ByPierre LeBlanc
June 22, 2020
0
Details
Venue Website: elcorraltucson.com
This location has closed.
Location
Address:2201 E River Rd, Tucson, 85718, United States
Venue Website: elcorraltucson.com
This location has closed.
Venue Website: pima.gov
This is a beautiful run through the extreme southern portion of the state, starting just north of Nogales and ending south of Sierra Vista. This is not a difficult trail, and is suitable for any SUV. We may explore several side trails if time permits. If you enjoy visiting / photographing old ghost towns and mines you will not be disappointed. Take your camera equipment and take your time enjoying the area. This is a perfect family run. Here is a picture of the Coronado National Forest area.
This is a moderate trail and any stock Land Rover is capable of handling this trail. There are some difficult obstacles with rock in the wash and steep loose rock hill climbs. Starting at the east ranch outpost of Beyota Ranch at Mile Marker 17 off Reddington Pass Road the trail climbs and then drops down into a rocky wash with challenging obstacles along the way. The trail then climbs out of the wash and up and over the ridge towards the land mark Chimney Rock and reconnects with the Reddington Pass Road
Venue Website: http://www.sporq.com
Chuy’s Mexican Broiler. No-frills cantina where flip-flops are the norm.
Indian School just East of 32nd Street. google map.{mos_fb_discuss:10}
A photographer’s dream. Beautiful Sonoran Desert with towering red buttes on all sides of the trail. A fun drive offering real adventure.
Washouts possible and rock stacking may be required. A lovely lunch break at the river provides fun for the kids.
Beautiful Sonoran Desert with towering red buttes on all sides of the trail. A fun drive offering real adventure. Hike into the nearby White Canyon Wilderness area north of the trail. Winding, rutted road with moderate climbs and descents. Narrow in a few places. Our group drove the trail following a period of torrential rains. Several places were badly washed out, which required some rock-stacking for several stock vehicles in our group. While the road is well defined most of the way, one section crosses a low sandy area along the Gila River. Rains had washed away previous tire tracks making route-finding difficult. Skid plates and high ground clearance recommended for stock vehicles. Brush may lightly touch your vehicle. Go with other vehicles in case you need help.
Otero Canyon provides beautiful vistas of Mt Ord, Four Peaks, Sugarloaf Mountain, Black Mountain and Weaver’s Needle. The trail is a mix of sandy wash and low-lying boulder wash beds. The main obstacle, Rocker Panel Pass, is 100 yards of a mixture of tight turns around large, panel grabbing boulders. Expect desert pin striping and a high probability of rear quarter panel “modification”.
Take Highway 87 north and turn left just past mile marker 207.
Woolsey Peak is a beautiful, uniquely-shaped lava-dome monolith located in the desert north of Gila Bend in southern Maricopa County, about 60 miles driving from Phoenix. It’s a peak that gets viewed thousands of times a day by travelers along Interstates 8 in Gila Bend of Interstate-10 to the north – the peak itself rises over 2,000 vertical feet above the desert plain and a good 1,000 feet above any of the other peaks in the region (collectively called the Gila Bend Mountains). Instead of the more usual pointed summit shape that most of the peaks have in this region, Woolsey’s summit is a broad rounded dome, surrounded by a palisade of cliffs on all sides.
Below the cliffs is an encircling apron of black basalt lava rock seemingly all set at its angle of repose. Then, of course, down below that is more typical desert terrain of dirt, rock and cactus. It’s very beautiful country, and the peak is the centerpiece of the Woolsey Peak Wilderness which spreads for 64,000 acres.
An easier route to see the Cochran Coke Ovens. It can be started from the South West in the Box Canyon/Martinez Cabin area or the North East on route 177. 12.2 miles from AZ 177 to Coke Ovens.
The 13,350-acre Signal Mountain Wilderness is in southwest Maricopa County,18 miles northwest of Gila Bend and 35 miles southwest of Phoenix. This wilderness is adjacent to the 64,000-acre Woolsey Peak Wilderness just to the southeast, separated by a four-wheel-drive road.
This wilderness offers a variety of scenery, including sharp volcanic peaks, steep-walled canyons, arroyos, craggy ridges and outwash plains. Signal Mountain, at the area’s center, rises 1,200 feet above the desert floor to an elevation of 2,182 feet. Paloverde-saguaro and creosote bush bursage plant communities are found throughout bajada and upland areas, while washes are lined with mesquite, ironwood, acacia and paloverde.
This wilderness provides several primitive recreation opportunities, such as rock climbing in the canyons and valleys around Signal Mountain, day and overnight hiking, rock collecting, and deer and quail hunting. Fortunate visitors may observe desert bighorn sheep, desert tortoise, mule deer and various raptors.
Access
Access to this wilderness is on old U.S. Highway 80 via the Aqua Caliente Road and jeep trails. High-clearance vehicles are required and four-wheel-drive vehicles are recommended.
Venue Phone: (480) 991-1795
Venue Website: http://www.fourpeaks.com
