Cottonwood Canyon Road

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4.6/5 (11 reviews)
Florence, Arizona (Pinal County)
Last Updated: 02/14/2023
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Trail Information

Highlights

Cottonwood Canyon Road serves as one of, if not the main entrance to, the famous Florence OHV area. This rugged region is littered with old mines, wagon stops, petroglyphs, and beautiful Sonoran Desert landscapes. During the busy winter months, the early portion of the route is considered the boondockers midway. Countless RVs and large family groups line the well-maintained gravel road. The fun begins once you pass all the traffic. The trail travels through a rocky wash before climbing into the southern foothills of the Superstition Mountains with spectacular panoramas of the surrounding Sonoran Desert. Cottonwood Canyon Road ends at 5 Points, the central hub of the region's trail network. You can choose from various routes, like rock crawling on the Ajax Mine trail for lunch at the ruins or continuing south through the beautiful narrow walls of Box Canyon.



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Trail Reviews

4.6/5 (12)
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Official Crew
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2100
Open
Rated 4/5
Visited: 07/23/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Harder

This was a fun technical trail. Harder than I expected but still fun. My tires came off the ground kind of often once we reached the harder parts. It would be nice to have a lift and some armor for this trail. I hit hard a couple times.
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100
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 05/28/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Harder

Came from the north side off 60. Started out easy. When hit the turn off at the sign for cottonwood canyon, the road drastically changed. Ruts and a couple of steep inclines with sharp rocks. Had to pause a couple times to pick a line as I was in a stock JL. But overall the Jeep did fine. Parked at the big water tank and a short walk over the wash and up the road was the red box. It was full of rocks and no journal. So if someone goes there soon may want to put in a sign up log. The petroglyphs were awesome and made the trip worthy of a return.
Trail Review: Cottonwood Canyon Road - Jeff W
Trail Review: Cottonwood Canyon Road - Jeff W
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Official Crew
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1000
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 05/03/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Harder

Ran this on with my stock gen1 4x4 Tacoma. Brother provided a picture of the more hairy spot (see other review). Though most of the trail is really easy that spot caused some puckering. Nice to try a new way into the area.
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Official Crew
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5000
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 05/03/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Harder

Fun trail, felt a little like just a dirt road at the beginning but then got more challenging and became arguably a 5. Did it in a stock '01 4x4 Taco and there were a couple of places that we ended having to get out and spot. One place (waypoint 13 I believe) we ended up with the rear passenger tire about 2 feet in the air.
Trail Review: Cottonwood Canyon Road - James
This trail guide's difficulty was changed on 02/16/2023

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