Backroad to Crown King 12/30 (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

DSRTRDR

I can mangle anything ...
SILVER Star
Joined
Jan 4, 2005
Threads
209
Messages
15,607
Location
Baton Rouge, LA and Fountain Hills, AZ
we only decided this afternoon, so sorry for the late notice:

we will be going to Crown King tomorrow - meeting at Señor Taco in Fountain Hills at 9am, 10am at the Chevron on Carefree Highway at I-17 (for those from the south, central or west Valley or north)

please post here or send a PM if you are going to join so that we will meet you at the appropriate location

participants confirmed so far:

DSRTRDR - LX450
ChaseTruck - 80 or the Blazer
Jim S. - LX450
 
Last edited:
GOPR0145_Moment.jpg
GOPR0152_Moment.jpg
Darn it! I just did it today... I suggest going all the way to Prescott once you make the stop at Crown King. Little to no traffic. Beautiful day. Snow in some areas. Going through the creek that the miner diverted traffic into was the highlight! Great times! Little tease for tomorrow : )

GOPR0148 (2).jpg
 
there wasn't as much snow left today

but contrary to probably everyone's expectations, the trail was as uncrowded as I have ever experienced it - I guess it was just too cold ?

actually, the weather was perfect, great views, little traffic on the trail, some interesting sections, and compared to the ROTM earlier this year, the trail has roughed up even more

yet, there was always some dry terrain on the trail (except for the rock sluice at the mine-bypass), even in the trees where there were some snow or ice patches

once we came to Crown King, they had a full power outage, so the Mill Restaurant offered only cheeseburger, chili and fries

I-17 was uncrowded, too, so an easy way back into town

just for reference, it took us less than 4 hours from the Carefree Highway gas station to Crown King
 
Last edited:
came by an older 4 Runner in the second optional obstacle asking for a spark plug wire (which we didn't have, sorry)
 
Sounds like a great run!
 
T'was absolutely a great day! We had a blast.
 
it took ~2.5 hours from the Lake Pleasant turn-off to Crown King

mind you, we were just three vehicles, and traffic on the trail overall was light - so consider this an optimal estimate
 
the three areas of concern on the trail for me would be:

1) the rock sluice by the mine: it's wet right now - you really don't have much of a choice, so my advice would be to go slow

2) the rock ledge after the mine: it's a wide obstacle, with several larger rocks sticking out randomly - the right-most lane seems the best for short-wheelbase vehicles and side-by-sides, too far on the left will get you stuck, by my judgement, so I went straight - driver side tire on the tallest rock on the left, passenger side tire should follow into the notch or just climb up the right rock . . . - we found that both the front and rear diffs cleared as the trucks climbed . . . - [all three trucks were on 315s or larger - we all had rear lockers engaged]

3) driving in snow: the last stretch of the trail, and on Senator Highway will most likely be packed snow/icy (for us it was very lightly packed snow/ice) and expect melted conditions in some places, so a mix of mud slime and ice - good thing is the road is wide, so you can choose your lines
 
Last edited:

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom