Mt. Lemmon Control Road

Last Sunday the family and I set out for our first adventure in the new Jeep. I wanted to get the wheels on the dirt and maybe get it into 4H. Kathy has wanted to go to Mt. Lemmon for as long as I can remember so I decided that the Mt. Lemmon Control Road would be a good first trip. This road, also known as FR38, goes from the Peppersauce Camp ground outside of Oracle AZ up the North face of Mt. Lemmon and ends just outside of Summerhaven AZ. The road is actually dirt for three miles leading up to the camp ground but it is nice and wide and well graded. Once you get to the camp ground the fun begins. Here is the sign at the start of the trail. If you look at the picture closely you can see how excited Sharleen is for the trip.

The picture above is about half way up the trail. The road is starting to get rough and very narrow in places but passing the rare vehicle is still easy.

There are sever water crossing along the road but they were all dry. The only water we saw was this small waterfall but the stream runs through a pipe under the road.

Near the top we stopped to snap a few pictures to see how dirty the Jeep was getting. It was a very dusty drive and since the had the Freedom Top off the whole trip the inside was just as bad as the outside.

On the way back down we spotted the helpful sign. There was a fire in this area a few years ago and there are, in fact, many dead and drying trees along the trail.

A few more pictures of the dirty Jeep before getting back on the pavement. This was a great first trip and I think we are all hooked. I can't wait to do more exploring.