9052

Total Miles
6.5

Elevation

857.35 ft

Duration

1 Hours

Technical Rating

4

Moderate

Best Time

Winter, Fall, Spring

Trail Overview

9052 runs from the end of North Vulture Peak Road to the intersection with 9060 and the Vulture Mine Loop. It starts as a wide high-clearance dirt road with decent ruts running down the middle of the trail. Throughout the route, it's a mix of rocky dirt trail and narrower rocky washes. The trail has small hill climbs and descents that are full of loose rocks, sometimes with big ruts down the middle that are filled in with loose rock. If you are riding north, you'll have really nice views of Vulture Peak through the cactus fields. It climbs up a rocky hill from the narrow wash that is full of rocks, then has some slightly more off-camber sections that are also narrower, and it's easy to get stabbed by a cactus sticking out over the trail in these narrow sections. The southern end is a pretty easy hard-packed dirt road, dipping into ravines with loose gravel and ruts. Near the south end, it goes through a really beautiful field of cholla cactus, flat on top of a mesa. There's also a mine shaft to stop at. Some fun spots are shelfier on the edge of the hillside or the top of a small ridge line. Watch out for gates you have to open and close, cattle grates, and huge washouts on the side of the trail. There are tons of unmarked intersections throughout the area, so it's best to have GPS tracks downloaded when riding here.

Photos of 9052

9052
9052

Difficulty

This is an intermediate trail because of narrow rocky sections that are sometimes steep hills or a bit off-camber, and narrow washes. There aren't any notable obstacles, but there are big ruts and lots of loose rocky terrain.

Technical Rating

4

Access Description

The Vulture Mountains Recreation Area is accessed off of South Vulture Mine Road south of Wickenburg, Arizona. This is an extensive area of OHV trails on BLM and State Trust Land with mostly easy and intermediate trails for full-width vehicles, UTVs, ATVs, and dirt bikes, with tons to see, including Vulture Peak, mines, and natural rock formations. There is a staging area and extensive dispersed camping on North Vulture Peak Road. The Recreational Land Use Permit is required for Arizona State Trust Land for camping and recreation in this area, which you can get online at https://land.az.gov/applications-permits. It's a pretty popular area in the spring and fall for UTVers.

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