Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields: Northern Arizona

Ash Fork Airport / Jay Hasbrook Airport (revised 12/2/04) - Ash Fork Intermediate Field (added 12/2/04)

Echeverria Field / Wickenburg Airport / Forepaugh Airport (revised 6/15/08) - Grand Canyon North Rim Airport (revised 6/15/08)

Red Butte Airport / Grand Canyon Airport (revised 6/28/08) - Tonopah CAA Airfield (revised 7/13/04) - Winona Intermediate Field (added 12/22/04)

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Winona Intermediate Field, Winona, AZ

35.15 North / 111.27 West (Northeast of Phoenix, AZ)

Winona Intermediate Field 43A, as depicted on the January 1942 Prescott Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).

Photo of airfield while open has not been located.

The Winona Intermediate Field was apparently established as one of the Department of Commerce's network of airfields

built for the emergency use of commercial aircraft flying along airways in between major cities.

It was apparently established at some point between 1929-33,

as it was not yet listed among active airfields in the 1929 Airplane Landing Fields of the Pacific West (according to Chris Kennedy).

The earliest reference to the Winona Intermediate Field which has been located

was in The Airport Directory Company's 1933 Airport Directory (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).

It described Winona as the Department of Commerce's Site 43A, along the Los Angeles - Amarillo airway.

The field was said to measure 145 acres in size,

and to have 2 sod & dirt runways: 3,887' east/west & 3,300' north/south.

The field was said to have beacon, boundary, and approach lights, but no service.

Winona apparently gained a third runway within the next year,

as the Department of Commerce's 1934 Airport Directory (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)

described the field as having 3 sod & dirt runways (with the longest being the 3,960' north/south strip).

A shed was said to have "43A" & "LA-A" marked on the roof,

and the field was said to have emergency aviation gasoline.

The earliest depiction of the Winona Intermediate Field which has been located

was on the January 1942 Prescott Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).

It was also still depicted as an active airfield on the September 1946 Prescott Sectional Chart (according to Chris Kennedy).

The Winona Intermediate Field was evidently abandoned at some point between 1946-49,

as it was no longer depicted at all on the March 1949 Prescott Sectional Chart (according to Chris Kennedy).

The need for the network of intermediate fields had largely been eliminated by that point,

as advances in the range & safety of commercial aircraft made such emergency fields unnecessary.

Nothing at all was depicted at the site of the Winona Intermediate Field

on USGS topo maps from 1970, 1982, or 1983.

After being abandoned for approximately 50 years,

the 1997 USGS aerial photo showed that the outline of three runways at the Winona Intermediate Field was still quite recognizable.

There did not appear to be any traces of any buildings at the site.

The Winona Intermediate Field is located a mile southeast of the intersection of Interstate 40 & Forrest Service Road (exit 219). ____________________________________________________

Ash Fork Intermediate Field, Ash Fork, AZ

35.23 North / 112.55 West (Northwest of Phoenix, AZ)

Ash Fork Intermediate Field 36A, as depicted on the 1943 11M Regional Aeronautical Chart (courtesy of David Brooks).

Photo of airfield while open has not been located.

The date of construction of the Ash Fork Intermediate Field has not been determined.

Anecdotal information from a land-use official from the Acheson, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad

indicates that this site may have been used for aircraft operations "all the way back to the World War One era."

The earliest official description of the Ask Fork Intermediate Field which has been located

was in The Airport Directory Company's 1933 Airport Directory (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).

It described the field as Site 36A along the Los Angeles - Amarillo Airway,

one of the Department of Commerce's network of Intermediate Fields.

The field was said to have two 3,960' sod & dirt runways, oriented north/south & east/west.

The Airport Directory Company's 1937 Airport Directory (courtesy of Bob Rambo)

described Ash Fork in the same manner.

The earliest depiction of the Ash Fork Intermediate Field which has been located

was on the 1943 11M Regional Aeronautical Chart (courtesy of David Brooks).

It labeled the field as Ash Fork Intermediate Field 36A,

and also indicated that the Ash Fork Radio (a 4-way radio navigational range) was located on the field.

