The way points of this bicycle route:
Turn south on 186: 2 lane, acceptable shoulder, little traffic
186 makes a sharp right to the west. You head south. Pavement ends here. Hardpack.
Well marked intersection. Go left. Road will begin to head east into Chiricahuas
This is where E. Rucker Cyn Road turns to Rucker Cyn. Make left. You begin climb out of high desert grasslands into oak/juniper woodland.
You don't have water yearround here. They turn it on sometime in the spring. Call ahead to FS.
2 lanes, little traffic, winds predominantly from south (if you're lucky). Make left and youre headed to Rodeo NM.
Heads into the Chiricahuas if you make a left. Rough, only if you have time.
Here you decide: Go into Rodeo NM to store or keep trudging to Portal AZ, which has a store/restaurant.
One time railroad town.
Store/Restaurant/Birding (lots)
Head south into Cave Creek, a must see and many campgrounds.
From here you climb from roughly 5000' to 8000' on hardpack dirt with gravel and cobbles.
Your in Ponderosa pines now.
If you make a left here, it is a 3 mile climb (above 8000') to Rustler Park, highest campgrounds in Chiricahuas.
From Onion Saddle you plunge thru Ponderosa pine to Pinyon/Juniper to Oak Woodland to High desert grasslands in about 10 miles. Whew.
Welcome to Bikely, take a step by step tour of this path:
Press Start Tour - then use the navigation buttons below to move along the path.
A Semi-Circumnavigation of Chiricahua Mtns of SE AZ: from high desert grasslands to Alpine and back.
Tagged with: Onroad, Smooth, Intermediate, Offroad, Low traffic, Rough, Touring
