the trail to coke ovens close towards the end isn't marked very well (a few confusing rock cairns don't help), it's easy to take the wrong turn and end up directly in the private property (coke ovens is privately owned and fenced off), which you are not supposed to enter, of course
the "real" trail that goes around the private property appears less travelled when you look at 'live' (latest) tracks on the ground (meaning more people took the wrong turn than just us
), and it is unmarked, so you need to hang to the left and follow a shelf road on the left side down towards the riverthis left trail will lead to the Gila river (with the coke ovens property to the right without entering private land), and go to the old ford across the river - which can be approached and is passable at low water levels, but WILL get you stuck hydrolocked if the river level is too high - at times when you can cross the river, the desert on the other side is very nice, with diverse vegetation, washes and boulders, and elevation change - easy to drive out towards Florence and back to blacktop again - much more pleasant and faster than returning back towards Box Canyon
when river crossing is not an option, coke ovens essentially is an in-and-out trail - and a very long day at that - it took us almost 5 hours to get all the way down to the river (and the coke ovens, accidentally), because the trail has roughed up significantly over the years from what we remember from ~10 years ago or so: long bouldery sections, extended off-camber driving, rocky climbs and descents that may need a spotter - and we were just in two very capable trucks, experienced drivers - and before we found the river to be fordable, for the last two hours until then, we very much dreaded the idea of possibly having to go all the way back . . .
some navigation required, so make sure you have accurate maps outside of your not-so-great-and-likely-to-conk-out-in-this-there-desert cell phone "coverage"
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