Headed West: Backcountry Exploration: Constellation City/ Wickenburg mountains trail

View from summit at 13.6 miles.

The trails call. Today I decided to answer.

Shortly after arriving here in Phoenix, I had purchased the book Guide to Arizona back roads & 4-wheel drive trails by Charles A. Wells. The mileage given for turns is lifted straight from that book, and for the most part seem pretty accurate. The book is not very expensive, so I certainly recommend that you buy, but I will add the disclaimer that as far as I can tell, the last printing for this book was 2001. That means that some of the info given in the book may be outdated.

Trail # 36 is the Wickenburg Mountains trail. Given the time I had to explore before needing to get back home, I decided that this would be I nice trail to check out. Unfortunately, I would have to go alone, ignoring the warnings give in the guidebook. YOU do what you think you have to do, but I would also recommend having a friend go along with you, as this is a very remote area, and it's a long way to help.

Truth be told, I actually did the trail to the gate at 13 miles the first day. Sitting there way up on top of a mountain looking over beautiful AZ wilderness in complete solitude was definitely inspiring. I knew I had to come back soon, and a few days later after waiting for some rain chances to pass by, I returned. You definitely don't want to get caught in the rain here, so wait for a sunny day.

The trail starts in Wickenburg AZ on US 60 about one block west of McDonalds on El Recreo drive. As you turn off, reset your odometer. El Recreo soon runs into Constellation rd and you follow it for some distance. A few miles in, the pavement ends, and for the next several miles the dirt road is fairly smooth, so good time can be made. Be aware that this road crosses washes, and after the rains that have pounded the valley recently, some of those washes have eroded down from roadbed level a foot or more, so be careful. Remember, there are other vehicles, bikes, and quads that use this road ( especially on weekends ) so please keep your speed in check.

Small canyon just after pavement ends is fun to explore.

A few miles after the pavement ends, you will go through a hairpin turn with a small box canyon on your left. I explored this a few months ago, and it's certainly Worth the short hike to explore it. It's also kinda neat to drive up into.

Back on the road, you will need to keep right at 3.1 miles where blue tank road goes left. Keep left at 4.2 miles and turn right off of Constellation rd at 8.6 miles. I think maps may show this as Buckhorn rd.
At 9.6 miles the main road goes appears to go straight and is marked as Owl springs by a sign ( there is also a "recreational use" sign as well. You turn left and go downhill into the valley below. Near the bottom, at around 13 miles, the main road makes a sharp turn to the right, but you will turn left off into the wash where you will pass by makeshift corral and watering tub on the right . Up to this point, a high clearance 2wd could probably have made it, but beyond this, you will need 4wd to keep from damaging the terrain.

The road continues through the wash and starts up hill past a gate to the left side marked "keep out", and slowly works it's way to the summit with a few small ruts from recent rains, but nothing too serious. Up here there are great views of the mountains to the north ( complete with snow caps on this day ) and Wickenburg to the south. You can be forgiven for wanting to sit and take it all in for a few minutes. I know I did ( lead photo ).
As you start your decent, you will encounter a gate at 13.7. You will also see a sign to close the gate behind you. Please oblige.

As you continue downhill, keep looking to your left and you will see what looks like it might be mine tailings, or some recent grading, but I saw no way to get up to it ( except to hike ). Curious.

Continuing down, my guide book instructs me to keep left at 14.4 where a lesser road goes right, but this road had deteriorated enough that you wont mistake it for you intended path anyway. Not to mention the posted sign.
Keep left again at 14.8. This road is also unused, but has no posted sign. I noticed a tailings pile on the way down, and upon walking a short distance out the trail, I found a small pit about 15 feet deep ( be careful! ) and a very artfully built water retaining pool on the adjacent hillside. I also saw tiny hoofed prints that I assume are a Javelina ( too small for Deer ), one of the desert creatures i have yet to see first hand.

TOP-Nice Stonework. I assume it's for water retention. BOTTOM-Watch your step.

At 15 miles you will encounter a small a small "S" shaped turn that appears to cross a mound ( you will see a gate just past the right part of the "S" ). This is supposed to be the site of what once was Constellation City. Few clues remain during my admittedly quick exploration, but you will find some old tin cans, what looks like an old cook stove, and some concrete foundations. According to the guidebook, this place once had a post office, stage depot, store, saloon, dance hall, and some 250 residents.

All that's left of Constellation city.

