Last Part of Gila Traverse

While I regularly drive the middle part of the Gila Traverse (Montana Mountain) and most of the beginning (from Box Canyon), the final stretch from Superior became impassable for 33 inch tires. We actually became stuck and needed rescue after we turned around and tried to cross a rut we had crossed heading out.

Before that point we had to cross a lot of serious rock gardens because the trail along the creek was washed out.

 

[4runningfool]

Here are some. The first is one of many places along the creek that the trail just gone

 

[OTG Ben]

Hey @4runningfool

Was this along Cottonwood Creek? I'd like to add it to our trail statuses section once we have the exact location of the washout so that folks are aware of the issue. It also looks like there's tire tracks in the wash/creek. Are there any bypasses down that way?

 

[4runningfool]

Yes, it was. The tires tracks include ours and our rescue vehicles. We did a lot of getting out of the trucks to pick a line through the rock gardens. I just ran the creek until the trail crawled out.

 

[OTG Ben]

update has been posted to the rout statuses section. For clarification the washout is along Road 639 (not cottonwood canyon) on the way to Pinal Peak. Checking with Tonto NF to see if they have any indications when the road repairs will be made, since this is a relatively popular road used to ask Pinal Peak.

Washout Location