Cherry Creek Drive

I last took this drive many years and several ago. Check with the Forest service before you take off. Things change and there is not anyone out there to help you. Plan your trip and go with another 4 wheeler.

And now the adventure.

Looking for a terrific drive set within the Tonto National Forest. Then, I have the scenic drive for you. The road follows alongside Cherry Creek through a canyon revealing spectacular views”. I could almost feel my hands gripping the steering wheel tighter, as I read the article in the paper describing the “ Cherry Creek Drive .” I just had to try it myself. The following weekend, I climbed into my truck and headed northwest out of Globe on State Highway 88.
When I got closer to the Salt River, north of Roosevelt Lake, I took State Highway 288 north. Once I crossed the Salt, I was on the lookout for Forest Road 203.

This road follows the Salt River for several miles. I was in heaven. The views were good and the road was easy, just as the article had said. Eventually the road left the Salt River water’s edge and began to follow Cherry Creek. There was even a point in which my truck transverse the creek. In reflection, I believe it was at this point the drive began to change.

In the beginning, the change was gradual. First, Forest Road 203 became 202. Then, the once easy to manage dirt road became one that could only be described as a path to negotiate not drive. As a matter of fact, the road worsened as I headed north. Then the “terrific getaway”
turned into a three and a half hour experience, that had begun at the turn off at the Salt River.
By the time Forest Road 202 dead-ended into 512, I had only one option.

I continued north, until the road finally dumped me out near Christopher Creek on State Highway 260. It was dark by then and I still had a couple hours drive back to Phoenix . Now, there was one point that the article was correct in reporting – the views. These are views that are right off the cover of Arizona Highways. There were many times, perched on the edge of the canyon wall, that the meandering creek could be spotted in the vegetation below.

Yes, I did say vegetation. The trees along the roadside were so overgrown that numerous times throughout the drive branches popped inside the passenger’s side window. Of course, you just must make the drive with the windows down soaking in all of nature’s wonder. Plus, at the rate I was traveling, trying not to slip off the road or blow out a tire in a deep rut, the dust was not a problem. As my mom would always say, “You can’t believe everything you read.” Boy, that sure was evident in my little adventure. I would say that 80% of what I read did not prove to be true.

I recommend only four-wheeled drive vehicles venture down the path. Make sure you travel with another vehicle. It makes the rest stops to enjoy the view and to swap driving maneuvers more fun. Plus, you are traveling in an isolated area, east of the Sierra Ancha Wilderness and safety is a concern.

I would also start this adventure early in the morning. It is no picnic riding down a road you have never seen with only your headlights as a guide. As for my mom’s saying, “Don’t trust everything you read".

I would have to argue that point. I pride myself on telling it like it is, no fluff.
Arizonan Adventures reflect the state. Arizona is a state of beauty ranging from deserts to forests, yet the paths to see some of these sights can be a bit bumpy.

Until next time,

Carl