Ash Fork was described in the April 1944 US Army/Navy Directory of Airfields (courtesy of Ken Mercer)

as having a 4,100' unpaved runway.

It was still listed as "Site 36A" along the Los Angeles - Amarillo Airway.

The March 1945 Prescott Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)

still depicted Ash Fork as Site 36A.

The March 1949 Prescott Sectional Chart (courtesy of David Brooks) depicted "Ash Fork (CAA)" as Site 36,

and described the field as having a 4,100' unpaved runway.

The Ash Fork Intermediate Field was evidently closed at some point between 1949-62,

as it was not listed among active airfields in the 1962 AOPA Airport Directory.

The need for the network of intermediate fields had largely been eliminated,

as advances in the range & safety of commercial aircraft made such emergency fields unnecessary.

Nothing at all was depicted at the site of the Ash Fork Intermediate Field

on USGS topo maps from 1970, 1973, or 1983.

After being abandoned for at least 30 years,

the 1992 USGS aerial photo showed that the outline the Ash Fork Intermediate Field was still quite recognizable.

There do not appear to be any traces of any buildings at the site.

The Ash Fork Intermediate Field is located on the north side of Interstate 40, 4 miles west of the town of Ash Fork.

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Ash Fork Airport / Jay Hasbrook Airport, Ash Fork, AZ

35.23 North / 112.49 West (Northwest of Phoenix, AZ)

The Ash Fork Airport, as depicted on the August 1971 USAF Tactical Pilotage Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).

The Ash Fork Airport north of the town was evidently established at some point between 1962-71,

as it was not yet listed among active airfields in the 1962 AOPA Airport Directory.

The earliest depiction of the airfield which has been located

was on the August 1971 USAF Tactical Pilotage Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).

It depicted the Ash Fork Airport north of the town as having a 3,400' unpaved runway.

[Note that this Ash Fork Airport north of the town was a separate airfield from the original Ash Fork Intermediate Field,

located a few miles to the west of the town.]

The 1972 Flight Guide (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)

depicted Ash Fork as having three unpaved runways (with the longest being the 3,400' Runway 7/25)

and 2 small buildings (hangars?) south of the runway intersection.

Dan Lawler recalled, "In the summer of 1975 I was beginning to set up my business, Air Grand Canyon.

I was seeking a location along the US 66 / Interstate-40 corridor

from which to conduct commercial Grand Canyon air tours.

Since at that time the AZ Corporation Commission required a flight operator to obtain a certificate from them,

and would almost never issue one where another operator was already in business,

most of the otherwise prime locations like Williams & Flagstaff were effectively ruled out."

"Ash Fork, however, had no operator,

and was a location from which a one-hour round-trip air tour could be conducted.

Having flown over the town I had seen the old dirt runways,

and through some local inquiries I determined that the airport was on land owned by the Acheson, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad."

"With a phone call to the Santa Fe headquarters in Chicago

I began the particularly lengthy process of leasing the airport land from them.

I learned from Santa Fe’s guy in charge of land-leases that the land was then being used for cattle grazing,

and had been since the 1950's.

He told me the original use of the site for aircraft operations dated all the way back to the World War One era

when Ash Fork was still a major stop along the rail line,

and still contracted with a 'Harvey House' lodge.

I remember him using the phrase, '...one of the earliest landing fields in the country.'"

Ash Fork Airport was listed as an active airfield in the 1976 AOPA Airport Directory (according to Chris Kennedy).

An April 1976 aerial view by Dan Lawler looking east at the Ash Fork Airport.

"The runways had at some time in the past received some well done grading,

and were crowned, and still drained effectively.

[Runway] 7/25 had quite an up-slope toward the west."

An April 1976 aerial view by Dan Lawler looking south at the Ash Fork Airport.

Dan Lawler continued, "There was a small very run-down open-front hangar & a big shack on the airport property,

along with several piles of old lumber & debris.

A local guy told me the buildings had been erected in the post-war 1940s.

By 1977 the hangar was ratty, but if you had a 'third-world' mindset,

it was still usable for a single-engine airplane.

