Telegraph Canyon Road

4.4/5 (13 reviews)
Superior, Arizona (Pinal County)
Last Updated: 01/08/2022

Trail Information

Highlights

The Telegraph Canyon Road trail is an nice day ride offering mild challenges along the way. The trail begins near the town of Superior, Arizona which has a rich mining history and is the starting point for many adventures. Winding gradually to the Southwest the trail offers magnificent views of the surrounding area including: Picketpost Mountain, the Santa Catalina Mountains, the Fourpeaks and Superstition Wilderness areas, Weaver's Needle, and Apache Leap. The trail intersects with The Arizona Trail and ends at the Ajax Mine with nearby mining structures visable to the South. Another point of interest near the town of Superior, Arizona is The Boyce Thompson Arboretum (http://arboretum.ag.arizona.edu/). Visit the Superior, Arizona Chamber of Commerce (http://www.superiorazchamber.net/) for things to see and do in the area including festivals and home tours.

Trail Difficulty and Assessment

Trail Navigation

Trail Reviews

4.4/5 (13)
Open
Visited: 03/07/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

The trail 4 at the first waypoint can no longer be used. The forest service or the mine have blocked the trail at many points with huge boulders. We were able to make through the blockages with some difficulty. But when we got to the cattle guard at waypoint 3, it was also blocked. We were able to squeeze around the blockage through the cattle gate. However, at the bottom of the hill, the trail was blocked again with large boulders. We had to temporarily remove a trail marker and squeeze around the boulders. After all that, we were back on the trail. From this point on the trail had several obstacles that the recent rains had made more difficult. I expect the forest service or mine to continue to make trail 4 more difficult to use or not usable at all. To get around this, use trail 230 up and over the hill where you can rejoin the trail.
200
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 12/27/2022
Difficulty Accuracy: Harder

This trail exceeded expectations. Scenery was great and just enough challenge to make it fun to drive. I would say it's a solid moderate trail. I ran it in my '20 Gladiator with 3" of lift and 35" tires. I did drag the tail a couple times traversing washout sections. At a minimum you'll want good offroad tires and some ground clearance. Good suspension articulation will negate the need for lockers.
Open
Rated 4/5
Visited: 04/21/2022
Difficulty Accuracy: Harder

Nice trail with lots of critters and birds, desert in bloom, and great desert interest. I must say the erosion made the first mile of the trail more difficult than thought. Once you negotiate this first mile the trail becomes exactly as described.
Official Crew
17200
Open
Visited: 01/08/2022
Difficulty Accuracy: Harder

Danny Martinez led us on this trail one month after he posted this trip report. He organized a bunch of AZFJ folks for an early morning meetup in Superior. It was pretty cold, and air down was shiver time. 🥶. This is an Awesome trail, had a very nice blend of every kind of terrain, and several good obstacle challenges. This was kind of the maiden flight for my GX470 since I added my FJ suspension to it. (Well, actually Imogene in Ouray-Telluride was its maiden voyage) but this is my 1st real AZ trail. I must say I miss my locker a bit. The first effort was at Waypoint 2 (Turn right at the "Y"). This is now far more washed out with many more slippery boulder faces to climb up. This is the point I had to engage my Center Diff Lock. Still took 4-5 attempts to get up. (If you don't have aired down tires, forget about it and take the left fork). Evidence of the telegraph fire was everywhere. There were a startingly lot of dead tall saguaro cacti on the hillside. It was quite disheartening looking at all the devastation, but the grasses and bushes have returned in force. There was quite a bit of water back there as soon as you hit Waypoint 4, you'll be in it and crossing it for a while. The Washout at Waypoint #5 has been fixed by TRAL-AZ? On the way down from the top view at Waypoint 8 and before you get to Waypoint 9, there's an incredible washout that will cause you to pause for assessment. It wasn't hard to traverse, keeping to the left and straddling the berm was the solution, but the hole is about 4' deep!. Lots of SXS's at the Ajax Mine ruins. (Which are frustratingly decayed since my last visit in 2012). It looks as if a WWII battle, complete with bullet pocks & tank shell hits on the block walls has occurred. One of the major walls has collapsed. Why are people this way?
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 12/08/2021
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Ran this trail from east to west on 12/8/21 and found it to be very washed out with tons of exposed boulders. The first couple of miles has some pretty bad washouts that will put you very off camber, so be careful. Ran this trail in 2020 and it was a 2 rated trail at best with only one good obstacle at the wash crossing. The fires and last years monsoon season have changed the trail dramatically. I would say it is a 3 to 3.5 rated trail and shouldn't be done with stock vehicles on stock tires. I dinged both front rims and hit my skid plates a few times. Also hit my driver's side rock rail once when my tire slipped off a boulder in the wash. This is still one of my favorite trails of the Box canyon trails.

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