Jerome Arizona is an old mining town that's more alive than at any time in the past. Once the copper ran out, the town became nearly deserted until it became an oasis for "artists" and tourists, which it remains today. The town itself seems impossibly hung on the steep slopes of Cleopatra and surrounding hills. So steep, in fact, that you will drive above a roof-top, then shortly drive in front of the same building. The whole town is said to slide down hill a measurable amount every year.
On weekends it's crowded with people who seem instinctively incapable of understanding that the road is for driving...not stopping to look around until someone pulls out. It's also a destination for many motorcycles, the paved road being very curvy and scenic...having ridden it many times myself in my street-biking days.
One great ( and cheap ) place to stop is the Douglas Historic Mansion museum. Somewhere inside you will find a scale model of the mind-boggling number of mine tunnels dug in Mingus mountain ( 88 miles worth under the town itself ). Looking at it, you can't help but wonder why the whole mountain doesn't collapse...which it does on occasion.
BUT...where there is mining, there is surveying and sampling. And where those are out west, there are roads...or what was roads. Now they more resemble trails.
We are not here for tourists or pavement...
There were three trails on my agenda for the day; one below the town of Jerome itself, and two more some miles up the pavement of hwy 89A to the south...up the mountain. My brother-in-law and I unloaded well to the west on the old railroad grade ( FS318 ) which then becomes FS155 or "the back way to Jerome". This brings you out smack-dab in the middle of Jerome.
The 1st trail I wanted to explore didn't go as i'd planned: FS413 sits in a hairpin below Jerome, and a few hundred yards up "Gulch Road", which basically runs from one hairpin to another. Gulch Road is signed as "local traffic only". Yet when I made the turn onto FS413, I was confronted by a cable and a suspicious looking sign reading "Road closed due to high fire danger". This area had record Monsoon rains this year and any fire bans were lifted months ago. I've seen videos from as recently as 1 year ago from this very trail.
Some research has turned up mixed results. Gulch rd itself is a public road ( and FS413 is mapped as open ), and most all ATV's and SXS's around here are tagged and FULLY STREET LEGAL. One person reported that a LEO told him that there way no way to prevent ATV's/SXS from going up Gulch rd for that very reason, but the locals would call up and lie to the officers and tell them we were kidnapping daughters, raping cattle, Etc...because they don't want us there.
But as I said, Gulch rd actually means nothing as far as trails...it's just a way to get to FS413, but the story shows the locals' attitude towards trail riders. I suspect the sign was placed there by locals to try and turn away off-roaders. As I said..."artists" ( IE-tree huggers ).
If I can confirm this road is legally open, I will return with a pair of bolt cutters. I pay taxes just like those who live in Jerome, and this is public land.
Freshly pissed-off, I headed up the mountain to my other trails and had better luck.
Maps show FS338 as heading down Mescal Gulch. Like all the roads/trails today, I have driven past it many times wondering where it might go. The answer is up...and down.
Up to some pine forests...
Like every trail around here, there were some branches going in various directions. Most of them ended at what must have been mining activity at one point. The rock formations certainly have "that look"...
And down: back to more "Y's" in the road and one that headed straight down the canyon towards Jerome, and the payoff for this bit of exploring; A spectacular view of the Verde Valley and Jerome from a vantage point not for those scared of heights...
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| Don't run off the trail here. Hwy 89A left, the town of Jerome center, and that hairpin at the lower right is where we were going to hit FS413. |
Like the other branches, this must have been to service some sort of mining, as there looked to be something like a diggings pile above us, but we could never quite see what it was...
With this "wow moment" under our belts, we headed back to hwy 89A for some more pavement pounding. A few miles north down 89A to a trail that was signed, but doesn't have a number on maps ( I don't typically try and remember the signs since they are almost always on my topo maps ). It heads west over the mountains and also splits at the top.
Up here the riding is interesting: these peaks are the highest in the immediate area, the sides are steep, and the vegetation is limited in most spots to chaparral, so you get the feeling of being very exposed. Perhaps like being on top of some mountain in the Andes.
The trail we took to the west side wound its way through several small canyons where some foliage does manage to grow...
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| That structure in the distance is the Phoenix Cement Plant in Clarkdale, AZ. |
By this time it was getting late in the day, and these many canyons had lost the sun. In this exposed location, it was getting pretty chilly. Another factor at play: it apparently was opening season for deer, as there were hunters everywhere. There were two in a Ranger the next ridge over glassing the canyon below, so we decided to leave them in peace and head for lower elevations. So back to Jerome and out to FS155 that I have ridden many times.
The plan here was to head to warmer temps and eat some dinner of meatballs and spaghetti from a can; dessert of a couple of Little Debbie Devil Creme's, and wash it down with some Mtn Dew. Maybe some Smirnoff to knock off the chill...but even finding a spot here was tough, as campers were EVERYWHERE looking to harvest that 1st deer of the season.
Not only did we not want to impede on the hunting...we also didn't want to get shot by a stray bullet from someone who didn't know we were there. Ultimately we parked just off the trail in an alcove that protected us on three sides.
After an extended break, were made tracks for the house into a beautiful sunset that makes me wonder why I always forget my tripod. Only the glowing eye or the light of the many campfires shatters the darkness for the last few miles. And Pioneer headlights, of course. The lights of Prescott Valley twinkle in the distance as I load up the Honda and we make for home. More added to the list than removed...but glad for the chance to make a list at all.
