With a limited schedule last weekend I was unable to attend AZROCKS but I also needed my off road exploration fix!:jumping:
So Saturday morning Oliver the dog:elkgrin: and I hit the road before the sun and went up to Wickenburg on Hwy 60. From there we took Constellation Road East through the Wickenburg Mountains to where it met with North Castle Hot Springs Road which we looped back to Hwy 60 at Morristown. Total off pavement distance was about 24 miles and the trail / roads were easy and rated at a 1 or 2 at the most. The scenery outweighed the trail difficulty and since I was alone I was not looking for anything too difficult!
This trail can be done with any stock high clearance vehicle, low range not required. Drive time could easily be 2 hours but I took about 4 to do some hiking and exploration of some side tracks. Watch for ATVs traffic as you get closer to Castle Hot Springs road, the tight switch backs with blind corners should be taken with some caution.
Highlights included lots of mines, wonderful scenery and herds of cattle roaming through the washes. There is also a natural spring back in the are that we hiked to. The area we were able to access had 6-7 nice sized pools of cold water! In this area you will also come upon an old mining dredge. The history says that some Hungarian miners came over and damned up the wash. Then with the wash full of water they floated the dredge and started pumping the area for gold!
The best highlight of all was a genuine cowboy named Pete! :gunt: As I drove up the trail to the spring I came to a clearing and saw an old Ford pickup. Out stepped Pete complete with cowboy boots, jeans, denim shirt, Carhart vest, thick white tobacco stained mustache, well cured leathery skin, black cowboy hat, his six shooter at his side and a friendly attitude!
Pete and I talked for a good 30 minutes and he passed along lots of little bits of interesting knowledge about the area. He knows just about every track out there and pointed out several things to go look at. Pete used to ride that area as a working cowboy for about 22 years for several of the ranches. Looking at the pictures, imagine going in by horseback and riding up and down through the hillsides looking for your cattle to round up! Each cowboy would go through 4 horses a day using each for 3-4 hours before they were spent. Cowboy Pete had been out there for about three days and I was glad to help him be able to stay out for another 3-4 days by agreeing to deliver his mail to the post office in town for him! If you ever run across him he's worth stopping to have a chat with!
So Saturday morning Oliver the dog:elkgrin: and I hit the road before the sun and went up to Wickenburg on Hwy 60. From there we took Constellation Road East through the Wickenburg Mountains to where it met with North Castle Hot Springs Road which we looped back to Hwy 60 at Morristown. Total off pavement distance was about 24 miles and the trail / roads were easy and rated at a 1 or 2 at the most. The scenery outweighed the trail difficulty and since I was alone I was not looking for anything too difficult!
This trail can be done with any stock high clearance vehicle, low range not required. Drive time could easily be 2 hours but I took about 4 to do some hiking and exploration of some side tracks. Watch for ATVs traffic as you get closer to Castle Hot Springs road, the tight switch backs with blind corners should be taken with some caution.
Highlights included lots of mines, wonderful scenery and herds of cattle roaming through the washes. There is also a natural spring back in the are that we hiked to. The area we were able to access had 6-7 nice sized pools of cold water! In this area you will also come upon an old mining dredge. The history says that some Hungarian miners came over and damned up the wash. Then with the wash full of water they floated the dredge and started pumping the area for gold!
The best highlight of all was a genuine cowboy named Pete! :gunt: As I drove up the trail to the spring I came to a clearing and saw an old Ford pickup. Out stepped Pete complete with cowboy boots, jeans, denim shirt, Carhart vest, thick white tobacco stained mustache, well cured leathery skin, black cowboy hat, his six shooter at his side and a friendly attitude!
Pete and I talked for a good 30 minutes and he passed along lots of little bits of interesting knowledge about the area. He knows just about every track out there and pointed out several things to go look at. Pete used to ride that area as a working cowboy for about 22 years for several of the ranches. Looking at the pictures, imagine going in by horseback and riding up and down through the hillsides looking for your cattle to round up! Each cowboy would go through 4 horses a day using each for 3-4 hours before they were spent. Cowboy Pete had been out there for about three days and I was glad to help him be able to stay out for another 3-4 days by agreeing to deliver his mail to the post office in town for him! If you ever run across him he's worth stopping to have a chat with!
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