Mt. Lemmon Control Road FSR 38

Yesterday my wife and I drove up the back side of Mt. Lemmon, had a late lunch/early dinner in Summerhaven, then drove down into Tucson. Fun drive, beautiful views and something I've always wanted to do but never took the time.

 

I plan to do this too late Fall if the weather permits, you look mainly stock sport? Pictures?

 

Yeah, a mainly stock sport. I'll post pics in a little while. I have to get them from my wife's phone.

 

Here are a few pics. The biggest issue we had on the drive was the narrow road and drivers coming down the mountain acting like they owned the road and not paying attention to trail etiquette.

 

I cant wait to try it out.
Looks like you shared the road with some real horse power

 

@DesertratTaco Where do you get on the Lemmon trail? I recently drove on that trail off Kinney that goes through the northern end of Saguaro West and would love to take the wife and kids up to Lemmon before it gets too chilly.

 

Cool to see this road mentioned. We used to go up to Lemmon this way years back and it was a fun trail to do. During winter it can get sketchy real quick with the snowfall that it gets, we once got stuck in a pretty decent snow storm up there and were definitely worried.

 

This is a good youtube video of the trip and the turnoffs, including the MUSIC !

https://youtu.be/1IZFyvzYoQg

 

that was a pretty well made video, not too long, informative and some hip tunes to boot! i'll give them a subscribe

 

Jason, we went to Oracle, then googled Mt. Lemmon Hiway. Google maps took us right to it. We stayed on that road until it became FSR 38.

You can also google Peppersauce Campground, which is on the Mt Lemmon highway as well.

 

@DesertratTaco How long did the whole climb take?

 

Jason, I think from Oracle it's about 30 miles, I drove slow and stopped quite a few times for oncoming traffic, I think it took about 2 maybe 2.5 hours. We tend to sightsee a lot. There are also sharp rocks to watch out for. It really is a fun drive.

 

Is this a 4x4 only trail? Or could a 2wd trd off road do this trail?

 

Slow lane, I told my wife when we were on this trail that we could do it in 2wd, but the 4wd helped minimize tire spin and the rear end jumping in places.

 

I just got home. I did the trail with my wife. From my home it was a 103 mile round trip. There was some bike race coming to an end so we needed to be careful and slow. The upper 10 miles needs high clearance. A babysitter for four hours cut it too close. I'd allocate 5 next time and grab a bite to eat at the top.

Thanks for the post and the inspiration, @DesertratTaco. This was a birthday present to myself.

 

Great Jason! I'm Glad you enjoyed your trip. It really is a fun drive.

 

running 4wd also helps prevent the roads from becoming washboard.

 

That is an extremely valid point.