Starting at 8,565 feet from Lockett Meadow, the trail climbs gradually but steadily through thick forests of pine, fir, and aspen to the Inner Basin of the San Francisco Peaks. The Inner Basin is actually the inside of a collapsed volcano created from one of Mt. Humphrey’s past eruptions over a million years ago. The city of Flagstaff gets much of its water supply from the Inner Basin, and we will pass two large pump houses along the way that supply this water to the city.

At 1.5 miles we’ll reach a trail junction consisting of several service roads and a cluster of buildings. We’ll take the middle road at this junction and make a left turn shortly beyond. We then follow this road for another half mile into the Inner Basin. The basin is a wonderland of expansive meadows and wildflowers surrounded by dense forests of Douglas fir, blue spruce, and acres of aspen. The entire basin itself is then surrounded by the towering San Francisco Peaks of Humphreys, Agassiz, Freemont, and Doyle. We’ll plan on stopping here for lunch, photo opportunities, and exploring before returning to the trailhead on the same route.