of people in front of their rustic abodes warns me to keep my distance.
Then again, maybe it’s just me.
Which is why I don’t normally run the trails down there, not wanting to incur the wrath of the Village People.
But when driving south toward Sedona on Highway 89A the other day, I saw a runner cross in front of me like a startled fawn, going east on the Highland Trail and then, presumably, south toward the village proper.
The encounter prompted me to make a return trip. Kachina Wetlands Preserve is hardly secluded, given that it’s visible by whoosing traffic along Interstate 17. Combined with the Highland Trail, also pretty high-profile with its trailhead along Highway 89A, it makes for a bucolic, only slightly challenging 7.2-mile trek for all trail users, save those revving motorized vehicles.
The Wetlands, of course, is best known as a birding hot spot, said by the ornithological-inclinced to be an even more active than Lake Mary, and a so-called “global hot spot” on the eBird database of sightings. It is, indeed, a natural wonder, somewhat ironic since the ponds and the wetlands vegetation is entirely human-made.
See, Kachina Village needed a site for its treated wastewater to evaporate, so the town’s “improvement district” struck upon the idea of constructing a wetlands on unused wooded land and meadows north of the housing developments. They brought in Northern Arizona University experts to make the transformation, seeding the area with native grasses and vegetation literally transplanted from Marshall Lake.
In the end — voila — birds flocked there. People, too. And not just Villagers, though on any morning you can see locals leave their exquisitely rustic cabins and walking their dogs on the grounds. Visitors bearing binoculars come from as far away as — gasp! — the Valley to check out the scene.
Paths were forged for a loop around the ponds, not all of which are always full, but local groups also worked to construct a 2.4-mile single-track trail that winds through grassland and stands of pines before connecting with the Highland Trail, a 2.7-mile loop that backs up against the southernmost parts of Fort Tuthill County Park.
You can access the Wetlands/Highland trails from a few parking areas, but the most popular starting point by far is the dirt lot near the intersection of Tovar Trail and Lohali Trail, both paved roads.
From there, you immediately find yourself in the midst of the glimmering ponds and wide fire roads that allow you to stroll around them and check out the wildlife that hangout — according to the Northern Arizona Audubon Society, everything from the iconic Canadian Goose to the Pied-billed Grebe, and, in the imported bulrushes, multi-hued blackbirds.
But venture away from the pond, onto the singletrack that leads to Highway 89A and the Highland Trail, and you are liable to see all manner of raptors, including bald eagles and peregrine falcons and ospreys.
For birding folks, that’s something of a two-fer — wetlands and uplands birds in one stop.
For those wanting a workout, via foot or mountain bike, it’s a pleasant trip through stands of pines and rolling meadows. And though it does not seem that physically taxing at the time, you wind up gaining 607 feet in elevation, more than a third of the climbing coming on the ascent up the Highland Trail toward Fort Tuthill Park.
Signage is decent for most of the trail, except at the start. After parking and passing through the gate with a message board that tells people they are prohibited from fishing, swimming, hunting and operating motorized vehicles at the Wetlands, there is no instruction about how to get to the singletrack heading north and slightly east of the ponds.
It’s somewhat intuitive, though. You lope along a dirt utility road, away from the main pond, with a power station on your right, for maybe 0.2 of a mile until you see a slim path forking to the left. Take that trail as it runs somewhat parallel to the ponds. You know you’re going the correct way when a brown, county-logoed post points you away from the water and into the woods.
From that point, it’s nearly impossible to lose your way. I detect the work of mountain-bike trail builders in the portion south and east of Highway 89A, because there are fun, swooping rises and falls and a few hairpin turns and switchbacks. Nothing too steep, either. One you clear the switchbacks and flatten out in a meadow, there are two paths that eventually reconnect. Either works. I preferred the slightly longer loop that runs close to some nice houses to spy upon.
Another decision needs to be made once you cross Highway 89A and begin the Highland Trail Loop. Head to the right, counter-clockwise, and it’s a slight, steady uphill for a mile.
I, rather, chose to go left, clockwise, where there’s a sharp, rocky ascension for about a half-mile. It takes more effort, sure, but the climbing is over sooner and the trail mostly flatten as it heads toward a junction for the Tuthill trail system. Plus, on the way back down the loop, it a more gentle downhill for those with aged joints.
After that, just retrace your steps back to the Wetlands and the trailhead.
An enjoyable “cooldown” after the 7.2-mile journey would be to jog or walk a loop around the ponds, checking out the birding highlights. And, as advertised, I saw birds, fowl and others.
I’m no ornithologist, obviously, but there were small, colorful birds flitting through the grasses and a few stately mallard-types chilling in the ponds, even in mid-April. When I got close, though, the fowl fluttered away from me, pronto. They must be Kachina Village species, inhospitable to outsiders.
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