Crown King to Castle Springs - Alternate to "Backway"

Started the trail at 10am ended at 4pm. Beautiful views

Road was pretty washed out in general. Wasn’t too bad as long as you had 4x4. A couple of people in our group with longer wheel bases almost got stuck at one spot, but hit the right line and you’ll be good. Don’t know about 4 hours as it took us from 10am to 3:45-4pm to finish it.

Entre amigos

Crown King Alternate Route – South to North (Day After Thanksgiving) 5:30 from trail start near North Lake Pleasant entrance. Trail was fairly rough — could’ve been the rain or heavy holiday traffic — but nothing major. A few downhill-to-uphill transitions were chewed up by runoff and needed careful line choice. Stopped a few times to pick up the usual beer cans and shot-up junk just off-trail. 99% of the trucks, ATVs, and SxSs were courteous. But — owning a SxS myself — some folks who just discovered the “go fast pedal” probably shouldn’t be near cliffs. Great run to Crown King aside from the group who couldn’t wait 30 seconds to pass on the edge of a sharp drop-off. Side-by-sides make the trail accessible, but they also give a village clown or two the illusion they’re in Mario Kart. Trail remains fully passable — even for the weekend heroes. Recommend early starts or weekday runs to avoid the few downhill drunks who forget basic trail etiquette.

Very dry and dusty with quite a bit of people on the trail. Lots of washboarding definitely need to air down tires next time. Zero uses on the trail with a stock frontier pro4x

Starts off easy then gets really bumpy. Arm and neck was sore for a day. Lots of side by sides coming down the mountain, some places to pass. I got some funny looks from some who were pulled over; they probably weren’t expecting a near stock Tacoma lol. Some nice views here and there but i definitely wouldn’t do it again since it’s mostly 3 hours of neck cracking bumps. Would recommend better suspension for more comfort.

This trail has gotten way rougher than the last time I ran it. There has been an influx of SxS usage which is deteriorating the trail conditions. The weather has also cause a fair amount of erosion also. Make sure you have high clearance and 4x4

Lots of loose rocks some large, good size off angle fissures. The trail is heavily deteriorated due to the tremendous amount of rain we got recently. Its more difficult now than it was even a few months prior.

very dusty and long trail. easily driven by any 4x4.

Amazing scenery, lots of cows and mules. The trail is mostly loose rocks and rough surfaces with very few smooth sections.

Great ride today. The cool temps at Crown King were a great bonus!

Stayed left at the Crown King rock for the alternate backway. Rough in spots but not real technical. A few higher speed spots at you go into sandy creek beds. Didn’t see a soul til closer to Crown King.