the creek and provides access to Slide Rock State Park along this portion of the highway. The roadway leaves the creek as it begins to ascend through the canyon. At the edge of the canyon, the Scenic Road designation ends. Upon ascending, the road goes through a series of hairpin turns (no trucks over 50 ft.) toward the Mogollon Rim. The roadway continues northward away from the canyon towards Flagstaff. It curves northeastward as it passes to the west of the Forest Highlands Golf Club. The route continues to the northeast towards I-17 near Flagstaff Pulliam Airport. SR 89A begins to run concurrently with I-17 as a freeway northward. The two highways continue north to an interchange with I-40, where I-17 terminates. The route continues north along Milton Road, to the west of Northern Arizona University before reaching its northern terminus at I-40 Business in Flagstaff. History The routing of SR 89A was first defined as a state highway in 1927 as SR 79 by the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT). At the time, only the portion from Prescott to Clarkdale was built, but the remaining portion to Flagstaff had been planned. By 1929, the highway had been extended north to Sedona, although the entire highway was not paved at this time. A graded dirt road was built the following year between Flagstaff and Sedona. The southern half of the section between Sedona and Flagstaff had been improved to a gravel road by 1934, with the northern half under construction. The next year, the construction on the northern section near Flagstaff was complete. The southern end of the highway near Prescott and the section between Jerome and Cottonwood had been paved by this time. By 1938, the entire route had been paved. By 1941, the highway was redesignated from SR 79 to US 89A. Before the establishment of the route for I-17, the only route to Flagstaff was through Prescott. There were two routes available: US 89A through Jerome, Cottonwood, Clarkdale, Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon or north through Chino Valley via US 89 to US 66. The route was redesignated from US 89A to SR 89A in 1993. Before 2001, SR 89A had veered south into the granite dells near Watson Lake, but due to an aging Granite Creek bridge and increased traffic, Yavapai County acquired the necessary land to realign SR 89A away from the dells and near