02/23/2014 Sutherland Trail - Catalina, AZ - Difficult

[Bradywgn71 746]

On Sunday Feb. 23, Sierra Vista Offroad hosted a trip on the Sutherland Trail in Catalina, AZ. Although I live very close to this trail, I hadn't done it yet because of its difficulty and I didn't want to attempt it solo. This was an excellent opportunity to see a trail that I've been wanting to do for a few years. The Sutherland Trail was at one time the third road to the top of Mt. Lemmon. It is the power line trail for Summerhaven up on the mountain. The road was cut off from going to the top when a portion of it was designated "Wilderness"and therefore is an "in-and-out". Amount of time on the trail was about 5 hours with a lunch break and some picture taking.

 

Link to the My Tracks: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzSqbx2oXTdOd1pFWTV3YUpfVWs/edit?usp=sharing

 

Link to full album of pics: https://picasaweb.google.com/110968346826086888564/201402SutherlandTrail?authuser=0&feat=directlink

 

Link to photos taken by Sierra Vista group (mostly of my Jeep): https://picasaweb.google.com/110968346826086888564/201402SutherlandPhotosbyothers?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCMXGs82Joo7tugE&feat=directlink

 

We met at the Valero at the corner of Oracle Rd. and East Golder Ranch Dr. where we aired down. From the gas station to where we left pavement was about 2 miles.

 

Heading for the mountains:

 

 

We hit dirt at about 9:30am:

 

 

Don't let the graded road fool you. It soon got to be more fun:

 

 

 

A quick look back at Catalina, AZ:

 

 

 

Welcome to "The Squeeze". I had to hug the small boulder on my left to avoid the really big body eater on my right:

 

 

I then had a hole on my left which is next to a boulder that I had to climb over and use my rock rail to pivot on while turning left to avoid the next boulder on my right. Oh, and there's another hole on the right next to that boulder which tried to lean my Jeep into it as I was pivoting on my rock rail. It's tight for a fat bodied WJ. There is a "ramp" of rock next to this obstacle that can be used as a bypass.

 

 

 

The trail begins to get much steeper after "The Squeeze".

 

 

Following the power lines:

 

[Bradywgn71 746]

The next obstacle was a small boulder field/step. The pics don't show how steep this actually was (they never do) and precise tire placement was necessary. The TJ in front of me slipped off his line into the gaps between boulders and got hung up on his differential.

 

 

He used his winch to get free:

 

 

Correct tire placement :

 

 

Pretty steep:

 

 

Gaining altitude, view of Oro Valley and the Tortolita Mtns. in the distance:

 

 

The next "Major" obstacle, I don't know if it has a name but there are a few I can think of that I won't post here. It's steep enough to be difficult to walk it.

 

 

 

 

Winch to the rescue again...

 

 

My turn:

 

 

A little tire spin but no problem:

 

 

Different line, thought he was gonna roll it:

 

 

Decomposed granite steps:

 

 

While on a lunch break, we walked around the corner on the trail to see the next obstacle:

 

 

After lunch, up we go:

 

 

 

 

Finally, a grassy plateau that offered some relief from the roughness of this trail:

 

 

We soon reached the end of the trail as far as we knew. There was trail missing from a washout that was now a small running stream and boulders. It's probably passable by a vehicle built up more than mine but it was pretty rough. I checked a topo map later after getting home and found out that the "Wilderness" boundary starts over the next ridge. Maybe a hike is in order, we just didn't do it this time. So, there's maybe another half mile of trail after where we stopped.

 

Pic of the trail going on up the hill. Obviously overgrown. You can see the boulders where the stream is at the bottom left.

 

 

Standing where the trail used to be:

 

 

Potential stream crossing between the boulder and the tree:

 

 

Running water in Arizona:

 

 

Met a cowboy on the way back out. "Y'all are crazy for being way up in here but at least your trucks are built for it!" he said:

 

 

View of Oro Valley from the grassy plateau:

 

 

Going back down was just as fun as going up! Steep and slippery was what we dealt with. We had a great time and thanks to Sierra Vista Offroad for letting us tag along!

 

[Guardrail 1]

Great trip report Bradywgn71! The photos are excellent and do a better than expected job of portraying the difficulty of that trail. I was wondering if you know when that trail was cut off by the wilderness area. I'd also be curious if the trail was in any better condition back in the '70's. When I was a kid, we did a trail up the back side of Mt. Lemon that was very rough, but being that I was 8 at the time, I don't know which one it was. I do know that we did make it to the top and headed down on the Catalina Hwy.

[scottL 179]

Thanks Chris, that looks like a fun trail i'd like to run it someday.

[thatoneguyaz 0]

Very cool trail!

[johnpa 781]

Nice write up. I am a liitle concerned about the negative press you gave that black TJ. It appears to me he was showing the line you should not take:)

[Bradywgn71 746]

Nice write up. I am a liitle concerned about the negative press you gave that black TJ. It appears to me he was showing the line you should not take:)

 

He's a good guy and I do appreciate all of his assistance!

[Bradywgn71 746]

Great trip report Bradywgn71! The photos are excellent and do a better than expected job of portraying the difficulty of that trail. I was wondering if you know when that trail was cut off by the wilderness area. I'd also be curious if the trail was in any better condition back in the '70's. When I was a kid, we did a trail up the back side of Mt. Lemon that was very rough, but being that I was 8 at the time, I don't know which one it was. I do know that we did make it to the top and headed down on the Catalina Hwy.

 

I've only lived here for 4 1/2 years, but from my understanding, the "back road up Mt. Lemmon" was greatly improved after the fire that destroyed Summerhaven (2005?). I can tell you that I have been up the back of Mt. Lemmon (north side - Oracle, AZ.) at least a half dozen times and it can be done in a car if you're careful but a high clearance vehicle is recommended. It was widened and its graded pretty regularly now. It's still a nice drive with awesome views. The Sutherland Trail is a different trail and climbs the west face of the Santa Catalinas. I can't yet find information on when the "wilderness" boundary went into effect.

[thatoneguyaz 0]

Would you say 33s and 4+ inches of lift is minimum on this trail? Would my little 31s have any issues? Just out of curiousity. It looks like a fun trail but I think some parts would be questionable for me lol.

[Bradywgn71 746]

I suggest 33s minimum on this trail. I scraped both diffs but never got hung up. I have VariLocs front and rear which really helped me. A locker is suggested. I don't know... to me, 31s would be quite a challenge and you'd probably end up breaking something. The guy with the black Wrangler bent up his front driveshaft and is currently 2WD only while he sources a new one. I may be wrong but i think he was on 32s. The vehicles with all terrain tires seemed to struggle a bit more than the ones with muds as well.