The shack on the other hand, while nearly as large as the hangar,

was so tumble-down it wasn’t even safe to walk into."

"Brahma cattle roamed the runways at will, leaving an incalculable number of cowpies,

and the whole property was pockmarked with prairie dog holes.

Of the three runways, 16/34 was rutted to the point of being not usable,

but the other 2 runways were still marginally serviceable rough dirt.

That summer, after first driving them several times in my car,

I landed there in a Cessna 210, a Cessna 172, and a Piper Warrior."

"That September my step-brother, Jay Hasbrook,

was killed in a sailplane accident in the Sierra Estrella mountains southwest of Phoenix

(Jay was a commercial pilot & flight instructor,

the son of aviation safety expert Howard Hasbrook).

I was the one who had the airport renamed in his honor,

simply by sending a letter to the AZ Department of Transportation’s Aeronautics Division."

"As the lease negotiations with Santa Fe dragged on,

a different opportunity presented itself.

A Floridian named Carl Antone contacted me about helping to develop an airport

on property he owned south of the town of Ash Fork.

Carl convinced me to abandon the frustrating effort to secure the old Santa Fe airport,

and we cooperated in creating a 4,300’ black cinder airstrip on his property."

Air Grand Canyon finally began sightseeing flights from this new Jay Hasbrook airfield in the summer of 1977,

but their operations at that location lasted less than a year, after the new runway was destroyed in a flood.

Air Grand Canyon eventually moved to the Williams Airport,

and finally to the Grand Canyon Airport, where it was the airport's 2^nd largest fixed-wing air tour operator in 2004.

Dan Lawler recalled, "I’ll always fondly remember that first abortive start at the old Santa Fe Airport at Ash Fork."

The July 1977 World Aeronautical Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)

depicted the "Jay Hasbrook" Airport as having a 3,400' unpaved runway.

The 1979 USGS topo map depicted the “Ash Fork Landing Strip” as having 2 unpaved runways,

with 2 small buildings just southeast of the runway intersection.

The Ash Fork Airport was no longer listed among active airfields

in the 1982 AOPA Airport Directory (courtesy of Ed Drury).

As seen in the 1992 USGS aerial photo, the outlines of Runways 7/25 & 3/21 were still apparent,

but not a trace appeared to remain of Runway 16/34, or any buildings at the site.

The current status & ownership of the property is unknown.

The Ash Fork Airport is located northwest of the intersection of Double A Ranch Road & Railroad Avenue.

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Grand Canyon North Rim Airport, North Rim, AZ

36.39 North / 112.13 West (North of Grand Canyon, AZ)

"Grand Canyon (North Rim)" Airport,

as depicted on the March 1949 Grand Canyon Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).

Photo of the airport while open has not been located.

Steven Sund recalled, "There is (or was) an airstrip at the Grand Canyon's north rim

(presumably to connect the more remote north rim with the south rim villages)

that I've wondered about for years & years.

If I'm not mistaken it was on the west side of the main access road

and was possibly operated by the US Forest Service."

The Grand Canyon North Rim Airport was apparently established at some point between 1937-38,

as it was not listed among active airfields in The Airport Directory Company's 1937 Airport Directory (courtesy of Bob Rambo).

The earliest depiction of the field which has been located

was in The Airport Directory Company's 1938 Airport Directory (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).

It described Grand Canyon North Rim as a commercial airport located 18 miles north of Canyon Rim.

It was said to have 2 runways: 3,800' north/south & 2,500' northeast/southwest.

The Grand Canyon North Rim Airport was described in the same fashion

in The Airport Directory Company's 1941 Airport Directory (according to Chris Kennedy).

The Grand Canyon North Rim Airport was apparently closed for a few years during WW2

(like many other small civilian airports),

as it was not depicted at all on the February 1944 Grand Canyon Sectional Chart (according to Chris Kennedy)

or listed among active airports in the April 1944 US Army/Navy Directory of Airfields (courtesy of Ken Mercer).

The Grand Canyon North Rim Airport was evidently reopened at some point between 1944-49,

as it was depicted on the March 1949 Grand Canyon Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).

It depicted "Grand Canyon (North Rim)" Airport as having a 3,000' unpaved runway.

The airport was evidently closed again (for reasons unknown) at some point in the next four years,

as it was no longer depicted at all on the September 1953 Grand Canyon Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)

or subsequent aeronautical charts.

A single 3,400' northwest/southeast runway was still depicted on the 1984 USGS topo map,

labeled simply as "Landing Strip".

The 1988 USGS topo map continued to depict a single 3,400' northwest/southeast runway,

labeled simply as "Landing Strip".

The remains of the single runway at North Grand Canyon was still quite apparent in the 1992 USGS aerial photo.

There did not appear to be any remains of any buildings at the site.

A circa 2006 aerial view looking at the snowy remains of the Grand Canyon North Rim Airport's runway.

The Grand Canyon North Rim Airport is located along the west side of Route 67,

just south of the Kaibab Lodge.

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Red Butte Airport / Grand Canyon Airport, Tusayan, AZ

35.85 North / 112.1 West (South of Grand Canyon, AZ)

An aerial view of the "Grand Canyon Airport"

from The Airport Directory Company's 1937 Airports Directory (courtesy of Bob Rambo).

An undated photo of a Scenic Airways Ford Trimotor.

In 1927, former WW1 Army flyer, entrepreneur & promoter Parker Van Zandt

created a runway across a northern Arizona meadow at a place called Red Butte,

built a hangar, and launched the first commercial air tours over the nearby Grand Canyon.

His Scenic Airways was bankrolled by some of the biggest names in American business (such as Henry Ford).

Its first flights carried National Park Service & Fred Harvey Company officials

over the Canyon in a Stinson Detroiter.

Scenic Airways flew its first paying sightseers over the Grand Canyon in April 1928,

a month later bringing online the first of more than a dozen AT-4 & AT-5 Tri-Motors

purchased from the Ford Motor Company.

In addition to a large hangar at Red Butte, 4 cottages & a Great House were built.

The Great House was of the same quality as the El Tovar Lodge.

The Standard Oil Company's 1929 "Airplane Landing Fields of the Pacific West" (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)

described the Grand Canyon Airport as being operated by Scenic Airways.

The airfield was said to measure 9,250' x 3,700', with a sandy loam surface,

with the entire field available for landings.

A T-shaped hangar, marked "Scenic Airways" in front,

was said to be at the northwest corner of the field.

The onset of the Great Depression spelled the end for overextended Scenic Airways.

By 1930, Scenic’s assets, including the Red Butte Airport & its maintenance hangar,

along with 17 aircraft had been sold off.

A group headed by one Jack Thornburg bought the Canyon tour operation

& reopened the Red Butte airport for the 1931 summer season,

flying as Grand Canyon Air Lines using a three-engine Bach & a Curtiss Robin.

From 1931 onward - except for WW2 when pleasure flying was suspended -

the aerial tour service has operated from the South Rim under several names.

In the mid-1930s the airline enjoyed a symbiotic relationship with Transcontinental & Western Air,

with side trips to the Canyon from TWA stops at Winslow, AZ, to the Red Butte field via Ford Tri-Motor.

The Airport Directory Company's 1937 Airports Directory (courtesy of Bob Rambo)

described "Grand Canyon Airport" as having 2 sod landing strips,

with the longest being an 8,000' northeast/southwest runway.

The aerial photo in the directory depicted a single hangar along the west side of the field,

as well as a total of 12 aircraft parked on the field.

Things hummed along until WW2.

Some sources indicate that only military flights flew out of the Red Butte Airfield from 1942-45.

However, the field may have been closed at some point during the war

(as was the case with many other small civilian airports),

as no airfield was depicted at Red Butte on the 1945 Prescott Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).

It evidently reopened at some point between 1945-49,

as "Grand Canyon" Airport was depicted on the 1949 Prescott Sectional Chart (courtesy of John Voss).

It was described as having a 6,000' unpaved runway.

In 1951 civil aviation began again at Red Butte with the Hudgins brothers.

