Anyone ever run AZ 88 Apache Junction to Roosevelt Lake?

[AzScorpion]

I drove Schnebly Hill Road in April 2013 and at that time it was doable in a car, I believe. (I was in a Rubicon as we were heading to the Moab area.) With the amount of use that road sees, I would believe that It would deteriorate without regular maintenance.

It must of deteriorated a lot since then because it was one heck of a ride. I think they did it on purpose because that's the trail the Pink Jeep tour guys run. They were cruising though it pretty good and I bet it keeps other traffic down for them. We saw a lot of other trucks coming up the opposite direction and then turn around.

We've been on some rocky bumpy stuff but that was the first time my gf said to me "don't ever take me down that trail again". lol I do want to try in once I get my Bronco just to see the difference in the suspension which I'm sure will be night & day.

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[Radioman]

We started out in Gilbert heading for Flagstaff via Sedona so we were going up the road instead of down. And yes there were a few Pink jeeps on the road. Beautiful country.

 

[toddiscdn]

How in the world did you do Schnebly Hill Rd in an Escape? It must of been a lot smoother back then because we did it last year in my Ranger and I'm still waiting for my kidney to drop back into place!The top part coming off the highway wasn't bad but after about 4-5 miles in it became nothing but a rutted, rocky spine jarring ride.

I believe it was 2009, I did it going down, back to town. It was a bit gnarly but not too bad, sounds like its much different now, got some looks from the pink jeep guys.

Beauty area, did a bunch of hiking and forest service roads there and on the Mogollan rim area. Amazing the differences in landscapes you can find in a short drive, from the red rocks of Sedona to the pine forests and even a bit of left over snow up on the rim in April!

 

[AzScorpion]

I believe it was 2009, I did it going down, back to town. It was a bit gnarly but not too bad, sounds like its much different now, got some looks from the pink jeep guys.

Beauty area, did a bunch of hiking and forest service roads there and on the Mogollan rim area. Amazing the differences in landscapes you can find in a short drive, from the red rocks of Sedona to the pine forests and even a bit of left over snow up on the rim in April!

Ok that makes sense now because I knew it couldn't have been recent. lol

Yes the change is really amazing from the top on down. We started out going through the camps and the pines on a fire road and it wasn't all that bad. Then it seemed like once you took a sharp right corner there was a really nice view of the red rocks and it all went downhill from there. About half way down it got pretty rough but we were already past the half way point so no turning back now. This was right before you got to the end and back out to the road into town. There was a good drop off a couple large rocks right before this and we were glad that hell ride was over. We're heading back up there next week and I joked with my gf about doing Schnebly again and just got "the look".

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Ok that makes sense now because I knew it couldn't have been recent. lol

Yes the change is really amazing from the top on down. We started out going through the camps and the pines on a fire road and it wasn't all that bad. Then it seemed like once you took a sharp right corner there was a really nice view of the red rocks and it all went downhill from there. About half way down it got pretty rough but we were already past the half way point so no turning back now. This was right before you got to the end and back out to the road into town. There was a good drop off a couple large rocks right before this and we were glad that hell ride was over. We're heading back up there next week and I joked with my gf about doing Schnebly again and just got "the look".

Hi Dave, I did Schnebly in a Taurus sedan my buddy from Mi had rented when we visited. We drove up in my Lincoln but he wanted to use the Taurus. We mixed it up with the Pink Jeeps, much to their dismay... All went well when we hit the freeway again. My wife was cool with this as she trusts my driving...Friend's wife was a wreck and the three of us did not care....she was a real piece of work... He passed away and we ditched any relationship with her....rhymes with Ditch.

I hear that Pink Jeeps wanted to let the road deteriorate to stop cars and such from traveling the road.

Beautiful drive....

best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

 

[AzScorpion]

Hi Dave, I did Schnebly in a Taurus sedan my buddy from Mi had rented when we visited. We drove up in my Lincoln but he wanted to use the Taurus. We mixed it up with the Pink Jeeps, much to their dismay... All went well when we hit the freeway again. My wife was cool with this as she trusts my driving...Friend's wife was a wreck and the three of us did not care....she was a real piece of work... He passed away and we ditched any relationship with her....rhymes with Ditch.

