McKellips trailhead

[krispykritter]

Its been awile since I been to Mckillips. When I was there last week there were all kinds of signs and the lot was blocked off. Whats going on? Can I still park on the road?

[BEEBEE]

Which one are you talking about the one for Usery or the one by the Mining Camp Restaurant?

[krispykritter]

The one for siphon draw.

[joebartels]

McKellips has been blocked since late 2011. Now use the Mining Camp
http://hikearizona.com/map.php?QX=1119

[chumley]

There IS a parking area at the end of McKellips. You can even see it on the map Joe linked to. It is marked with a P where Google says "Possible Day Parking". I've parked there day and night. McKellips is certainly a rougher road up there than getting to Mining Camp (high-clearance recommended), but there are no issues in parking there. The area has purposely been leveled and compressed granite strewn to make a dust-free surface for parking.

[joebartels]

I've never seen it blocked. Just heard that a couple times over the past few years. Thought it was a local but now krispykritter is saying signage is in place?

[chumley]

Just to make this totally clear. McKellips Road is a public thoroughfare which can not legally be blocked by local residents.

The property south of McKellips where the parking lot is located is part of the parcel which is owned by the Mining Camp restaurant. It is private property. But it is the same private property as the Mining Camp restaurant, which by all accounts allows the public to park on property to access Tonto National Forest land.

Pinal County Parcel: Section 12, Township 1N, Range 8E. Parcel 100-15-0050. I've attached the parcel map.
The Assessor's information is here: http://pinalcountyaz.gov/Assessor/Pages ... &p=005&s=0

[chumley]

With that said, if the owners of Mining Camp have blocked that lot, that would be their right since it is their property. But McKellips Road can't be blocked legally. What the easement is for parking on the side of a public road is, I can't say for sure.

Check with Mining Camp directly if you run into issues. The lot is on their property.

[krispykritter]

There is huge blocks of cement blocking the lot as of last sunday. I never could make it to the end with my Subaru so I always parked on the road by the electrical box. Also all along the road at the end are signs that state private road.

[chumley]

Well that's good to know. With that information, I would definitely check with the restaurant before parking in that lot too. Since they are owned by the same people.

But McKellips itself is not a private road. But like I said, I don't know the legalities of the easements which may or may not permit parking along it.

[outdoor_lover]

It is very possible that McKellips has been vacated at the request of the Residents there...The Residents may have also bought the "Vacated" Road from the County...The County may have been glad to get rid of it, less "Road" to maintain...This may have been in the works for a couple of years....

[CannondaleKid]

Probably wouldn't hurt to check with Pinal County Sheriff's office for clarification, since they would likely have to be the folks to ticket any 'offenders' at the request of a resident.

[krispykritter]

Do you mean I can park in the restaurant parking lot? I going to hike Flatiron in the morning.

[Grasshopper]

@krispykritter

Well that's good to know. With that information, I would definitely check with the restaurant before parking in that lot too. Since they are owned by the same people. But McKellips itself is not a private road. But like I said, I don't know the legalities of the easements which may or may not permit parking along it.

Based on chumley's comments above, if you decide to park in the restaurant parking lot tomorrow, Thurs-10/17am for hiking, it is recommended that you first confirm with the restaurant management their approval to park there for hiking only purposes and it would be much appreciated by all of us if you would post here what they tell you. Thanks!

[Tough_Boots]

there are trail signs in the restaurant parking lot that lead you through the little alley behind the fence and into national forest land. It would be my assumption that the permanent signs mean they are cool with hikers parking there. I wouldn't worry about it

[outdoor_lover]

The Restaurant Parking Lot is fine...It's the Parking Spot out on McKellips Road that I think everyone is talking about needing Permission...Permission has already been granted to Park in their Restaurant Parking Lot...I would just be courteous and not Park right up by the Restaurant itself as that should be reserved for Customers...(It's a Huge Lot)....The (Alley) where you would Hike out that Tough Boots is talking about, is in the Northwest Corner of the Lot....

[chumley]

The strange thing is that the lot at the end of McKellips is also owned by the restaurant. If it is barricaded I can only assume that they have come to an agreement with residents along that road and decided to close the McKellips lot in favor of the actual restaurant lot. Without speaking to the property owners (or at least the restaurant manager) there really is no way to know for sure.

It's not unheard of for local residents to go beyond the law to prevent outside access. (Tonto Narrows comes to mind, but I know there are others).

[krispykritter]

Today we hiked up to flatiron. We parked in the restaurant parking lot. There is a trail sign in the north west corner of the lot. Its very cool of the owner to allow us to park there and make a trail for us. I'm going to stop in for dinner soon.