The Aerodromes table on the 1956 Prescott Sectional Chart (courtesy of John Voss)

described "Grand Canyon (South Rim)" as having 2 unpaved runways, with the longest being 6,000'.

Since 1957, the airline service at the field has been called Grand Canyon Airlines, Inc.

Grand Canyon Airport was still depicted as an active airfield

on the August 1962 USAF Operational Navigation Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).

The 1964 Jeppesen Manual (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)

depicted the Grand Canyon Airport as having a total of 4 runways, including parallel Runway 2L/20R & 2R/20L.

The longest runway was the 9,100' Runway 1/19.

Several small buildings were depicted along the west side of the field.

By the time of the January 1966 USAF Operational Navigation Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy),

the original Red Butte / Grand Canyon Airport had been closed,

after it was replaced by the new Grand Canyon National Park Airport, built 13 miles to the northwest in Tusayan.

All of the structures at the Red Butte Airport (the hangar, 4 cottages & the Great House)

either burned down or were taken down by the 1970s.

The airfield was not depicted at all on the 1970 or 1979 USGS topo maps.

At the site of Red Butte Airport, the 1980 USGS topo map depicted two 4,500' runways

(oriented northeast/southwest & northwest/southeast), labeled simply "Landing Field".

It also depicted the oval driveway (west of the runways) of the former airport terminal.

The outlines of the 2 runways are still barely perceptible in the above 1992 USGS aerial photo,

as well as the oval driveway of the former airport terminal (on the west side of the field).

The former hangar was also still visible, at the south end of the oval driveway.

A September 2004 photo by Chris Kennedy of the hangar which remains standing at the site of the Old Grand Canyon Airport.

Chris Kennedy visited the site of the old Grand Canyon Airport in September 2004.

His report: "The site is actually in a wooded area (except for what was the runway area, which is cleared)

down a short dirt road which starts about 2 miles down a good gravel National Forest road.

I think it's private property, although the road into it was not posted as private, or I wouldn't have gone down it.

There were a bunch of trucks parked near the hangar building, so somebody is using the property for something.

I couldn't tell in my brief visit if the building itself was still in use."

As of 2005, it was reported that the entire airport property (850 acres) was owned by the U.S. Forest Service,

which leased the property to ranchers.

Until 2005, this historic site was used for cattle, horses and other ranching commerce,

resulting in considerable neglect and vandalism to the site.

Toxic waste accumulated & buildings either burned down or were torn down.

Souvenir hunters removed artifacts left unguarded.

Giacinta Koontz is the Director of an organization named the Red Butte Aerodrome Preservation Project.

She has been preparing a nomination to place Red Butte on the National Register of Historic Places.

Giacinta reported in 2005, “The buildings are privately owned.

The buildings sit upon land owned by the Forest Service (Kaibab National Forest).

After the rancher's land use permit to graze cattle expired

he sold the buildings to the new owners (my employers) last February 2005.

The Forest Service had plans to knock everything down (the bulldozer was sitting outside the bungalow)

when the new owners stepped in & halted that demolition.”

A circa 2006 aerial view showed the Grand Canyon Red Butte Airport remained in an unchanged state.

A closeup from the circa 2006 aerial view showing the hangar which remains standing at the site of the Grand Canyon Red Butte Airport.

A pair of pre-2008 photos of the front & rear of the 70-year-old hangar

which remains standing at Grand Canyon Red Butte Airport (courtesy of Bob Wilson).

The letter “Grand Canyon Airlines” still remains on both the front & back,

whereas the “Scenic Airways” lettering was evidently removed (but still readable) from the front of the hangar.

The airfield is located 2 miles east of Route 180, 11 miles south of Tusayan, AZ.

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Tonopah CAA Airfield, Tonopah, AZ

33.54 North / 112.89 West (Northwest of Phoenix, AZ)

The Tonopah Landing Field, as depicted on the February 1943 LA Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).

Photo of the airfield while in use has not been located.

This was apparently built as one of the Civil Aeronautic Administration's network of emergency landing fields.

The Tonopah CAA airfield sat along the route from Phoenix to Blythe, CA.

The date of construction of the airfield is unknown.

