12/12/08-Cottonwood Canyon Rd. & Telegraph Canyon Trail, AZ

Well, here it is:

12/12/08

Just me.

Late by 20" (to my own ride). At 0920, the Chevron in Florence, AZ - top off & check the oil. Wait until 1000. Nobody else. Time to ride!

Took 79 north & made a right onto Cottonwood Canyon Rd.




Apparently, the military uses this area, too. I wouldn’t want to be out here when they are! Signage at the beginning of the road:



<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
<o></o>
<o></o>
<o> </o>







It’s about 10 miles from 79 to the Box Canyon Trail via Cottonwood Canyon Rd. Hard-packed dirt is KTMSER-approved for triple digit speeds!




After about 6 or 7 miles, the road gets rougher, & leads you to and old house. Complete with a hand-crank well, it also has a water tank (an afterthought, perhaps).



























The road then takes you past a BLM walking path, complete with info on the Hohokam Indians & their ways. About 50’ off the path is a sheer rock side of a rather large hill. You can see the petroglyphs made by the Indians on the rock face! Pretty cool stuff.








<o></o>










At about the 10<SUP>th</SUP> mile, the road ends & dumps you into the Box Canyon Trail. If you make a left & travel 6 miles, it’ll take you to the 60, about 4 miles east of Florence Junction. I made a right, taking the Box Canyon Trail a mile or two south to Telegraph Canyon Trail. A yellow spray painted rock indicates where to turn. That’s a good thing, because there’s so many trails going every-which-way. Plus, I don’t have a GPS yet.



<o></o>
<o></o>
Shortly after turning left onto Telegraph Canyon Trail, you see an old corral, complete with a windmill.




<o></o>
<o></o>
<o></o>
<o></o>
<o></o>



As you approach the Ajax Mine, the trail gets much tougher. Steeper grades littered with bowling ball-sized rocks, on top of smaller, loose rock. Of course, the drop off was pretty nerve wracking, too!



<o></o>
<o></o>
<o></o>
<o></o>






Here’s the Ajax Mine. There’s a trail that branches off to take you there. The mine kinda looks like the Temple of Doom!!






















The trail stays rough in many parts around the mine. There’s a hilltop viewpoint right after you pass the mine. Due to the higher elevation, the breeze picked up as I shot these views:








<o></o>










Continuing on, the trail joins the Arizona Trail briefly. It then drops you into Telegraph Canyon. The canyon narrows the trail in certain parts, but the scenery is outstanding! More rocky climbs & descents along the way, but not as rough as the section near the mine.

















<o></o>










A spray-painted 'Superior' & arrow leads you out of the canyon toward the town.










The trail climbs out of the canyon and the town of Superior can be seen off in the distance.









<o></o>

More desert views ... breath-taking!


























Toward the end of the trail, you pass an old quarry, but it’s not very scenic. Hitting pavement in Superior, the trail ends at the cemetery! Sort of creepy. No photos, as I don’t want to be staring at them and see a ghost or something!


I then took the 60 back toward Florence Junction and made a left, about 4 miles east of the Junction, onto the Box Canyon Trail. More military warnings at this enterance, too.




I took the trail south for about 6 miles and made a right onto Cottonwood Canyon Rd. I took the road back to 79 & then went home.

All in all, I had a great ride. Partly cloudy with temps in the low 70's. I shot lots of pix, being alone, I stopped every time I wanted! Of course, nobody was around to see me NOT drop my bike! Go figure.

Excellent ride & one I'll be doing again.

- R

so - did you explore the mine? where does the trail come out? i mean, where in superior?

No mining. Left my construction hard hat at home! The trail hits the 60 across from the Dodge dealership.

- R

Nicely done Rob. Thanks for taking/posting all the pictures. Never done Telegraph.

+1 - nice ride and nice report



(Note to self - have GOT to get up to the PHX area for some more riding!)

Excellent ride report, Rob!

Great report Rob!

Great views. We who are snowed in salute you!

Ron

The desert is beautiful. Thanks for the RR.

Nice RR Rob, keep planning those rides and Ill make it out east!

thanks for that nice RR i wish i could have join u but i only can ride on sunday for z time being , hope to join on a ride soon ...
peace.

well, you need to post a re-do for this friday so i can join you! looks like outstanding scenery. i'm gonna tell you now, though, i'm gonna want to explore that mine.
glad you decided to go even though noone showed. now that's drive.

I'll whip up something for this Thursday or Friday. Right now, I have both days off.

Maybe we can do some exploring on the trails that branch off the Box Canyon Trail/Cottonwood Canyon Rd. There's like a million to pick from. Most probably dead end at 'homemade' camping sites. But it wouldn't suck to kill a tank of gas finding out!

If we do the Telegraph Canyon Trail again, we'll explore the trail that goes to the Ajax Mine. It should take us right up to the steps of the 'Temple of Doom'! Bring a canary or two!

- R

lookin' forward to it...
i'm in for whichever day you choose.