I must also point out that Google mapping "Constellation city" shows a town site to be some distance north-west of here, and close to Constellation road that we turned off of earlier. So it's possible that one of these sources is incorrect, although Wells seems to know what he is talking about. Whatever the case, there was something here, and it's interesting to think that there was once a thriving town way out here in the middle of nowhere.

Soooo.....having reached my destination, I turned around.....

Well, not quite.

I must confess that my original plan was to run this trail to it's terminus at approximately 24.6 miles, and another ghost town called Copperopolis. So this little story should have been called "Copperopolis City", but the next 1.5 or so miles of trail would hasten a change of plans.

To this point, the road sees some form of maintenance ( there was tiny bit fresh grading work at the Constellation site ). Whomever is responsible for this does so for reasons behind the gate just passed the "S" turn. The gate is for a road to the left, and is marked "Keep Out". You go straight, and any form of road maintenance clearly ends here. Thus far, anyone with a 4x4 would have no reason for intimidation, but an off-road enthusiast would be bored to sleep were it not for the scenery. Beyond this the road gets interesting enough to keep the casual "Cross-over" 4x4 driver from continuing.

A bit after the gate you will start down a rocky shelf road into the canyon below. At 15.6 you will pass through another gate, and beyond this the road gets much steeper, with ruts mixed in with the rocks for good measure. This section of road is , shall we say,
exhilarating!

The trail take a turn for the worse here.

Now, the obstacles here are nothing any stock, high-clearance 4x4 will have much trouble with, but it's where they are situated that makes it interesting. The road itself moderately steep although it's probably wide enough for 2 or 3 Cherokees to be parked side by side, but it is cambered away from the mountain except for the last few feet before dropping into the canyon. The rock/rut combo's tend to pitch you that way even more so ( I lifted an up-hill rear wheel ). Throw in a left turn out around a ridge back that runs up that mountainside, giving the sensation of hanging way out in empty space, and this section can be intimidating. Make no mistake....if you should go over the edge near the top, you will die. I will also note that a full-sized vehicle will have to take even more daring lines unless they have a TON of ground clearance. The worn-in lines here are sized for real off-road vehicles ( IE-Jeeps! ). No letters please. It was a friendly jab...

To tell the truth, being alone, I almost turned around here. But I hate to walk away from a section of trail I know I can do because of logistics. I decided that were this section situated in, say, a canyon bottom rather than carved into a steep mountain side, it would hardly even be worth thinking about.

So down I went, gripping the steering wheel tightly in spots....but other than a skid plate scrape, and the aforementioned tire lift or two, it was mostly uneventful. Near the bottom are a few ruts that will test you suspension travel, and at 16.5 you drop into the wash at the bottom.

The recent rains had eroded the wash down enough that my bumpers would drag, despite the fact that someone had done some half hearted rock stacking at this step.

At this point, the wash zig-zags back and forth while the trail goes straight, so you cross many "islands" in the wash. The next drop-off from this first island was about twice as high as the first one I encountered, and at this point several points came together to make me decide that I had traveled far enough for the day...

1. I had several obstacles to travel back over, and while I was confident that I could get over them with ease, there's ALWAYS the chance something could go wrong.
2. It was getting late.
3. I was a long way from help.

I made the turn and headed for home. For those who would like to continue, my guide book gives the following instructions....
Watch carefully at 16.8 miles where you make a hard right. Go by the cattle pond on the left at 18.2, then turn right at 18.8. Continue straight at 19.4 where a road joins on the left. Bear left at 20.3 and pass through a barbed wire gate. Trail drops into a wash then zig-zags uphill to Isaac Bradshaws grave at 20.6. Continue past the grave and bear right at 21 miles. At 22.3 pass another gate on a descending shelf road. At 23.2 bear left where a road joins on the right. Go around a green tank, then turn right. At the time the book was written a crumpled truck trailer and bulldozer marked the site of the UFO mine. Bear right and follow the shelf road along the hillside. At 23.6 turn left uphill. The road fades out at around 24.6 at the Copperopolis town site up the hill on the left. The mine is straight ahead in a north-east direction. You return the way you came.
There is a alternate way out through the Castle creek trail, and I have seen some internet discussion recently about this trail, but it sounds like something more than a stock 4x4 can handle. I hope to go back soon and finish this trail, but....

As I climbed back up the shelf road, my fears proved un-founded. I had to hit a few of the tougher sections more than once, but this is more of a reflection of my "only as fast as necessary" driving style. Truth is the old Cherokee impresses me at times with what it can do. Good vehicles.