Mount Lemmon Control Road

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4.5/5 (33 reviews)
Oracle, Arizona (Pinal County)
Last Updated: 05/31/2023

Trail Information

Highlights

This is the trail that many choose to test their rig on for the first time. That being said, it's not a difficult trail at all; in fact, hearty passenger car drivers with little regard for their undercarriage tackle this trail all the time. But don't be fooled, there are still steep climbs, switchbacks, and several spots that get washed out, Designated by many names, the Mount Lemmon Control Road, Oracle Control Road, the Old Mt. Lemmon Road, or USFS 38, this was once the only way to the top of Mount Lemmon. In the 1920s, it was a popular escape from Tucson but was woefully inadequate for the amount of traffic attempting to use it. Steep inclines, narrow switchbacks, and occasional rock slides were all real problems for those early travelers. In those early days, the road was so narrow that traffic was only allowed in one direction of travel for an hour and a half at a time. This is where the 'Control' part of the name came from. Today it's hardly a road needing any 'Control'; however, there is much trepidation about driving on the "Backside of Mount Lemmon." The steepness is still there, the switchbacks are still there (But much wider), and certainly, the same views and towering pines delight those who complete the journey. You can experience multiple biological zones from desert scrub to juniper grasslands and ponderosa pine forest on this wonderful 30-mile trek. There are caves, a quaint town, zip line adventures, mines, and much cooler weather as you climb. In evidence, as you ascend, is damage from multiple major forest fires that have devastated much of the timber but have opened a wider view of the valley floor below. Most prefer to run this trail from bottom to top, but it is just as much fun driving the other way from Catalina Highway down towards Oracle. A wonderful little village, Summerhaven, awaits you as a reward if you make that your destination. Don't forget to acquire some fudge at the Mount Lemmon General Store.

Trail Difficulty and Assessment

Trail Navigation

Trail Reviews

4.5/5 (33)
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 06/05/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Harder

Trail is no longer fully passable by a passenger car but still doable by high clearance 2wd or a AWD (think Subaru or 2wd truck). Trail has seen some erosion exposing rocky areas. This has also lead to rocks falling on trail from sides. Overall harder the initial assessment but still relatively easy (2-3). A fun trail to enjoy and in our opinion the best way up the mountain.
Trail Review: Mount Lemmon Control Road - Jonathan Suitter
Trail Review: Mount Lemmon Control Road - Jonathan Suitter
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Open
Rated 3/5
Visited: 05/30/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Harder

The top half of the trail has been washed out, and in some areas 4W low was necessary to safely get over the obstacles. I don’t think a 2WD vehicle should attempt this trail in its current condition.
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Official Crew
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17900
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 05/30/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Harder

Did the upper part of the Mount Lemmon Control road to assess the damage from the winter. There is a new obstacle at 32.46425, -110.73878 which stopped a relatively new 4 Runner cold (He was on the descending path, but this was actually a small climb). This is a challenging obstacle for any high-clearance vehicle and, 4x4 Low was required to climb it for the Four Runner. My 2023 Silverado didn't have a problem coming down, (After we filled in a major hole with some rocks) but I did scrape the bottom. Geesaman Spring was running pretty well across the road and you could follow it back to a small waterfall. There are some new buildings in Summerhaven, There is now a Mount Lemmon Hotel, which is essentially a collection of tiny houses. There is also the new multi-story Mount Lemmon Lodge. There are two YouTubes to the new obstacle: 2022 4 Runner crunches up the new obstacle 2023 Silverado navigates the new obstacle
Trail Review: Mount Lemmon Control Road - Jim Long
Trail Review: Mount Lemmon Control Road - Jim Long
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Official Crew
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17900
Open
Visited: 05/24/2023

Time to get on the trail
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900
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 04/30/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Harder

This is another one of those trails that is hard to rate. On the totality of it, it's an easy trail, taking it from waypoint 1. However, somewhere around waypoint 15 the character of the trail changes. Here the climb gets steeper, the switchbacks tighter, the roads narrower. In particular the roads got much rockier. I would consider this part a level 3 moderate. This is not a section for the typical passenger car, however most suv's should do ok. We didn't air down at the beginning, but about 1/4 of the way we found it necessary for comfort purposes and went from our street level 40 psi to 20 psi, just to make the experience more enjoyable. For the beginner this trail has just about everything, especially great views. It has what appear to be some steep climbs, but my inclinometer only showed 5 degrees, with very brief sequences greater than that. All the shelf road sequences are plenty wide enough for 1 vehicle. When we met other vehicles we had no problem with passage. There were a few washes that did have running water. There were no traction issues. Total time on trail through all waypoints was about 3 hours.

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