Shoemaker Spring

Trail Overview

Shoemaker Spring runs south to north at the edge of the Tonto National Forest near New River, Arizona. It's a primitive route in a lightly used OHV area that is accessed off of North New River Road. This one is intermediate difficulty because it crosses several washes, and it's rocky in spots with lots of small rolling loose rocks, some off-camber grades, and uneven ruts and washouts. This one doesn't get much use and is a bit grown over with grass. There can be water crossings after spring storms out here, and the trail can change with flash flooding, leaving big washouts through the trail. As the trail heads north, it climbs out of the wash at one point to go around a big washout that gets narrow and pinches out and gets fainter above the ravine. The bushes get tighter, and a couple of times it goes in and out of the wash on a more faint trail. This zone is more suited for a UTV or ATV rather than a full-size vehicle because it keeps getting narrower and overgrown, and later on it's so narrow between the bushes that it wouldn't make sense for anything other than a dirt bike to ride it. The faint trail starts to peter out, and you have to pick your way back to the lower ravine. It looks more like a dirt bike trail near the north end, with big boulders in a tight narrow wash. It essentially has become overgrown to the point that it's impassable at the point where it connects with the Shoemaker Spring Connector for any vehicle other than a dirt bike willing to route find a bit.

Photos of Shoemaker Spring

Want to see more?

Login

Difficulty

This is intermediate difficulty because the trail is full of rocky sections full of loose rocks and some off-camber sections. It gets overgrown at the north end to where it's likely not passable for anything other than a dirt bike.

Technical Rating