By:
Submission
FREE permit required from the Mesa Ranger District office at 5140 E. Ingram St, Mesa, AZ 85205; 480-610-3300. Permits can be requested online or by email. The permit will be emailed to you within 48 hours (except weekends and holidays).
This space is very large so it may be best to divide it by the access points. The point I'll be using is Access #3- Forest Road (FR) 10, south entrance: This access point is reached from Apache Junction. From Mesa: Travel 15 miles east on the Superstition Freeway (US 60) to the Idaho Street exit. Follow Idaho Street north 4½ miles to McKellips. Turn right on McKellips and travel ½ mile to the Wolverine Pass Road and turn left. Follow it for 7/8 mile and turn right on Tonto Road. Travel north on Tonto Road for ¼ mile to Cactus and turn left. Follow Cactus to McDowell Road and follow it to FR 10 gate.
Access #1- Forest Road (FR) 10, north entrance: This access point is reached through the Lower Salt River Recreation Area. From Mesa: Travel east for 7 miles on the Superstition Freeway (US 60) to Power Road/ BushHwy/Forest Road (FR) 204 and turn north. Follow Bush Hwy. for approximately 13 miles to the FR 10 junction with FR 204 west of the bridge at Blue Point Recreation Site.
Access #2- Forest Road (FR) 3554, west entrance: This entrance is ¾ mile north of Usery Pass Country Park. From Mesa, travel east 10 miles on the Superstition Freeway (US 60) to the Ellsworth exit. Follow Ellsworth approximately 8 miles to Forest Road (FR) 3554 and turn right.
Access #3- Forest Road (FR) 10, south entrance: This access point is reached from Apache Junction. From Mesa: Travel 15 miles east on the Superstition Freeway (US 60) to the Idaho Street exit. Follow Idaho Street north 4½ miles to McKellips. Turn right on McKellips and travel ½ mile to the Wolverine Pass Road and turn left. Follow it for 7/8 mile and turn right on Tonto Road. Travel north on Tonto Road for ¼ mile to Cactus and turn left. Follow Cactus to McDowell Road and follow it to FR 10 gate.
Free
Fun, fun and more jeep fun! One of the best places to off road. There are different trials from easy to difficult. Make sure you buy the pass to get in and out of the gates. Don't be that person, lol.
Sutton trail from North gate to Cactus rd is a good test for a novice seeking a bit of intermediate experience. Stock Tacoma 4x4 made pretty easy work of it. Very rocky trail will chew up your tires and wheels a bit. Just take it slow and enjoy the view.
Nice trail, a little technical here and there. Opportunities to cruise riverbed right off the trail. Beautiful scenery
My Xterra Pro-4X handled this trail Luke a champ with generic all purpose tires. I will do it again with real off-road tires and tackle the harder options
A relatively easy trail in Tonto National Forest - under 2 hour round trip to the river bed.
