Coronado Trail Scenic Byway (285 km)

Clifton Arizona to Springerville · one way, about 285 km back to the start

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Why this ride

A one-way ride of 285 km, Clifton to Springerville - roughly 3 h 51 in the saddle. On the way it passes Hannagan Meadow and Alpine Arizona. The highest point is about 2,650 m. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.

Roadbook

1. Clifton Arizona start

   Clifton is a copper town squeezed into a narrow canyon in eastern Arizona, where the San Francisco River cuts through red rock, and it looks the part: old brick storefronts, tin roofs, and houses climbing the hillsides in terraces. It has about thirty-seven hundred residents and a main street that still carries the character of a frontier mining camp. Just up the road is the huge Morenci mine, one of the largest copper operations in North America, and its open pit and its terraced waste dumps change the shape of the landscape for miles.

   The town's history is rough and colourful. The old jail, hacked into the rock face in the 1870s, was said to be escape-proof, and visitors can still see the cells. Floods have damaged the town repeatedly, and the dry canyon beds nearby can turn into torrents in minutes after a storm. Chase Creek Street, the historic strip, is a good place for a walk and a cold drink before you start.

   From here, the Coronado Trail begins. US 191 climbs out of the desert in a long run of tight bends, and its reputation rests on the count, about four hundred and sixty curves in just over a hundred miles, with hardly a straight section. The road gains thousands of feet, from the dry canyon through juniper and oak to pine and aspen forests, and the temperature falls with it. It is named for the Spanish explorer Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, who marched through the region in 1540 in search of golden cities, though the exact route he took is still debated.

   Top the tank in Clifton, since there is almost nothing along the road, and the next supplies are in Alpine, a small village high on the plateau. Bring water and warm clothing, and expect rain in the summer afternoons. The road is narrow, with little shoulder, and logging trucks, elk and sometimes bears are on it, so keep alert. The best time is late spring or early autumn, when the air is clear and the forests are colourful. Sunsets in this part of the state are long and spectacular.

2. Hannagan Meadow scenic

   Hannagan Meadow is a clearing in the high forest of eastern Arizona, at about nine thousand feet, and it feels more like Colorado or Montana than the desert state of popular imagination. Tall ponderosa pines, Douglas firs and aspens crowd around a wide, grassy meadow that is green in summer and white in winter, and the air smells of pine and cold earth. The road runs right past, and a small lodge and a few cabins stand at the edge of the trees.

   The road is the Coronado Trail, US 191, which crosses the Mogollon Rim country from Springerville in the north to Clifton in the south, and has a reputation as one of the twistiest highways in the country. It climbs and drops through the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests with hundreds of bends in a little over a hundred miles, and the old name, US 666, earned it the nickname of the Devil's Highway until the number was changed in 2003. The trail is named after the Spanish explorer Francisco Vázquez de Coronado, who passed through the region in 1540 while searching for the fabled cities of gold, though historians doubt that he followed this exact route.

   Wildlife is abundant. Elk graze in the meadow at dawn and dusk, and their bugling in autumn is a haunting sound. Black bears, mule deer, wild turkeys and bald eagles live in the forest, and in the evening you may see animals at the road's edge, so ride carefully. The weather is changeable: snow can fall as early as October and as late as May, and storms build quickly in summer afternoons, with lightning on the high ridges. Temperatures at this height are cool even in July.

   There is very little in the way of services. The lodge may offer meals and accommodation in season, but check ahead, and do not count on fuel anywhere near. Alpine, about thirty-five kilometres to the north, and Clifton, much further south, are the places to fill the tank, and the long stretch between them is the reason to carry water and a spare layer. Phone signal is patchy.

   Stop and look at the meadow if elk are out, switch off the engine and wait. It is one of the quietest places on the whole road.

3. Alpine Arizona scenic

   Alpine is a mountain town that most Arizonans have never seen. It lies at about eight thousand feet in the White Mountains, a few miles from the New Mexico line, in a valley of meadows ringed by pine forest and with the long dome of Escudilla Mountain standing guard to the north. Winters are cold and snowy, summers are cool and green, and the town of a few hundred people feels like a ranching village in the northern Rockies that took a wrong turn south.

   Its history is cattle and timber. Settlers came in the late nineteenth century to graze livestock on the high grasslands, and families have worked the land since, with cattle still wandering the verges and horses in the fields. Escudilla, one of the highest peaks in Arizona, inspired the conservationist Aldo Leopold, who wrote about it in his essays on the wilderness and its grizzly bear, killed in 1911, the last of its kind in the state. The mountain is now part of a wilderness area, and its rounded summit is a good landmark on a clear day.

   Alpine marks the northern end of a famous road. US 191, the Coronado Trail, runs south from Springerville through the national forest to Clifton and is celebrated for hundreds of twists and turns, but the stretch near Alpine is gentler, running through open meadows and aspen groves with long views. Surfaces are mostly good, but frost heaves, loose gravel and elk on the road are all possible, so keep your speed within sight distance, especially at dawn and dusk. Weather changes rapidly, with afternoon thunderstorms in July and August, and snow from late autumn. September and early October are especially pleasant, when the aspens turn gold and the air is crisp.

   Alpine has the basics a rider needs: a petrol station, a couple of small stores and cafés, a few motels and cabins, and a diner that serves big breakfasts. Eagar and Springerville, about thirty kilometres north, have larger supermarkets and more choices. South of town there is little for a long way, so fill the tank here and check your reserves. Carry water and a warm layer, and be prepared for patchy phone signal.

   Stand outside in the evening and listen. At this height the sky gets dark and the stars come out in numbers that city riders never see.

4. Springerville finish

   Springerville sits on a high volcanic plain in the White Mountains of eastern Arizona, a few feet under seven thousand feet above the sea, and anyone who thinks of Arizona as flat desert is in for a surprise. The air is thin and cool, the hills are dotted with ponderosa pine and juniper, and the town lies on grassland at the foot of a huge volcanic field. Springerville and its neighbour Eagar form a ranching and mountain-resort community of about six thousand people together, with the old cattle-country feel, a few motels and cafes, and a view of Escudilla Mountain's dark bulk.

   For riders, this is the northern end of the Coronado Trail, US 191, which runs south for about 120 miles to Clifton through the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest. It is known for its curves, famously several hundred of them, and for its drops and climbs through conifer forest, aspen and open meadows, with long stretches where you see no other vehicle. The road follows an old route said to have been taken by Francisco Vázquez de Coronado's expedition in 1540, though historians question the details. Weather changes fast, and on the highest sections, snow is possible well into spring and again from October.

   Services are the thing to plan. Springerville and Eagar have fuel, groceries and places to eat, but between the two towns and Clifton the supply is thin, with lodges and small stores at Alpine and a seasonal lodge at Hannagan Meadow. Fill the tank before leaving, check your tyres and bring warm layers, since afternoon storms in July and August can bring lightning, hail and sudden cold. Elk, deer and cattle wander across the road, particularly at dusk.

   Nearby, the Casa Malpais archaeological site preserves the remains of a Mogollon pueblo, built on a basalt ridge by people who lived here about seven hundred years ago, and there are fine views of the White Mountains from the road. Try the local green chile in a diner, with eggs or a burger. The best months are June to September, and early October for aspen colour.

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