Trail updates: Sw usa

[MAST4R]

EDIT: ugh, not sure how the title got those lower-case letters....

The purpose of this thread is to provide trail status updates for the SW US: CO, NM, UT, AZ, NV, CA. It is easy for a thread like this to degenerate into subjectivity so here are the rules that would make it worthwhile.

I. General status updates: closed, interrupted, modified. Please post any factual information you have from reputable sources. No need to have seen a physical barrier in person to tell us a trail is closed.

II. Difficulty, brush, traffic: for this type of update, first please stick to trails you have seen in person. Second, difficulty updates only make sense if you tell us what guide gave the original rating and why you think it should be modified according to the standards of that guide. While it would be fun to know how you felt about a trail, that really tells us about YOU, not about the TRAIL.

Examples of trail guides: Charlie Wells et al. for CO, AZ, CA, and Moab. Peter Massey et al. for those states plus Nevada. Websites: TrailDamage.com, JeepTheUSA.com . For simplicity translate Massey rankings into Wells rankings (1-3 in Massey = easy in Wells, 4-5 in Massey = moderate in Wells, 6-7 in Massey equals difficult in Wells). Note that Massey’s guides are very old by offroad standards whereas Wells’ are updated from time to time.

There is no point clogging the thread with dirt roads unless they have been closed or altered. By the same token, there is no point in including the Jeep Safari ratings or similar. Those are rock crawling ratings and completely out of whack with regular 4x4 guides.

 

[MAST4R]

I will start and cover trails driven in 2017, 2018, and 2019. I won’t generally go back to 2016 etc.

IF YOU ARE NEW: ANY TRAIL CAN CHANGE BETWEEN TODAY AND TOMORROW. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR CHOICES, NOT ANY OF THE GUIDES YOU ARE USING.

ARIZONA:

TRAILS CLOSED OR ALTERED:
Coke Ovens: closed by owner due to vandalism. In-and-out trail remains open to property line. Reports of condition vary.
Mullican Canyon: interrupted by private property in the middle. Both ends accessible.
McPherson Pass aka Castle Dome Mountains mid-portion: occasionally closed by private owner, check KOFA website for current status.
Mingus Mountain Massey version: section of road starting/ending in Jerome is CLOSED. Must use Wells version of trail.


TRAILS THAT REMAIN ABOUT AS DESCRIBED (NO DIRT ROADS INCLUDED):
Easy rated (or 1-3 in Massey): Apache Maid Tower, Big Maggie May, Bighorn Mountain, Buckhorn Creek, Goat Peak Tr, Hoodoo Wash, KOFA Queen Canyon, Margie’s Peak, Red Raven, Robbins Butte Wildlife Refuge, Sugarloaf Mountain

Easy or moderate depending on guide: Box Canyon of Hussayampa, Harquahala Peak

Moderate rated (or 4-5 in Massey): Blue Monster Spring, China Dam/Fort Tule, Cinder Hills OHV, Mingus Mountain, New River Canyon, O’Leary Peak Loop, Outlaw Loop, Red Rock Pass (northern half of Engesser Pass in Massey)

Difficult rated: Broken Arrow, Crapshoot, Red Rock Powerline

Trails that are DIFFERENT:

Bighorn Pass: the 6 miles on the southern end are very brushy, not awful, but bad. If you are new to dodging brush or if you have a shiny precious color, stay out.

Cliffhanger aka Oak Creek Homestead: rated difficult by Wells but looked consistent with his moderate ratings instead.

Crown King Backaway: most of the difficult rated section in Wells is now a dirt road. Two difficult spots remain but they are north of the riverbed, which varies in difficulty. A 4R will want armor or a lift for those two spots. Exceptionally heavy traffic on weekends.

Vulture Mountains: the bad brush of 2011 Wells version of trail is SEVERE brush as of 2018. There are plenty of legal routes in the area, no need to follow Wells blindly as I did….

COLORADO:

No changes that I noticed from the Wells or Massey descriptions (summer 2017 a couple from 2016): Brown’s Gulch aka Red Rock Pass aka Mining district, California Pass, Clear Lake, Engineer Pass, Eureka Gulch, Hurricane Pass, Last Dollar Rd, Maggie Gulch, Minnie Gulch, Ophir Pass, Place and Picayne, Porphyry Gulch, Prospect Gulch, Stony Pass.

