Well let me tell people a bit about myself. In a few weeks I will be
picking up a jeep wrangler I purchased off my cousin who attends University of Arizona and driving it to the midwest (Chicago) for the summer, then returning to Idaho for school. I have never been to Arizona before. I would like to go on some four wheel trails in the general vacinity while I'm down there and would be intrested in tips and suggestions people can offer. Please also note I have not been offroading before in anything but a stock pickup truck in the midwest, but the vehicle I am aquiring does have some modifications (3 in lift, 32"tires I beleive). Also please note my nature in being new to this, so tips/and pointers would also be apperciated, along with any how-to's, etc. I would also be intrested in sites to see, and will also be passing through the
state of colorado if that has any opportunities going all the way back to Chicago.

Thank you.

-PC


You can also e-mail paul at orbitel.com

(make the at a @)

I spend a lot of time in Tucson, but always fly there so I never actually get to go wheeling there. Hopefully I can suggest some resources that might be helpful.

Arizona Backroads and 4-Wheel Drive Trails by Charles A. Wells. It's for sale at
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0966497635/qid%3D1021758057/ref%3Dsr%5F11%5F0%5F1/002-9157256-9427236

This site might be helpful to someone unfamiliar with the territory:
http://www.gf.state.az.us/frames/other/ohv.html

And the links at the bottom of this one might be interesting:
http://www.pr.state.az.us/partnerships/ohv/contactinfo.html
http://www.azohv.com/organizations.html

You might have some luck contacting a local jeep club for the specific pointers you are looking for.

Colorado is a whole different story. There is a lot of terrific jeeping there!! Charles A. Wells has a similar book for Colorado. Its called Colorado Backroads & 4-Wheel Drive Trails. My husband and I used this book on our first jeep trip to Colorado. It was like our bible and provided very useful information about the trails themselves, details about their difficulty and how to find them. We have the original book. The newer Volume 2 apparently includes 40 more trails "near Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins, Steamboat Springs and Grand Junction."
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/002-9157256-9427236

Hope that is helpful!! Have a great adventure this summer.

As stated above, the books will have the best info for you. The majority of the trails they talk about are for pretty much stock rigs. There are tons of trails, for stockers, close to town too.

Thank you very much guys - I'll try these books out.

Now to only learn *how* to offroad the right way, but I guess that comes with experience and getting stuck a few times.

-PC

When you're in Tucson go to a local bike shop and pick up a map called "The Map." It's got all the Tucson area trails including mileages, descriptions, etc. The more popular spots would include Chivo Falls by Reddington Road east of Tucson and Chareauloge Gap which is a half hour north of town. These trails you can make as easy or as tough as you want. I saw a red tube frame YJ on 38's have trouble on Chivo Falls, but there's easy routes around all the tough stuff.