FR25A

[Grasshopper]

On 11/4/06 & 2/9/07 I was in FR25A the 3 miles back to the South end beginning of Trail#86 (The Cornucopia Tr),..IF you plan to drive in (any portion) on "FR25A", I strongly recommend that to safely do so, you have a 4x4 vehicle with 31" Tires minimum, and a Rear Axle Locker, unless you plan to drive in on an ATV .

[joebartels]

4x4 and rear locking diff! Holy cow that's a big change. Thanks for the update.

[azmuslima]

Any updates on road conditions here? Considering this hike on Saturday and would like to know of any updates...Thanks

[Grasshopper]

by Grasshopper » Feb 10 2007 4:36 pm
On 11/4/06 & 2/9/07 I was in FR25A the 3 miles back to the South end beginning of Trail#86 (The Cornucopia Tr),..IF you plan to drive in (any portion) on "FR25A", I strongly recommend that to safely do so, you have a 4x4 vehicle with 31" Tires minimum, and a Rear Axle Locker, unless you plan to drive in on an ATV .

You can hike in FR25A by parking at the intersection of FR25/25A, but if you plan to drive in to the lower start of TR86 via FR25A, I would suggest you meet the above 4x4 minimum requirements and be a skilled 4x4 driver. Also, we now have a missing HAZ member in from the Peeley TH and the Maricopa Sheriff Dept issued this recent 1/1/11 alert to us: "Just FYI- a 65 year old man in a jeep slid off the mountain in that area today and was air lifted out with life threatening injuries. I think he was on the 25A road. If the FS hasn't closed 201 yet I'm sure they will. Please remind the folks going up there to search to be very cautious."

[te_wa]

that warning makes little sense, 25 has never been closed on the many occasions ive been up that way. 201 gets closed just past that intersection - sometimes.
anyway, 25a is hairy, down in that creekbed i gave up and walked the road. much faster!

has anyone seen 201 closed at the Sunflower exit? seems that would be senseless since the road (and 25) are drivable in almost all conditions, until you get in the upper reaches a few miles short of Peeley t/h

[joebartels]

so do both jurisdictions have keys?

[Grasshopper]

so do both jurisdictions have keys?

Yes, common keys to fit one standard F/S keyed lock.

[Tough_Boots]

has anyone seen 201 closed at the Sunflower exit?

do you mean closed all the way from from 87? There's private ranches down by the Cross F trailhead so I don't think they would do that.

[te_wa]

i mean closed at the start of 201. ive never even seen a gate there. only at the intersection of 201 and 25, no gate on 25

[Grasshopper]

i mean closed at the start of 201.

I had thought (and I may be wrong) that there were two gates that are risk for F/S closure--> the 1st one at the start of FR201 at the cattle guard crossing and the 2nd one like you say at the intersection of FR201/FR25. There may only be this one gate at the intersection of FR201/FR25 that restricts further access up FR201.

[kingsnake]

To summarize, one is much better off taking 201 up to the Peeley TH, then hiking down to the area of Cornucopia Mine, than trying one's luck at 25A from Old Beeline up to the mine?

[Grasshopper]

@kingsnake
Not necessarily. If your hiking destination is the now non-existent Cornucopia Mine area (only a cave-in/rock-fall area now exists with the old blue bus being a more popular site to see), then hiking (not driving) FR25A is an interesting way to hike in and back out, but during this time of year FR25A is a very popular ATV/cycle/higher level 4WD route in/out, so if this kind of outdoor action is a deterrent, then starting your hike from the Peeley TH on the Cornucopia Trail heading downhill to the mine area offers more hiking solitude on an official trail.

[kingsnake]

I was trying to avoid driving 25A or 201, but also avoid adding 10 round trip by-foot miles just to get into the Trail 86 / 260 area. (Where I was actually thinking of going ...) Basically minimizing the pain/hassle in trying to get to where I wanna go. Especially since I am not equipped to camp, so would need to make it a day trip ...

[Grasshopper]

@kingsnake
I don't believe you can hike in there with less than 8 miles R/T and this good choice 8 miler is: Cornucopia via E. Fork Sycamore Creek.. http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=3137 (but AEG= 2300ft lots of up/down and can also be a popular off-road vehicle route). I'm only aware of four ways to arrive at the Tr#86/260 area and this one above is the 4th option, with the other three being FR25A, TR86 from Mt. Peeley TH, and in from the Mormon Grove TH, all three of which I believe are more than 8 miles R/T.

[kingsnake]

I'm thinking about making my next vehicle 4WD/AWD, but until then my can't-even-handle-Firstwater car needs to avoid the even minutely rough stuff. Guess I'm stuck unless I find someone to hook up with. (And no, that was not a really awkward hint ... ;) )

[Tough_Boots]

My truck can't make it to Peeley, so I usually access that area either from where 25a hits 25 on the way to Mormon Grove or to hike in from the Cross F TH but that is some major miles. You can also get down to 25a from Mormon Grove if you hike the old mining road that connects the Saddle Mtn trail to the Sunflower facility. That mining road is actually one of the nicest hikes in that area in my opinion.

[Sredfield]

Has anyone been in this area since the fire and subsequent hazmat removals from the mine areas? My concern is whether one could get a tracked trail machine into Trail 260 from FR 25 via FR 25A. The trail from the north (Forest Trail 86 from Mt Peeley) would get you close but it goes into the wash and over 2 or 3 short drop offs that would appear to preclude accessing it from the north. Once at trail 260 you could rebuild quite a bit of trail that really needs it.

[SuperstitionGuy]

Is this what you mean by a " tracked trail machine "

tracked trail machine

[Grasshopper]

My concern is whether one could get a tracked trail machine into FR Trail 260 from FR 25 via FR 25A. Once at trail 260 you could rebuild quite a bit of trail that really needs it.

After the fire, wasn't FR25A permanently gated and locked at its intersection with FR25? Prior-to the fire and subsequent FR25A road damage further in, FR25A was a fairly serious 4WD Club Route to it's end at the TR260 intersection area (with TR260 a uphill to connect with the AZT Trail #95 connection).

I don't really know, but I would guess you would need a beefed-up, modified roll cage installed on a "tracked trail machine" thinking someone could drive that in. It would roll at least 12 times before arriving at the TR260/FR95 intersection and you would never find anyone crazy enough to drive it back out

[Sredfield]

Is this what you mean by a " tracked trail machine "

tracked trail machine

Exactly!