Back Way to Mt. Ord

600

Impassable

Visited: 09/25/2022

Difficulty Accuracy: Harder

Yes it is still Impassable as of 9/25/2022 I wish I had looked at the trail status here on "Trails" before I went yesterday. The rain ruts are getting real bad and have washed a lot of the road out on many of the switch backs. Did not make to the wash out that is noted below. Was stopped by Multiple Hikers on the way down that described a wash out about 7 feet wide and 7 feet deep and that it is Impassable. I made this trip two other times a few years ago and it has changed a lot just in two years time. It is much harder and as noted Impassable. at noted area.

Ryon Brown

100

Impassable

Visited: 05/14/2022

Difficulty Accuracy: Harder

Still washed out.

Miguel Gonzalez

200

Impassable

Rated 3/5

Visited: 08/20/2021

My apologies for not getting the exact mileage, but heading up towards fr626 about 2 miles in, there is a huge gap which the picture does not do justice that makes this impossible to get across. . Looks like rainwater just carved a channel way too wide and deep to get over. Trail Should be closed. I Don’t recommend trying it out, you will be making a U-turn

Bobby Nelson

Official Crew

67750

Open

Visited: 07/07/2021

Arizona National Forests and State Lands are back open for travel. There are still some very important fire restrictions in place. These restrictions can often change by specific areas.

Bobby Nelson

Official Crew

67750

Temporary Closure

Visited: 06/25/2021

Tonto National Forest officials will close the state’s largest national forest due to ongoing extreme fire danger beginning at 8 a.m. on Friday, June 25. The forest is implementing this forest closure as a precaution to protect the health and safety of the public, employees and firefighters by reducing the risk of human-caused fires. No one is allowed in the closure area, including Forest Service personnel, unless they are responding to a wildfire or other emergency or patrolling to ensure enforcement of the closure. The order shall remain in effect until July 31, 2021 or until rescinded, whichever occurs first. Residents or businesses using roads in the restricted area to the extent necessary to access their private property are exempt.

Bobby Nelson

Official Crew

67750

Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 02/05/2021

The #TontoNF will be terminating the Bush Post Fire Flooding Public Safety Closure Order effective Friday, Feb. 5, 2021, at 8 a.m. In mid-June of last year, the Bush Fire scorched almost 200,000 acres on the Mesa and Tonto Basin Ranger Districts in the Four Peaks Area. Following the fire, a Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) team conducted assessments to identify impacts and recommend actions for mitigating risk in and around the burned area.

Chad Chaney

5050

Temporary Closure

Visited: 08/02/2020

My family and I drove to Payson today and drove right by the trailhead. The entire mountain side was burned by the Bush fire and all of the trail within view from the highway was burned. I'm afraid what the summer rains will do to the trail.

Bobby Nelson

Official Crew

67750

Temporary Closure

Rated 5/5

Visited: 07/03/2020

Tonto National Forest has been temporarily closed because of extreme fire conditions. This is a link to the official closure notice https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/tonto/news-events/?cid=FSEPRD759503

Chad Chaney

5050

Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 06/13/2020

I was on the backway to Mt. Ord yesterday for a run up to the top of the mountain. This trail has not changed much since the last time I was on it. There were no surprises except for the left over garbage at the top of the hill at the fr626 parking lot. We removed all of the garbage before heading down the trail. Our return trip was on fr626 and again, no surprises. Nice day on the trail.

Mike King

100

Open

Rated 4/5

Visited: 03/17/2018

Due to the time of day and the temps we went up on 626 so we could hike while the sun was helping to keep the trail warm, then came down the back way. I have a stock Land Cruiser on 32's and had no problems whatsoever. I don't think I would have had any problems going up either. -- It was a definitely a nice hike and a fun easy trail to do a half day trip with the fam. But I do agree with other comments that the trail seems more rutted in places than the video or pictures show, also if you like your paint don't do this in a full size... I definitely came home with some new scratches.

Bobby Nelson

Official Crew

67750

Open

Visited: 12/02/2017

After running the Sunflower Mine Loop, we decided to finish off the day with a run to the top of this mountain we had been seeing from a distance all day. I have been up this route before but not in a couple years. It was just as I remembered, except a couple of the washouts have been repaired. It's still narrow in spots but our friends big four door had no issues. If you're in the area, it's well worth the cruise up and down this mountain.

Jarom

100

Open

Visited: 07/23/2017

Second time doing this trail. It is great for a half day trip from East valley. Its close with high enough elivation that even on the hottest of days you can enjoy the cool breeze on the top. Trail is just challenging enough in a mostly stock Xterra to be fun. A few of the hills I had to hit with some speed but a wrangler and FJ had no issues. I would recommend going up the back way. Continuing to the locked gate below the cell towers, have a nice lunch, then go down the front way which can be done in about 20 minutes. If you like your paint don't do this in a full size.

Phil

100

Open

Visited: 06/14/2017

Went up 626 and decided to try the back way down (stock 4 Runner and a Tacoma with high clearance bumpers and bfg A/Ts, otherwise stock). Got about 2 miles down and decided to turn around and head back up. We hit a long straight stretch with some pretty jagged rocks and decided not to risk the 4 Runner tires. Some of the sections from the jntersection with 626 down to where we turned around were pretty deeply rutted combined with some pretty jagged rocks and were tricky to navigate either way. Overall it seems a little more washed out and technical than the video or review would suggest.

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Back Way to Mt. Ord

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