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I am heading out to the Lone Pine trailhead in the Four Peaks Wilderness this weekend, and am wondering what the approximate drive time is from the time I turn off Hwy 87 up to the Lone Pine trailhead. I know it's roughly 18-19 miles on that section of road, but I'm trying to get an idea of what travel time to expect so I can get my hike started on time. 1 hour? more? less? I have a 4wd truck with good clearance, so that should be helpful for this road. Thanks!

It depends on how fast you take your dirt roads-- someone else would be a better judge than me on 143. 20 miles on dirt road is very different for different drivers. If you're a cautious driver on that kind of terrain, you might consider driving around to Roosevelt Lake and taking El Oso Road up. The time difference is minimal and the dirt road is easier and shorter.

I can do it in a few minutes under an hour, but I've been told that I drive more aggressively on dirt roads than some people.

I have a 4wd Tacoma with the factory off-road package.

I would plan for over an hour if you're not familiar with the road. -- Also, road conditions vary. Depending on the last time it was graded, it can get badly washboarded or rutted from winter rain, which can impact the time it takes as well.

chumley wrote:I've been told that I drive more aggressively on dirt roads

Don't sell yourself short...you always drive aggressively dirt road or not.

FR143 isn't particularly tough. I'm a reasonable to slightly fast driver on dirt roads. I can do 45+mph in some stretches but some stretches are 20mph. I do hate to kick up too much dust if there are a lot of other foiks on the road. Under good conditions I should be able to average 20-25mph. THE PROBLEM - especially on weekends is that there can be a lot of people and traffic - both truck and ATV. You can end up pulling over to the side to let the faster ATV's pass and sometimes you can get stuck behind a slow car who won't pull over. This can add 10-15minutes to the drive. I agree with Chumley. A little under an hour should be fine for me, an hour and a half for some people under some conditions. I have a Toyota 4Runner with standard off-road package. (see my MapDex discussion below)

MAPDEX - You can use MapDex to help you, You can put in the route from your starting point to the trailhead on the Brown's Peak trail description. Turn on the red crosshairs and place them at the start of FR143. This will give you the Lat Long at the turnouff as 33.679501,-111.502018. (actually about 500ft north of the turnoff - I must of missed a little with the center of the crosshairs) The Lone Pine TH Lat Long should still be in there as your destination, If not type in 33.70547,-111.33794. This shows the trip as 19.5 miles and taking 1 hour 23 minutes. That's a safe but conservative estimate. It shows the El Oso Road trip as 1 hour 40 minutes.

Tough-boots has a good idea with the other route - especially on a weekend. The El Oso road route is more predictable.

Thanks everyone! I'll budget about an hour and fifteen minutes into my schedule. I'm not overly conservative on dirt roads, but the first time on any particular road will slow me down a little. We're going EARLY, so hopefully not too much other traffic to deal with yet. We may leave on El Oso Rd, just so I can see both routes for future trips.

If you exit via El Oso road and need/have time to eat, Big Daddy's pizza in Tonto Basin loads on the toppings.

Wondering if anyone has an approximate drive time to Browns Peak Trailhead? Leaving from University & Ellsworth/Bush highway. Any input would be appreciated. I have a 4x4 pickup so roads shouldn't be too much of a concern. It appears there may be more than 1 way to get to the trailhead (Lone Pine Saddle)? My hunch is like 2 hours TIA

@herdbull
About an hour from the turnoff.
Thought the west was 15 min more + more miles, the trade-off is less nerve-wracking, but I couldn't find where I jotted that down.

joebartels wrote:About an hour from the turnoff

except for JJ

@trekkin_gecko
Wow, what does he drive?
Or is it his driving style...
Oh never mind....

@joebartels
Thanks!