Horton Creek and Knoll Lake - 10/17/2026 - 10/18/2025
Horton Creek Trail, Highline Trail, and Derrick Trail Loop
Fish Hatchery to Knoll Lake via Babe Haught Trail
This past weekend my friend Kimberly, and I backpacked up to Horton Creek, followed by a day hike to Knoll Lake. I had met Kimberly at a previous hiking group event, and she reached out to me very last minute to join her on this adventure. I was excited to finally test the ultra light gear that I had been purchasing the last few months, and hike with a buddy. Thursday night I hastily packed my gear, and was pleasantly surprised that it weighed only 19lbs with food and water. There was room for more gear, and food if needed.
We left early Friday morning, and arrived at the Horton Creek trailhead at 10am. Our goal was to hike up to the creek, and find a good campsite for the night. The weather was perfect, and the 6.3 mile hike (with 1600 feet of elevation gain) was a breeze. We went counter clockwise around the loop, which meant that the hike out in the morning would be quick and easy, and we would encounter less hikers going in.
When we arrived at the creek we were delighted to see the water flowing exceptionally well. The recent record rainfall in Arizona seemed to have resulted in the creeks, streams, and waterfalls flowing generously. After dropping our things off at the campsite we explored the area bit, and took a lot of photos. I used my Sony Alpha 6700 to get the perfect milky photos of the moving water. I was able to use my phone as a remote control for the camera, and with ISO 50 and F22 the shots photos turned out amazing. The leaves had just started changing colors as well, with plenty of red leaves all over the place. In a few days, or weeks, the fall colors should be amazing in the area.
After exploring the creek we finished setting up camp, and made dinner. This was my first time cooking for myself at a campsite, and it was good learning experience. I made myself some instant ramen noodles, and added some salmon for protein. For dessert I ate half of a Cadbury chocolate bar. At some point a dark cloud moved overhead, and we became concerned about a possible thunderstorm. I requested a weather update from my Garmin InReach, and saw nothing in the forecast, but clear skies. The weather system moved away without producing anything, except thunder off in the distance. As the sun started setting we put on extra layers to keep warm. We hung out for a while, and enjoyed as the sun went down. Once it was dark the stars came out, and we turned off our lights to enjoy the sky. Eventually we called it a night, and retired to our tents for some sleep.
The next morning we woke up early, had breakfast (oatmeal, coffee and more Cadbury), refilled our water, and then packed up our stuff. We hiked 3.6 miles down to the trailhead. The hike down was beautiful as walked along the creek. On our way out we passed a lot of other hikers just starting their day.
Back at the trailhead we removed our warm layers and switched to shorts, and sun hoodies. from the Horton Creek trailhead it was a short drive up to the Babe Haught Trail trailhead. The hike up to Knoll Lake was nice. On the way up to the lake we saw a tarantula, red velvet ant, giant red mushroom, crows, red tailed hawk, squirrels and lizards. We had the entire trail to ourselves, and only saw one other person at the lake. We hung out at the lake for a while, and then turned around to head back into Payson for pizza, and brisket at Rim Country BBQ and Wood-Fired Pizza.
I learned quite a bit on this trip, and I'll be making a few small changes to my gear, and food for the next backpacking trip.