Changes: Corkscrew Pass should probably be moderate, not easy while Governor Basin should probably be moderate, not difficult (excluding optional Sydney Basin).

Note: use Wells when Wells and Massey disagree on ratings as Wells is much more recent.

UTAH:

TRAILS WE FOUND MORE OR LESS AS DESCRIBED in 2017-8:

Rated easy (dirt roads excluded): Bartlett Wash, Book Cliffs (Wells version), Buckhorn Wash/The Wedge, Massey version of Dome Plateau (not Wells or Safari version), Hidden Splendor (only last ¼ mile is 4x4), Hurrah Pass, Molly’s Castle, Reds Canyon, Sager Canyon, Sego Canyon, Wild Horse Mesa.

Rated moderate: Chicken Corners, Flint Trail, Lockhart Canyon, Maze Overlook, Panorama Point, Temple Wash, White Wash Sand Dunes, Wipe Out Hill Loop (does not include the hill).

Rated difficult: Fins and Things (but see below), Tower Arch

TRAILS WE FOUND DIFFERENT:

Crystal Geyser Massey version only: leg by Green river interrupted by private property. Must use marked 4x4 trail to re-connect to Massey trail or Wells version of NW end of trail.

Fins and Things: the TH of the southern loop was just moved out of the campground. Unsure to where.

Picture Frame Arch: a trail made up by Wells and rated easy. Most of the trail is the exit route of Behind the Rocks and Pritchett Canyon aka The Road Everyone Hates because it is long and bumpy without being fun. The whole thing is best rated moderate, the eroded section Wells warns about was moderate when we drove it.

Poison Spring Canyon: washout has been repaired and detour is no longer visible. Rated moderate, now easy.

Rainbow Rock/Terrace: rated upper-end moderate due to one spot, which should now be rated (low-end) difficult.

Winter Camp Ridge: unsure if trail now ends earlier than described in Massey, it seemed so to me. Not much of a trail anyway.

 

[MAST4R]

Charlie Wells has his new Colorado books available for pre-order.

Notable changes:

Yankee Boy and Imogene Pass up from moderate to difficult.
Governor Basin down from difficult to easy.
Corkscrew and Hurricane up from easy to moderate.

Elsewhere there have been more pronounced movements upwards, especially from moderate to difficult.

The way things have changed over the last 10 years, in another decade only Rubicons will be able to drive any difficult trails stock.

Similarly, people who have driven the harder Moab trails multiple times tell me that some trails and obstacles are nothing like what they used to be earlier this century, all due to massive use plus abuse.

 

[RonJR]

So, are the trails getting more "difficult" because they really are getting rougher, or because vehicles/drivers are getting less capable, or because the trail guide authors are getting more conservative.

I was up Yankee Boy two falls ago in my '06 Sport, which is bone stock except for a spacer lift and 32 inch tires. On the last end going up to the upper Sneffels trailhead, we met some ATV'ers heading down. I was advised a full-sized vehicle likely couldn't make it up. I politely said "thanks for the info, we'll go take a look and be careful". 20 minutes later we're at the top without so much as a scraped skid plate or spun wheel. Never even got out to spot. I'd have rated it a 4 (out of 10), tops.

On that same trip Corkscrew and Hurricane were pretty much arm out the window, one hand on the wheel, just look at the scenery as you putter along.

 

[MAST4R]

So, are the trails getting more "difficult" because they really are getting rougher, or because vehicles/drivers are getting less capable, or because the trail guide authors are getting more conservative.

I was up Yankee Boy two falls ago in my '06 Sport, which is bone stock except for a spacer lift and 32 inch tires.

The popular trails are. This is why I am starting to become ambivalent about print guides, lol. This is Wells' third edition and he does not change his measuring sticks.

Btw, you are not bone stock, obviously

If you are not familiar with Wells, he only uses three categories and so each is very elastic. Generally, difficult means you need a capable 4x4 and a decent driver as a minimum. From there you get all the way to extreme stuff.