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The USFS has a road grader and front end loader reworking FS road 172 and 172A. The road grader started from the beginning of 172 at Hewitt Station road and had made it approximately four miles when we passed by him on Tuesday afternoon. The front end loader had been filling in crosswise channels made by running water from the beginning of 172 to almost the top of 172A. When we passed him they were reworking the ruts just below the extremely sharp curve just before 172A tops out before the turn to Rogers Trough Trailhead. My experience with rework on this road is that they will be up there all week. Queen Creek is not flowing and relative easy to cross at this time. Someone traveling this road after this post please give us an update on the grading project and how far they have reworked the road.

General rules for driving this road is as follows. High clearence with rear wheel drive is recommended for 172. High clearence with four wheel drive is recommended for 172A. Front wheel drive vehicles can drive this road but it is not recommended that they tackle the steeper portions of either road as it is very easy to tear up the front tires on the embedded rocks. Vehicles without high clearence should drive only as far as the embedded rocks are low enough in reference to the road surface to allow safe travel. My experience when the road has been recently reworked is that drivers have a tendency to drive to fast and have accidents. There are numerous sharp curves and high spots where you cannot see oncoming traffic. This includes cars, trucks, ATV's and motorcycles. Head on crashes are a real threat under these conditions. Please drive at a safe speed and also be aware of cattle that may be on the road and unwilling to get out of your way.

Troop 451 from Mesa Arizona drives their school bus full of Scouts up 172 and 172A so I think your Ram 2500 can do better than that! ;)

I was just up at Rogers trough yesteday and we took my buddys Silverado and we didnt have any problems geting to the trail head but the road is in pretty bad shape but you dont need to worry about getting stuck but like what has been stated the road gets much rougher after the turn to woodbury T.H.

Any guess on how far a Subaru Crosstrek could make it?

johnny88 wrote:Any guess on how far a Subaru Crosstrek could make it?

With 8.7" of ground clearance and a shorter wheelbase than most trucks, it is perfectly capable of making it all the way there.

Driver skill and experience are always a factor on roads like this though, so be prepared to stop or turn around based on your own comfort.

I've seen a Honda Civic drive a rutted dirt road perfectly cleanly followed by a Jeep Wrangler that bottomed out. :roll: The vehicle is only part of the equation.

I do not recommend front wheel drive vehicles to attempt Forest Road 172A as they have a tendency to tear up their front tires on the slopes with embedded sharp rocks which this has quite a few of.

Thanks, Chumley. I'll have to give it a shot soon.

Looking for information on road conditions for forest road 172 & 172 A going to Roger's trough TH. Have 4WD pickup. Asking if anyone has been up there lately.

@prywreck
https://hikearizona.com/dex2/viewtopic. ... 20#p120862
It rained Thursday, but I can't imagine it's changed too much.

@chumley
Thank you Mr Chumley. Will report if I make it back alive.

Glad to see the road is Better.. it was Nasty Last year.. Made me NOT wanna go back...lol

Maybe Ill reconsider now

Made it to Roger's Trough TH to hike AZT passage 18 (11/10/16). 172 had a couple bad spots, other than that it was one mucho bumpy mountain road the hair pin turn was interesting and coming out in the dark was fun too

wondered if anyone has current info on the roads

@Mr_Squishy Not happening right now, can't even make the turn off. I just watched a truck submerge itself to hood and bed, hmmm now where to go instead today...

Bummer! I was going to try your 35 mile loop this week. Oh well.

@Mr_Squishy
Floodwaters can recede fairly quickly. A day or two from now the crossing may be dry.

Mr_Squishy wrote:wondered if anyone has current info on the roads

Ha-Ha... I get it.... 'current'.... Like what is running down Queen Creek.....

I wondered if anyone would see what I did there.....

Tried to drive in to Woodbury today on FS 172. Turned back at mile 3.6 due to very rough road conditions. Three folks in a rental car made it to mile 3.1. Several stream crossings, but they were shallow and not a problem. My rig just doesn't handle streep dropoffs and bouldery rough road very well. People on quads and jeeps were able to negotiate the entire road.

we want to hike to Reavis Ranch from Rogers Trough TH. We have a Ford f250 4wdr truck . Were wondering if anyone thinks we could make it up there over the one last big hump in road. We tried it a 2 yrs ago with a chevy 4wdr but a longer wheel base and had to turn around. Don't remember if we saw any vehicles up there but jeeps. Any ideas, would be appreciated!! <>< Vicki

@1336dv
Unless flooding makes one of the drainages too deep to get across it should be no problem for an F250. There's possibly more rain coming this weekend to keep an eye on, but several have made the drive in the past couple of weeks in standard high-clearance vehicles.

Then again, I can't recall a time where you wouldn't be able to drive a long wheelbase pickup the whole way there either, so your driving experience may vary.