Got a rare Saturday to myself and went out exploring a power line easement. The video is with my cellphone. Hope it's not too boring.
Hwy 82 at the border of Cochise county and Santa Cruz county
- Thread starter DavidBT
- Start date
Looks nice. We drove up to Mt. Lemmon on Thursday, took Bigelow Road up to the transmitters, first real off roading I've got to do with my TJ except the beach in MX. Bigelow Road only goes a few miles before you arrive at the transmitters and from there it turns into a hiking trail, you can hike down and look at the remains of a 1957 wreck of an F-85. There is also free, dispersed camping there and a few people taking advantage of it when we drove by. Then we drove up to the top on the highway, 9,500 feet, then down into Summerhaven to look at the new lodge which isn't quite finished yet and had Buffalo and Blue Cheese burgers with Cokes at the Sawmill Run Restaurant. They now have a liquor license as well and you can sit at the bar and get cold brewskis! I was having such a good time I totally forgot to take any pictures!
Thinking about your idea to do some exploring up there, we should get a group together and make a trip down the back side which would take about a day by the time we drive back to Tucson on the highway from Oracle. The road down the back side is really about the only trip that takes a while, not much on the mountain itself that isn't off limits to vehicles. Still nice up there, and cool. It's a real weekend spot and the businesses are mostly closed early in the week. Weekends in the Summer can get very crowded though.
Thinking about your idea to do some exploring up there, we should get a group together and make a trip down the back side which would take about a day by the time we drive back to Tucson on the highway from Oracle. The road down the back side is really about the only trip that takes a while, not much on the mountain itself that isn't off limits to vehicles. Still nice up there, and cool. It's a real weekend spot and the businesses are mostly closed early in the week. Weekends in the Summer can get very crowded though.
Since I'm retired, I do prefer to explore during the week. And also, being retired,
I'm open to most any time that works. I have a hardtop and air conditioning, so the weather doesn't much affect me.
I'm going to be meeting with a couple of jeeps Tuesday at 9:30 at Hwy 83 and East Greaterville Rd.
I've never Google maped from Sierra Vista to My. Lemon. Is the road down the back side graded forest Rd? It definitely looks like a pretty long day.
I haven't been on it for years but I remember the higher elevation parts are pretty narrow and rough with a lot of switchbacks. As you get down to the lower elevations it gets wider and smoother but still pretty much a 4x4 route. There are also a few forks and you have to know where you're going or you could end up on a private ranch or in San Manuel. https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/coronado/recreation/recarea/?recid=25636&actid=105
It looks like a very cool day trip. Most of my June is pretty full. July and September is pretty open and some of August. Let me know if and when you want to make a plan. Looks like we will need to give @Sudo a heads up.
motographtaker
New Member
Love the video. I would love to do just that, riding along the path out in the open like that. Sadly there is not any of that around where I am. Thanks for posting the vid tho.
Thanks, fortunately I have a lot of this kind of wheeling all around me. I feel very fortunate to have chosen this area to retire to.
motographtaker
New Member
What size tires are you running on your Jeep? They look tall and kind of narrow, it's a good look.
My older friend in a 4Runner refused to air down and complained that the road was beating up his vehicle, so he turned around less than 1/2 mile decending from the fire station. I was really annoyed, but I turned around with him to not damage the relationship.
245/75/R16. They're a Walmart all terrain that the dealer installed before I bought. I'm going to go with a 265/75/R16 next spring.
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