Rocker Panel Pass

Insanely difficult, heavily modified vehicles only

We just ran RPP today. TRAL has apparently done some trail work in there because the carsonite signs were all in place and legible. We easily found our way through the first section of the trail. The rock crawling portion of the trail has gotten more technical. There are more chances for body damage and broken glass. We ran winch line today but had a blast.

It’s definitely hard. Especially if you have a long wheel base like a four door Jeep. 2 doors can easily make it through. But overall, killer and fun.

3 Rockers ran this trail on a nice Sunday in March and it definitely lived up to its name! Be advised of two closures: the whole Sycamore Creek area closes with little notice from Christmas throughout January on weekends to prevent mass events organized to burn Christmas trees. The second closure is from the end of FR160 to the Verde River, approximately 5 miles or more past the marked trail on TOR. The signage here says it's closed from December-June for bald eagle nesting. I could not find a mention of this closure on the Tonto NF site but there is a small box on the posted maps that just warns of a "seasonal closure". The road looked like it had been closed longer than three months and the sign at the end was well faded. There are several signed and mapped trails that look like they will make it to Log Corral trail and we tried two of them but both petered out. The first one was the longest and most promising but seemed to devolve into a dirt bike trail and we gave up too early. Not all of the trails seem to be marked on the posted map but they do have numbered signs. The deviations were worth it because we discovered a rattlesnake and a Gila Monster plus some amazing views and scenery. I think lockers are required on the Rocker Panel Pass obstacle and your rock rails will definitely get a workout as you use them to pivot on some of the rocks. Going back out the way we came was even more sketchy and not for the faint of heart.

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.

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.

Great Trail! Not very long, but it has a nice mixture of trees, river crossings, hill climbs, and rock obstacles. The tight, off camber boulder areas would be challenging in a longer wheel base vehicle; I was glad to be in a TJ. Check out my video for details. The trail connects to Sycamore Creek Loop and will loop back to the highway a few miles south of the starting point.

Last night after the Four peaks cleanup, a group of 7 vehicles ran Rocker Panel Pass as a night run. Wow, the trail has changed in spots. There recent heavy rains which will in some parts of the obstacles with what can be describes as pea gravel. This makes some rocky area a bit more slippery where, oddly enough in other areas it create a lot of traction. Rocker Panel Rock has migrated down further into the middle of the wash making the left line harder and the right line a little easier. Overall, it was a great night. The trail is still easily navigatable, just follow the GPX file. And sadly, I was not able to get any pbotos.

I just got home from a night run on Rocker Panel Pass. I didn't get any pictures but I did get some video that I'll share tomorrow. The trail is relatively unchanged since this guide was written except that a pair or rocks have moved in the trail which will make the trip for long wheel base vehicles a little more difficult. It was passable without difficulty in my Jeep Grand Cherokee but we needed to take our time with the line selection. A large rock has moved below the waterfall and rocker panel pass rock itself has moved too. I also earned some new Rocker Panel Pass rock rash. For LWB vehicles, rear passenger side body damage is almost unavoidable now.

This was my 1st trip through here oddly. I met up with some friends and didn't lock in the hubs and promptly hit quicksand and started to sink. Max locked them in so I didn't have to get my shoes wet. Thanks Max. There was a crazy deep hole we saw just a little too late. It was about 50" deep. It came over Max's hood. On our way out ( we went back out the way we came in) we ran across this guy on a motorcycle who had just drug his bike out of the same water hole. It was seized up so we hung out and helped him fix it to make sure he made it out. Was a great run.