I hear that Pink Jeeps wanted to let the road deteriorate to stop cars and such from traveling the road.

Beautiful drive....

best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

Hi Phil,

They sure did a good job at it too. The Pink Jeeps were cruising right through it all but they were set up for it with better suspension and lets face it, it's not their personal vehicles so they really don't care if it gets beat up. I do want to run it again when I get my Bronco as it'll have Bilsteins and bigger tires which I'm sure will be a lot smoother than my Ranger was.

 

[azdriver]

I did Schebly in a Ford Escort. But that was a very long time ago. It's too bad they let it go like they have. It was a fun drive that anyone could do. Guess that's not the case now.

 

[jvm051]

So do you need 4wd now for Schebly Hill Road or the 88 to Roosevelt Lake? I just have a 2WD sport but would like to do some drives on dirt.

 

[AzScorpion]

So do you need 4wd now for Schebly Hill Road or the 88 to Roosevelt Lake? I just have a 2WD sport but would like to do some drives on dirt.

For the upper part of Schnebly Hill (off the I-17) no as it's a flat dirt road for a few miles. Once you come to a hard right turn you'll see where the road starts to decline and it gets very rocky from there on. You defiantly need 4wd from that point on.

As far as the Apache trail I haven't been up there in 6 years but back then I did it in my Tacoma in 2wd. It was just a narrow road with a few bumps here and easy to drive.


Once you get to this point on Schnebly Hill you'll want to turn around. It's really the first nice lookout/view you come to. From there it's all downhill.... literally. lol

 

[Desert_5G]

So do you need 4wd now for Schebly Hill Road or the 88 to Roosevelt Lake? I just have a 2WD sport but would like to do some drives on dirt.

88 is 2WD friendly. But I think its closed. Or been closed for a long time now due to mud slides.

 

[GTGallop]

I tried Schnebly coming north out of Sedona one day. Wife shit her britches and we turned around.

 

[jvm051]

For the upper part of Schnebly Hill (off the I-17) no as it's a flat dirt road for a few miles. Once you come to a hard right turn you'll see where the road starts to decline and it gets very rocky from there on. You defiantly need 4wd from that point on.

As far as the Apache trail I haven't been up there in 6 years but back then I did it in my Tacoma in 2wd. It was just a narrow road with a few bumps here and easy to drive.


Once you get to this point on Schnebly Hill you'll want to turn around. It's really the first nice lookout/view you come to. From there it's all downhill.... literally. lol

Thanks, Years ago I took my wife up partially in my Tacoma TRD prerunner, but we turned around because she hated how bumpy it was. My daughter loves that stuff, but will need to make sure to turn around.

 

[JayBickles]

How in the world did you do Schnebly Hill Rd in an Escape? It must of been a lot smoother back then because we did it last year in my Ranger and I'm still waiting for my kidney to drop back into place!The top part coming off the highway wasn't bad but after about 4-5 miles in it became nothing but a rutted, rocky spine jarring ride.

I did Schnebly Hill in my 95 Probe GT back when they would somewhat maintain it. Bottomed out a few times but it was fun! Got a lot of strange looks too!

 

[AzScorpion]

I did Schnebly Hill in my 95 Probe GT back when they would somewhat maintain it. Bottomed out a few times but it was fun! Got a lot of strange looks too!

I bet you did lol... I'd love to see you try that today. I think they let it go now so the Pink Jeeps can have less traffic on their tours.

 

[JayBickles]

I bet you did lol... I'd love to see you try that today. I think they let it go now so the Pink Jeeps can have less traffic on their tours.

Yeah we did a hummer tour there a few years ago and the driver basically told us they don't want anyone traveling it. He said it was mostly the residents but the jeep tours benefitted also. He said that they completely stopped maintaining it.

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