Black Friday 2022
Cerbat Foothills Recreation Area
Sometimes it pays to cruise around Google Maps. I find myself doing this more and more while trip planning. I call up an area on Google Maps, zoom in, and scroll around. More often than not, I find a place that my typical trip research wouldn’t have turned up—the type of place only the locals would know about. This was the case during our Thanksgiving stay near Bullhead City, Arizona. I was looking at Google Maps for the Kingman, Arizona area when Monolith Garden Trail appeared on my screen. I had never heard of Monolith Garden, but the name sure sounded cool!
Monolith Garden Trail is part of a network of trails that traverse the Cerbat Mountains west and north of Kingman, Arizona. It is part of the 11,300 acre Cerbat Foothills Recreation Area which is is a combination of federal, state, county, city, and private lands. The area is Mojave Desert scrub/semi-desert grassland, with yucca, beavertail, prickly pear, creosote, mesquite and even some ocotillo. The only “wildlife” we saw were some cows that are allowed to graze on the BLM land, but the area provides habitat for mule deer, desert tortoise, coyote, fox, Gambel’s quail, mourning dove, raptors, and many smaller mammals, birds, and reptiles.
Cerbat Foothills Recreation Area was a short 34 mile drive east from our camp at Katherine Landing. While most everyone else was recovering from Thanksgiving, we did a 7.6 mile lollipop hike on the Monolith Garden Trail. The rock formations and Mojave Desert flora were fascinating and the trail was generally easy to follow and in good condition. Despite the gorgeous weather, we only saw a few other people on trail. We highly recommend this hike if you are ever passing through Kingman.
Click here for a Cerbat Foothills Recreation Area brochure. It includes a nice trail map and directions to the four area trailheads.
The Adventure Continues
Join us for our next post as we return to California to begin our Joshua Tree National Park adventures. And don’t forget to check out our Amazon RV and Adventure Gear recommendations. We only post products that we use and that meet the Evans Outdoor Adventures seal of approval. By accessing Amazon through our links and making any purchase (even things as simple as toothpaste!), you get Amazon’s every day low pricing and they share a little with us. This helps us maintain this website and is much appreciated!
Looks like a perfect way to spend the Thanksgiving holiday. That is one hefty barrel cactus! Thanks for the post