SW Arizona Loop

[Rokrover]

Our latest mini excursion in SW Arizona was a loop through Tombstone, McNeal, Douglas, Bisbee, Sierra Vista then home. We overnighted at Whitewater Draw on the McNeal Playa, famous as a wintering ground for Sandhill Cranes that migrate from as far away as Siberia. The photo shows our Blue Chook, somewhat faded now, at the more colorful McNeal Mercantile gas stop before heading down to the border at Douglas to tour the historic Gadsen hotel. Then Bisbee Breakfast Club provided good eats while I reminisced with local motorcycle mechanics about the good old days. The Blue Chook performed flawlessly, navigating unimproved backroads and mountain grades with equal aplomb, and tucked in the only available space at the primitive campground with ease. Then again, forum members know these charming Chinook attributes well!

Cheers,

[Blue~Go]

I never tire of trip reports Thanks for writing this one.

Roll on, Blue Chook!

[pdemarest]

Hi Rokrover - we're headed to Tombstone next month by way of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. What unimproved roads did you take in that area? I've been pouring over maps there seems to be quite a few of these roads so I'm interested in which ones you were able to tackle in your rig (mine's a 2003 Premier). Safe journey!

[Rokrover]

Tombstone itself is a very popular tourist destination and the only problem there is finding parking or a vacant RV site close by. We had a reservation right in town with Wells Fargo R.V. Park to be on the safe side.

The unimproved road we negotiated was the short 2-mile dirt section of N. Coffman Road that leads off Davis Rd. into Whitewater Draw. It was flat but covered in notorious washboard ripples that reduced us to a crawl to minimize shaking the interior apart. Incidentally, our Mor/Ryde rear rubber suspension doesn't help much on these unpleasant washboard surfaces.

We had a similar experience taking N. Middlemarch Rd. east just outside Tombstone into the magnificent granite of the Dragoon Mountains. A jarring ride for sure, but worth it for camping off the grid nestled among the rock formations. You will find similar conditions going in from the east side off 191 at Sunsites along the final 8-mile section of W. Ironwood Road to camp at Cochise Stronghold. This is a lovely site maintained by the Forest Service.

These unimproved secondary roads are well within the technical capability of the Chinook. The only restriction is clearance and at times you might get "Arizona Pinstripes" from low hanging brush. More extreme are the old mining "roads" that are popular with 4WD rock crawlers, definitely something you don't want to try in a Chinook!

Hope this helps to plan your adventure. Cheers,

[SMan]

I'll have to put Tombstone on our list. Arizona is a beautiful place.

[pdemarest]

We actually already made reservations at the Wells Fargo RV park. This is our first real road trip in our Premier so I'm making sure that we have some stops with hot showers so I can stay married to my current wife! But I'm looking forward to being able to camp more outside of RV parks as we're getting solar installed next week. Thanks for the road info.

Paul

[Rokrover]

If you have time another "local" feature you may enjoy is Kartchner Caverns. They have an excellent clean campground with paved roads, showers and of course tours of the famous caves. Best to have reservations.
https://azstateparks.com/kartchner/

[pdemarest]

We'll check it out. I just finished driving 600 miles in my rig to get up here to Springfield, Oregon to have a solar system installed. Really enjoying the way the Chinook feels on the road and most of all NOT towing a trailer. Lost my water heater door somewhere along the way but already have a service appt. back in Santa Cruz so I can get everything ready for our Arizona trip.

[Scott]

Lost my water heater door somewhere along the way

Off topic, sorry, but just wanted to throw this out there... My water heater cover was held in place with a spring loaded plastic clip. I think that's standard suburban design. Well, I didn't trust it so I installed a threaded body clip and bolt; it's quite solid and was basically free.

[Blue~Go]

That's a great idea!