Last weekend we enjoyed Saturday afternoon at the Overland Expo. On Sunday, we Googled for an easy 4x4 scenic road to have some fun, and we found Schnelby Hill Road. It has a cool history if you search for it online.
We entered the road from I-17 and drove West (and down...) after a great breakfast at the Toasted Owl in Flagstaff.
The write-ups we read online suggested that although the road was a bit rugged, many people choose to take it on in 2WD passenger vehicles. While I'm no crawler (the toughest test I've faced is Potato Ridge Rd in Red Rock outside of Las Vegas), this online advice couldn't be worse. Our stock 2016 JKURHR handled everything just fine, but this - IMO - is no place for a car! With my wife and two teenage daughters, I'm certainly not taking any risks, and I used 4-Lo with Hill Descent Control on and the sway bar disconnected for much of the descent. Once you are west of the vista overlook, you will encounter a lot of Pink Jeep type tours going faster than most everyone else. Also there are lots of Razr type buggies that can boogie over the rocks.
There were a few cool waterfall type descents (we went East to West), and a few bedrock steps that seemed to have been 10 inches per step. Another unusual obstacle appeared every so often: at some point in the recent past a fiber optic line has been run the length of the road, and where it needed to run through stretches of solid bedrock, it appears that the crew used a big concrete saw to cut a trench through the rock. This installation results in a foot-wide trench through the surface bedrock that in places is no longer filled in completely. In some places it appeared to be 8" deep or more. I can imagine all sorts of skinny tires getting stuck in these ruts... Of course I didn't stop to take pictures of this - wish I had now.
Any ways, the road is fun, thrilling, a bit nerve-wracking for the first time through, and the scenery is incredible.
This is a must drive if you can make it.
Lots of people driving much faster than us...
I saw this rig outside Kingman on the way home - loved the trailer!
We will definitely be going back to Flagstaff and Sedona to explore more. What a beautiful place!
We entered the road from I-17 and drove West (and down...) after a great breakfast at the Toasted Owl in Flagstaff.
The write-ups we read online suggested that although the road was a bit rugged, many people choose to take it on in 2WD passenger vehicles. While I'm no crawler (the toughest test I've faced is Potato Ridge Rd in Red Rock outside of Las Vegas), this online advice couldn't be worse. Our stock 2016 JKURHR handled everything just fine, but this - IMO - is no place for a car! With my wife and two teenage daughters, I'm certainly not taking any risks, and I used 4-Lo with Hill Descent Control on and the sway bar disconnected for much of the descent. Once you are west of the vista overlook, you will encounter a lot of Pink Jeep type tours going faster than most everyone else. Also there are lots of Razr type buggies that can boogie over the rocks.
There were a few cool waterfall type descents (we went East to West), and a few bedrock steps that seemed to have been 10 inches per step. Another unusual obstacle appeared every so often: at some point in the recent past a fiber optic line has been run the length of the road, and where it needed to run through stretches of solid bedrock, it appears that the crew used a big concrete saw to cut a trench through the rock. This installation results in a foot-wide trench through the surface bedrock that in places is no longer filled in completely. In some places it appeared to be 8" deep or more. I can imagine all sorts of skinny tires getting stuck in these ruts... Of course I didn't stop to take pictures of this - wish I had now.
Any ways, the road is fun, thrilling, a bit nerve-wracking for the first time through, and the scenery is incredible.
This is a must drive if you can make it.
Lots of people driving much faster than us...
I saw this rig outside Kingman on the way home - loved the trailer!
We will definitely be going back to Flagstaff and Sedona to explore more. What a beautiful place!