The earliest depiction of the Tonopah CAA airfield which has been located

was on the February 1943 Phoenix Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).

It depicted the Tonopah Landing Field as CAA Site 31.

It was apparently abandoned at some point between 1943-49,

as it was not depicted at all on the 1949 Phoenix Sectional Chart (according to Chris Kennedy).

Although the airfield itself was not depicted, the 1956 Phoenix Sectional Chart (courtesy of John Voss)

depicted a rotating airway beacon with course lights at the same location.

It was still depicted as "Landing Strip" on the 1988 & 1990 USGS topo maps.

As it existed in the 1997 USGS aerial photo,

the Tonopah Airfield consisted of a single 3,000' runway.

It appeared to not have been originally paved, but just a graded dirt strip.

There did not appear to have been any hangars or other structures at the airfield.

The airfield is located between 387^th Avenue & 395^th Avenue,

four miles northeast of Tonopah, AZ.

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Echeverria Field / Wickenburg Airport / Forepaugh Airport (44E), Wickenburg, AZ

33.95 North / 113 West (Northwest of Phoenix, AZ)

"Wickenburg" was depicted as an auxiliary airfield on the February 1943 Phoenix Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).

Photo of the airfield while in use has not been located.

This small airfield (located in between the towns of Forepaugh & Wickenburg)

has gone through a somewhat confusing succession of names through the years.

Echeverria Field started out in 1940 as a AAF contract glider pilot school during WW2,

operated by the Arizona Gliding Academy & the Claiborne Flight Academy.

According to the book "Best Place in the Country" by Mike Hoza & Steve Hoza,

the Claiborne Flight Academy was owned by Harry Claiborne,

and began training pilots in 1942.

In 1943, glider training ended, and a primary flight training school began operation, for powered aircraft.

It was depicted as an auxiliary airfield labeled "Wickenburg"

on the 1943 Phoenix Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).

To confuse matters somewhat, the separate "(Municipal) Wickenburg" Airport was also depicted several miles to the east,

adjacent to the northwest side of the town of Wickenburg.

According to Gary Anderson, “My father (Tom Anderson) was the chief flight instructor at this field before he went overseas.”

However, the name of the field was changed to "Echeveria"

on the March 1945 Phoenix Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).

It was labeled "Wickenburg" Airport once again on the 1949 Gila River World Aeronautical Chart (courtesy of Donald Felton),

and described as having a 4,500' hard-surface runway.

Military use of the airfield ended in 1950.

Echeverria Field was not depicted at all on the 1956 Prescott Sectional Chart (courtesy of John Voss)

or the 1958 Phoenix Sectional Chart (according to Chris Kennedy).

In the post-WW2 era it went on to a number of uses including being a prison & housing migrant workers.

At some point after 1956, it was reused as the municipal airport for the town of Wickenburg (located 17 miles east)

until a new field was built closer to town.

It was listed among active airports in the 1962 AOPA Airport Directory,

with a single clay runway.

The field is depicted as "Wickenburg" Airport on the 1969 USGS topo map,

but only as "Landing Strip" on the 1980 & 1990 USGS topo maps.

No public-use airfield at the location was listed in the 1989 Airport/Facility Directory (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).

As seen in the 1997 USGS aerial photo, the airfield consists of a 6,000' unpaved Runway 3/21,

along with the shorter east/west runway, the remains of which are barely perceptible,

extending into the desert to the east from the southern end of the main runway.

There can also be seen the evidence of an original 2,500' square landing mat area

situated underneath the northeast portion of the main runway,

along with a northwest/southeast runway.

A recent photo of the main hangar & the pump house as they exist today.

As of the mid-1990s, one of the original barracks buildings was still standing,

but it has since been torn down.

Since then, the only remaining buildings are the main hangar & 2 outlying buildings.

A circa 2006 aerial view of Wickenburg / Forepaugh Airport.

As of 2006, this field is listed as an active public-use airport, under the name of Forepaugh Airport.

Only a 4,700' length of Runway 3/21 was listed as available.

The Civil Air Patrol has proposed building a training facility at the airfield,

plans which would include restoration of some of the airfield's historic buildings.