Burns Canyon

Trail Overview

To get to Burns Canyon, you'll start on an easy forest road. Once the road splits to the right, the difficulty increases significantly and green-sticker vehicles are allowed. There are some closed roads in this section so pay attention to the map.

Difficulty

Difficult: Much of this trail is easy to moderate; however, two steep hills have large boulders to maneuver around. Modified vehicles are best, but some aggressive, high-clearance stock vehicles will be able to get through.

History

The arrastra you pass on this trip is an indication that mining took place here a very long time ago. Arrastras were primitive devices used to pulverize gold or silver ore. A long arm connected to a center post was turned in a circle powered by horse, mule, human, water power, steam power and even electricity in later years. Flat stones were attached to the arm and dragged over the ore inside the circle.