Crown King Area Hike

[mcontreras]

Me and my husband and going camping/hunting next week and we are taking the back roads just south of Crown King. I wanted to know if any of you have information on the Roads we plan on taking and if you know of any great hikes, because he will be hunting while I will be exploring.

Are plans are to take Castle Hot Springs Road to behind lake Pleasant then Crown King Road then to Cow Creek Road then connect to Crown King Trail. We have never been on Crown King Trail and don't know if we need 4x4, which we do have, but just wanted to make sure.

[hikeaz]

If you are heading up to CK on the 'road' from Pleasant, you will need 4x4 & as much clearance as you can get. I've driven it in a stock full-size Bronco and an older, stock 4-Runner, though, with no peril. As you climb higher, snow may become an issue.
The hiking up there is pretty sparce and rugged where you find it.

[chumley]

As for the drive ... plan on a 4-hour trip from Lake Pleasant to CK. The road can be done in a stock 4x4, but there are two tough spots where you'll likely scrape your underside (hopefully you have a skid plate). (2wd is absolutely impossible). This area is very remote, and I highly recommend traveling with another vehicle or more. A flat tire is very possible, and driving up there alone on a spare is not a fun feeling. Also, bring maps and a GPS as the roads you mention are not signed and I've made a few wrong turns here in the past.

There's nice views of Lake Pleasant from Lane Mountain, which you can also 4wd out to, or hike on the old rough road. There's a fire tower out beyond the small lake in Horsethief Basin on a closed road that might be fun to visit. You can also hike up to Towers Mtn. a few miles above CK. This is the highest point in the area and has a bunch of antennae and another fire tower.

As mentioned earlier, this is a very rough area, but is rich with mining history and you can find some interesting historical artifacts if you wander off the beaten path.

[mcontreras]

We do have a GMC Sierra 4x4, but my brother-in-law is going also and doesn't have 4x4. Does is turn into 4x4 road once you get on the Crown King Trail?? I am not sure at what point you start needing the 4x4.

What about Table Mesa Road off I-17 and head West? What about old gas line roads in that area? We have to stay in the Game Management area 20B for the hunting part of this trip.

How accurate are the Roads on Google Earth? We went camping just below the mollgeon rim I went off the roads they had and we did pretty good.

[chumley]

The roughest part of the road is the last four miles which climb past some old mines with large elevation gain up to Crown King.

This is one of Arizona's most "famous" 4x4 trails, and there's plenty of information on the net about it.

Search "Crown King Trail" or "4x4 Crown King" and you'll find plenty of articles, photos, and even YouTube videos.

The portion of road that is still in the desert north of Lake Pleasant isn't too difficult, but the upper portions are impossible in 2WD, and even 4WD needs at least a limited-slip differential. You'll be out of the vehicle a handful to times to choose the best route for your tires.

I've attached a photo I found online ... there's no way around this "shelf". All vehicles must go over it. (I've seen it done in stock Ford Ranger, Toyota 4Runner, and even a Nissan Xterra, but all needed some help building up rocks ahead of it, and all scraped skid plates on the crawl over).

[mcontreras]

Thank you for all the information, especially that the Crown King Trail is 4x4, the google maps don't say or show that. I think Tuesday we are going to take a day trip up there, sounds very nice. Our Yukon XL has 4x4, but I am not one to take risks like these guys, especially if we have the kids with us, I think we will go as far as my nerves can handle which isn't much. Again Thank you.

[Hoffmaster]

You could always take the Bumble Bee exit off the I-17. Nothing 4WD about that route.

[mcontreras]

We could take that exit, but I think the elevation may to high for what my husband is hunting. We would like to stay in the 2400 to 3400 elevation. I think we will take the bumble bee exit and make a left turn on the road that is just after Cleator. I am not sure on the condition of this road, but guess we will start there. From the google Earth maps it looks like it's Forks off to either FR 101 FR 287, then onto to other FR Roads.

[mcontreras]

Well, we finally decided to go to the area just south of Cleator, AZ on New year's Day to do some scouting and look for a campsite. Well I had quite the "adventure" my husband says I was lost.

The day starts off, we get to Cleator and make a left on FR 101, take it to the location where Turkey Creek and Poland Creek merge together. The road goes on, but the husband did want to cross it. Okay, so anyway, we stop let the kids play a little in the sand and rocks, then my husand and my sister-in-laws boyfriend want to go to a flat spot they saw coming up the road, I said hey I will meet you there, which was only about 150 yards from where we were. I said I will follow the creek and meet you there. I following the creek alright, I just kept going and going and going, until about 3 1/2 hours later, some hunters I had spoken to earlier saw my sister-in-laws boyfriend and told him that I was in town, he called my husband (cell phone worked out there) to tell him I was in town. While I was in town I spoke to the bartender, I will call her Marge, she just looked like one. When I asked to use the phone she asked if it was long distance, to which I replied, it's in Phoenix and her response in a almost condisending "Well, that's long distance." I am thinking, I didn't know it was long distance. She also said "Well, we don't got no long distance".

I also met "Wyatt Erap", who was very nice by the way and let me use his cell phone to call my husband, but they were already on their way.

My husband was out tracking my boot prints and all the while I was following these other boot prints, he was thinking somone had taken me, because the bigger boot prints were right next to mine and his mind started to just go crazy. He was highly upset when he saw me to say the least.

Repercussions of this event are.....I cannot go wondering off alone anymore.

We went back that Thursday (Jan 3) to camp at the "flat spot". We sort of hike lots of mountains, with no trails and the second day we hike Turkey creek to a mine area, that looks like they tried to dam it up at one point a long long time ago. There are some very neat things to look at. Very nice area.

[Grasshopper]

Good thing that creek you were following went into town and not the opposite way...
First Rule of the Wilderness I always "try" to remember: "Never Assume Anything"
(When I forget this RULE is when I end-up in trouble)

[JoelHazelton]

Wow, I'm glad you're safe and everything worked out. My only question is, if you knew that the "flat spot" was only 150 yards up the road, what prompted you to continue following the creek for 3 and a half hours?

[mcontreras]

I honestly wasn't paying attention to how far back that "flat spot" was, I was excited to see the water and the creek and was sort of captivated by it. I never once felt lost, don't know why, but I just didn't feel scared at all. When I was back on the main road that went back to the town, I started to walk back in the direction where my husband was supposed to meet at the "flat spot", but I thought I had seen our car driving off in the distrance so I turned around to go back to town. I think I must have walked about 6 miles that day. I am not sure what I was thinking, my husband asks, why didn't I just turn back and I can't honestly answer that question, because I don't know why, all I can say is that I was just captivated by the creek and the water and just being outdoors, it had been awhile.

I always new that the main road was to my right, walking north, so when the creek took almost a sharp NW turn, I opted to follow the roads and go in a NE direction. I had been studying the topo maps for the area and all the roads pretty much connect or just dead end.

The area is really beautiful and lots of neat stuff was left behind from the old mining days.

[chumley]

yes, water in arizona can be quite captivating.

"oh, look! something shiny!"

Thankfully you had looked at the maps ahead of time and had at least a basic overview of the area in your memory.