Let's meet at the Albertson’s center on Carefree
Highway 1/2-mile East of interstate
17 on the north side of Carefree Hwy. Please meet on the east side of
the McDonalds parking area and arrive no later than 8:45 AM for a
departure at 9:00 AM sharp. Coffee, donuts and a restroom are available
inside the Albertson’s store not far from McDonalds. I have been told
today, 9/27/20 that the McDonalds restrooms are open now, so we can take
our comfort break there as we did previously prior to the general Covid
19 Pandemic or use the facilities in Albertson’s.
Please arrive
with a full fuel tank, your club name badge and bring your club Baofeng
radio along with a copy of this route guide.
We also encourage you to bring an Arizona map. You might want to review
this agenda and routing before you
start the tour, in order to avoid any wrong turns or confusion and to
get a general idea of the tour especially if it is your first time.
When departing the starting point, will head west
on Carefree Highway (74) to Hwy 60, (about 20 miles) and turn north to
Wickenburg on hwy 60 where we will stop at McDonalds for a 15-minute
comfort break. We depart & pick up Hwy 60/93 from there, turning
right off the traffic circle and picking up Hwy 89. About 4 miles down
hwy 89 it branches off to the right, DO NOT
TAKE HWY 89 keep to the left
instead, which is actually straight ahead and
you will be on Hwy 93 heading toward Kingman.
It is approximately 30 miles from our comfort stop to Hwy 97 turnoff and
the nearby town of Bagdad.
This
intersection is marked but not really well, just a small sign on the
right shoulder so pay attention, it is easy to drive right past it,
someone does on every trip. Turn right on 97 and follow it
until it intersects with Hwy 96. At that junction you will turn
right and follow Hwy 96 through the towns of Hillside, & Kirkland where
there is the Kirkland Steak House and a Post Office turn left toward the
Post Office and park with the group. The front runners stop at the
Post Office to allow everyone to catch up before we continue on into
Prescott. Consult the state map you brought along if necessary.
A safety suggestion here, hwy 96 has
a number of dips in it and blind curves; it is common to be hitting the
brakes so your car doesn’t bottom out in the dips so please don’t follow
the car in front of you too closely. Allow some slow down and braking
room for the car in front of you.
Please don’t overdrive your ability on
this road, we never leave anyone behind, drive at your own safe comfort
level, someone will wait up for you if you fall behind and monitor your
radio or cell phone so we know where you are.
On the outskirts,we'll be entering Prescott on Iron
Springs Road, keep following it as the name changes to Miller Valley
Road, continue on Miller Valley Road to Gurley St, and turn left on
Gurley street, continue past the courthouse on Montezuma Ave and drive
east until it intersects with Hwy 69 in about 2.5 miles,
and then bear left on Hwy 89. In about 5
miles you will soon come to a traffic circle, with directions to
the park, Watson Lake Road, it’s a right hand turn out of the circle
follow it and we’ll figure out where we go from there. There is a
$3.00 entry fee per car and requires 3 single dollar bills in the
machine, please be sure you are prepared for that. A screenshot of
the traffic circle by the lake is below, the green park area and beyond
and in black is the lake itself. We’ll be somewhere in the large green
park area; we’ll have to figure it out when we get there.
We were unable to
rent a ramada so we’ll eat under the shade of a tree, bring a blanket
along with your lunch. The roads are all paved and there are designated
parking areas not far from where we will picnic (I am told) Also,
there are restrooms that are available for use in the park,
again, (I am told.)