Last Day In Sedona Area - Prescott and Watson Lake

On our last "play day" in the Sedona area we took a day trip to Prescott and Watson Lake.  The first thing we realized is that Arizona is much more mountainous than we had envisioned. In fact Prescott is at 5367' above sea level and we arrived to find snow.

The primary draw for the town is Whiskey Row which was historically the town center, and as it sounds, the place to go for a drink or a poke (the term poke is from Lonesome Dove 😁).

 

We stopped in to the Palace Saloon for a beer. As the story goes there was a great fire on Whisky Row in 1900 and some locals dragged the bar (above) out to the courthouse across the street. There they continued drinking as the town burned down. The Palace was rebuilt in 1901 around the original bar as it stands today. 

Many famous or infamous characters have been said to drink at this bar to include Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday. 

The bar has been featured in films, including Junior Bonner, starring Steve McQueen; Billy Jack, starring Tom Laughlin; and Wanda Nevada, starring Peter Fonda and Brooke Shields. It is also said to be haunted by several of its past denizens, and has been featured on Ghost Adventures.

After visiting the town we headed a short distance to Watson Lake. This lake was formed in the early 1900s when the Granite Creek was dammed.

The area is called the Granite Dells. The Dells consist of exposed bedrock and large boulders of granite that have eroded into an unusual lumpy, rippled appearance.

The area is owned by the city of Prescott and has a campground and a wide array of hiking trails around the lake and the area surrounding it. There is a $3 per vehicle entry fee and you probably want to avoid trying to hike there after rain or snow. We found it very muddy when we were there, but still worth visiting.

You can find more pictures in a 3 minute video on our YouTube channel at:

Prescott AZ and Watson Lake

Next we are off to Big Bend National Park in Texas with overnight stops at a casino in Tuscon, a Cracker Barrel in Los Cruces (affectionately called Cracker Docking) and a night in Marfa where we will try to view the fabeled Marfa Lights.

Thanks for reading and feel free to share this with anyone who might be interested.

Cindy and Terry

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