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Forrest Service graded roads to access camping areas.
This trail combines the astounding Sedona beauty with moderate to challenging difficulty. The Red Rock country is the backdrop for this expedition that includes sights named Submarine Rock, Chicken Point, the Roundabout, and Devils Kitchen, with the challenge of slick-rock obstacles.
While relatively short in terms of distance, this trail calls for slow driving due to its tightness and rocky terrain. Many places are challenging because the driver needs to be well aware of their vehicle spatially and how to manage it over slick-rock, so drivers should have some experience.
The stock Range Rover, Discovery (including LR3), and Defender are well equipped to deliver a fantastic day.
Back road to (north side) Mt. Lemmon is graded dirt road. The south side is paved winding road. Very scenic drive.
According to the Charles Wells book, ‘this trail starts easy and gradually worsens. The last mile before Dripping Springs is challenging and requires some backroad driving experience.’ Trail #60 in his book for more details.
This trail follows the Chiva Falls trail and then goes west following the Tanque Verde Creek to within a mile or so of Tanque Verde Falls. We’ll have lunch by the creek before we begin our climb out of the canyon and back to the east to reconnect with the Chiva Falls trail. There are several challenging hill climbs and medium to large rock obstacles along the way.
A scenic route running from the Beeline Highway to the riverside area below Bartlett Lake giving breathtaking views of Bartlett Lake, the Verde River and the Mazatzal and Superstition mountains.
When driving this trail from the Beeline side the driver is offered up a challenging rock garden right about 1.5 miles into the trail. The garden doesn’t have any bypasses but does offer lines of varying difficulty. Adding to the mix is a series of seeps and springs that keep this section of the trail damp nearly year round. It’s easy to slip throughout the rock garden. The remainder of the trail is sandy wash and loose gravel.
This trail has extensive brush than encroaches on the trail from the sides as well as the top. We did not trim this trail. You will get desert pin striping on your car. A Discovery that pre-ran the trail had roof rack damage from low hanging branches.
A lifted Rover is required for this trip as are recovery points front and rear. You will also need at least one locker, and a second may limit the need for winching.
