Tonto National Forest FR-41: Table Mesa Trail
The Table Mesa Trail extends east-west from Camp Creek Road to Interstate 17 along 18 miles of desert terrain. The eastern portion begins benignly enough, with shallow inclines and smooth, lulling sand. After a time, however, the views become more dramatic and the driving more difficult. It took us roughly 3 hours to complete this 5-rated trail, though it probably would have been sped considerably if it were not for the path made up largely of large pebbles for the last half of the drive. A few times, however, the lockers were engaged and put to good use. The New River ford comes to mind, mainly for its extremely narrow nature and the vulnerability of the Defender due to the all-too-small BFG A/Ts. We also used the lockers in a rockpile to keep traction on the smooth, rounded surfaces and on a steep, switchbacking mountain climb. It was a shakedown cruise not only for the AA Yellow Defender 90, but for its riders, as the rocks shook us so much that even I was getting sick of it near the end.
“There’s a yellow one!” The view from the Sears-Kay Ruin, just past the entrance to Tonto National Forest
Jamie’s first offroad driving experience
My lovely Jamie is evidently enjoying herself
Through the looking glass
Table Mesa offered some rather spectacular views, such as this hillside covered with saguaro cacti
The New River ford was scary mainly because of its tight confines and because, if anything happened and we were stranded, the chances were about even money that we’d be there for a few days or die trying to walk out.
Precautions probably unnecessary – the D-90 walks on water.
A wider shot of the New River ford. Though we were only about forty miles from downtown Phoenix and about fifteen from my parents’ home, it felt as though we had fallen out of civilization. Makes it easier to understand how so many people come to die in Tonto each year. Those many small rocks in the foreground illustrate what we got to drive across the rest of the way - even when switchbacking up and down mountains.
Another shot of the breathtaking vistas that seemed to pop up over every ridge.
We came across this rolled Bronco near the very end of our journey. It was in the middle of a completely flat swath of land. Who knows? At least people won’t destroy a stranded vehicle when its left out in the middle of the desert…
RETURN TO THE OFFROAD GALLERY T.O.C.