Trail Overview
This is a moderately challenging out-and-back trail that starts out easy, crossing through a cattle gate that needs to remain closed when not in use. From there it turns into a fairly unremarkable rutted oil road before reaching the main attraction and dropping down to the edge of Cutter Reservoir along a narrow, deeply eroded shelf road. There are few places to turn around, and several off-camber stretches tilted towards the drop-off make careful route selection critical to avoiding mishaps. Once reaching the edge of the reservoir, the trail splits to run in either direction along the shore after crossing over a heavily eroded (and apparently non-functional) drainage pipe that originally ran under the road. After splitting, the road narrows again but at the end of each of the forks there is a place to turn around, and both have some nice picnicking or camping sites amongst small stands of cottonwood and deciduous trees. While most fishing occurs near the dam, it is permitted here with a license from the Navajo Nation Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Difficulty
While much of this trail is a 5 or less, the off-camber nature of some of the narrower stretches of trail and the depth of erosion in areas make this trail a 6. Adverse weather may increase the difficulty of the trail significantly if not making it impassable.
