Backway To Crown King

Backway To Crown King is a trail I have had on my To-Do list for years. I was finally able to check it off the list. I would argue this is one of the most iconic trails in Arizona. I think just cause it’s talked about so often and it’s quite long. The first 11 miles or so of the trail though are not challenging at all. It’s pretty much a graded road. In-fact most of the trail is graded. After 11 miles though there are some optional difficult hill climbs. And those hill climbs are very fun! They are all slightly different in their own way. Some of off camber, others have deep ruts or have big boulders. These are the highlight of the trail. Then you go through some construction sites and the terrain changes a bit. You follow along shelf roads and you gotta keep your attention on the road cause you dont wanna fall off. Eventually you come to the final obstacle of the trail, the waterfall. This is fun and challenging. There are multiple lines to choose from. There is a pretty easy route around it as well. The obstacle dirty after the waterfall is the only thing on this trail that doesn’t have a bypass or easy route. This one where you need to pay attention cause it could kick you over on your side if you dont take the right line or have an under built rig. You continue the shelf roads up and up until you hit crown king! Overall I really enjoyed the trail. I dont think it lived up to the hype tho and I think that is my fault for hyping it up in my head for so long. It is a solid trail, just not AMAZING in my opinion. That being said I will still give it 5 stars haha so take what I say with a grain of salt.