11/17 Back way to Crown King day trip / possible 11/16 camping

Hey All,

Back Way to Crown King this weekend on Sunday 11/17

MEETING SPOT CHANGED to HOT BAGELS and DELI: departure around 7:30am so get there a little earlier to eat fill tank up prior ideally
34640 N North Valley Pkwy
Phoenix, AZ 85086

Going:
Andrew - (adunkoma) + 1
Rodrigo - (Rodrigo)
Michael - (AZHornet)

Probably:
Cody - (4runnercaged)

Maybe:
Nick - (GREEKBOY12295)
Ryan - (RPS1030)


4x4, slight lift and offroad tires recommended but there should be bypasses for the difficult obstacles.

It will take 4sh hours to get up there and we eat lunch at The Mill

Breakfast / Meet Spot

Thanks again Seabass for all your input around CK



Here are more details about the trail so eloquently explained by Seabass

"Crown King coming in from the south end is a fantastic trip, one of my favorites, and totally doable with 4x4 and just a little bit of clearance. Sliders and skids aren't necessary anymore. The first time I did that run was about 4 years ago and the trail was in rough shape. On a scale of 1-5 (5 being hardest) I'd say it was about a 3.5. At the time I only had a spacer lift in the front, no armor, and just an AAL in the rear. I made it through everything except for one last spot near the end of the hard part of the trail where there was a big slick boulder the size of my truck right in the way. If I had a locker, I would have made it but I had to get winched up.

Anyways, after the next spring, the entire road was completely fixed. The road was graded and that big boulder was removed, making our convoy very easy as compared to the first time. There's always erosion on the trail but if you have any sort of 4x4 experience, then this trail has a rating of a 2 at most. I haven't been down it this year, but I was up in Crown King a couple months ago at the saloon and was talking with some Jeep guys that had just come up. They said it was still in excellent condition (they were disappointed) and they made it up to CK faster than expected for their group size. So, based on the review of a few folks that know that trail, they said it didn't have any obstacles that posed a real challenge. I wouldn't hesitate to take that trail at all, but I'll never do it without another truck "just in case". That would be a long walk out of there.

Now, the trail always has some spots that are tricky but nothing that is not doable by any means. There are a couple really challenging play spots if you have a rig for it, but there are also bypasses to those if you're not feeling too brave.

Just remember it's about a 36 mile dirt road to get up there, so plan on it taking a few hours and go prepped. If your group keeps going and only stops for pee breaks and a few pictures, you'll be up to CK in less than 4 hours easily. That's crawling carefully and taking your time to enjoy the area. The trail starts in the desert behind Lake Pleasant, goes for about 10 miles through washes, slightly eroded dirt trail, some river rock crossings (nothing extreme), and some tight turns. Then, the scenery changes to high desert and then more into scrub brush for the next 1/3 of the trail. It's when the trees start showing up that the trip is really worth it. Before you know it, you're at the top and it's full pine forest and you're at over 6,000' elevation.

 

You in ??

 

If it's this weekend, probably not (but I want to). The fiance's birthday is this weekend, but she has been bugging to 4 wheel with me. If we went, we'd just do a day trip up and home, not camp overnight. I just did that Log Corral trail this past weekend so I'm nice and broken in. Any later than this weekend, and we're tempting snow up there.

 

dang id love to go this weekend, but must prep the rig for the dunes.

ill def be going when the snow hits!!

 

I'll go. I'm all stock tho with 4x4 and locker. Sea bass knows lol

 

true dat

 

Happy bday to her! If you bring her we can get a cupcake and sing happy birthday to her on the trail haha. Maybe my wife would come too.

Keep me posted if your down to meet in the morning man I'll send you my number.

Jealous of the dunes - never been in the snow let me know when you go because I'm down too

 

I'm down to go

 

Cool bud so just Sunday then right? Wanna pm me your number?

 

Got 2/3 of the way there in a stock 2007 4runner with 265/65/17 street tires and turned around because of no ground clearance, and it was 2wd (has a LSD and very good traction control system). Me and my friends decided it would be safe to turn around and call it a day. Im not sure how much harder it gets after where you get into forest part and make this 180* turn (after this first little creek you cross). Moral of the story is id almost want to take my prerunner and just throw some weight in the bed.

 

If you do I'll be there to help. Assuming I don't get too aggressive and need some help myself

 

I would obviously take every by pass, I am just worried about the end that someone said something about alot of big rocks.

 

Still haven't been through that so I can't attest to it but the general consensus I think is that you'll be fine, worst case maybe just get a little tug up.


Join at your own risk though

 

make sure to air down haha no more glamis mishaps

 

Oohh don't even remind me lol

 

you should be fine in 2wd. the last hard part with the big rock got graded like a year or 2 ago

 

Good to know thanks for the input

What happenned??

 

She comes back from a big business trip on Thursday night, and her birthday is on Friday. It will depend on how tired she is, but also I don't have room for more than 2 in my truck and we'll have our boys that weekend and I don't want to leave them behind. I haven't seen my son in about 6 weeks because he was working a haunted house every night last month and this is his first weekend off.

If I can find a way that's reasonable for everyone at home, I'd like to make this run before the snow.

 

I got stuck at night looking for the camp at glamisi forgot to air down and got stuck up to my transfer case and spent all night digging her out lol