Planned 4x4 Routes
4-Wheeling is the planned activity for Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of Syncro Safari.
Monday:
On Monday, we plan a route south from Patagonia and make a loop with the 4x4 route Flux Canyon and the graded Harshaw Road. Perhaps about 20 miles or so round trip. Difficulty Rating: 4 out of 8+, Scenic Rating: 8 out of 10, Special Attractions: Views down Alum Gulch, Many mining remains, Winds through the Patagonia Mountains.
Wednesday:
Wednesday’s trip will be north of Patagonia. Temporal Gulch is an out and back trip of about 12 miles each way. Difficulty Rating 5 out of 8+, Scenic Rating 9 out of 10.
Friday:
On Friday, we’ll be north of Patagonia near Sonoita taking the Canelo Hills 4x4 route and combining it with the easier road, Parker Canyon Lake Road. Total of about 30 to 50 miles depending on where we turn around.
4x4 routes can change from day to day and this preliminary plan may need to change to suit the condition we find there.
See a more detailed description of each route:
Flux Canyon |
Temporal Gulch |
Canelo Hills |
The route descriptions provided on the linked pages are largely excerpted from the book Backcountry ADVENTURES - ARIZONA by Peter Massey and Jeanne Wilson. This book and others in the same series are amazingly well put together and complete. I highly recommend them. Publisher: Adler Publishing Company, Inc. www.4WDbooks.com. ISBN-10: 1-930193-28-9. Available at Amazon.com and many other suppliers. 573 pages.
About Route Difficulty:
In order to properly assess route difficulty, here is an excerpt from the book which describes what the author means by his ratings. By my assessment, a Syncro with a rear locker and controlled by an experienced driver should be able to tackle the 5 trails and perhaps some 6 rated trails.
"Massey Scale Difficulty Ratings"
We utilize a point system to rate the difficulty of each trail. Any such system is subjective, and your experience of the trails will vary depending on your skill and the road conditions at the time. Indeed, any amount of rain may make the trails much more difficult, if not completely impassable. We have rated the 4WD trails on a scale of 1 to 10— 1 being passable for a normal passenger vehicle in good conditions and 10 requiring a heavily modified vehicle and an experienced driver who expects to encounter vehicle damage.
Because this book is designed for owners of unmodified 4WD vehicles—who we assume do not want to damage their vehicles—most of the trails are rated 5 or lower. A few trails are included that rate as high as 7, while those rated 8 to 10 are beyond the scope of this book.
This is not to say that the moderate-rated trails are easy. We strongly recommend that inexperienced drivers not tackle trails rated at 4 or higher until they have undertaken a number of the lower-rated ones, so that they can gauge their skill level and prepare for the difficulty of the higher-rated trails.
In assessing the trails, we have always assumed good road conditions (dry road surface, good visibility, and so on). The factors influencing our ratings are as follows:
• obstacles such as rocks, mud, ruts, sand, slickrock, and stream crossings;
• the stability of the road surface;
• the width of the road and the vehicle clearance between trees or rocks;
• the steepness of the road;
• the margin for driver error (for example, a very high, open shelf road would be rated more difficult even if it was not very steep and had a stable surface).
The following is a guide to the ratings.
Rating 1: The trail is graded dirt but suitable for a normal passenger vehicle. It usually has gentle grades, is fairly wide, and has very shallow water crossings (if any).
Rating 2: High-clearance vehicles are preferred but not necessary. These trails are dirt roads, but they may have rocks, grades, water crossings, or ruts that make clearance a concern in a normal passenger vehicle. The trails are fairly wide, making passing possible at almost any point along the trail. Mud is not a concern under normal weather conditions.
Rating 3: High-clearance 4WDs are preferred, but any high-clearance vehicle is acceptable. Expect a rough road surface; mud and sand are possible but will be easily passable. You may encounter rocks up to 6 inches in diameter, a loose road surface, and shelf roads, though these will be wide enough for passing or will have adequate pull-offs.
Rating 4: High-clearance 4WDs are recommended, though most stock SUVs are acceptable. Expect a rough road surface with rocks larger than 6 inches, but there will be a reasonable driving line available. Patches of mud are possible but can be readily negotiated; sand may be deep and require lower tire pressures. There may be stream crossings up to 12 inches deep, substantial sections of single-lane shelf road, moderate grades, and sections of moderately loose road surface.
Rating 5: High-clearance 4WDs are required. These trails have either a rough, rutted surface, rocks up to 9 inches, mud and deep sand that may be impassable for inexperienced drivers, or stream crossings up to 18 inches deep. Certain sections may be steep enough to cause traction problems, and you may encounter very narrow shelf roads with steep drop-offs and tight clearance between rocks or trees.
Rating 6: These trails are for experienced four-wheel drivers only. They are potentially dangerous, with large rocks, ruts, or terraces that may need to be negotiated. They may also have stream crossings at least 18 inches deep, involve rapid currents, unstable stream bottoms, or difficult access; steep slopes, loose surfaces, and narrow clearances; or very narrow sections of shelf road with steep drop-offs and possibly challenging road surfaces.
Rating 7: Skilled, experienced four-wheel drivers only. These trails include very challenging sections with extremely steep grades, loose surfaces, large rocks, deep ruts, and/or tight clearances. Mud or sand may necessitate winching.
Rating 8 and above: Stock vehicles are likely to be damaged and may find the trail impassable. Highly skilled, experienced four-wheel drivers only."