Too bad you skipped the Grand Gulch Mine... It is a very interesting place. Of course that does give you an excuse to plan another trip. If you do try to visit the Copper Mountain Mine as well!
I am a friend of Mark(vegasdesertrat) that posted above. We have done a lot of exploring in the area over the last ten or so years and we don't plan on stopping any time soon! If anyone has any questions about the area don't hesitate to ask...
tommyd1963@gmail.com
I'm not usually one to blow the horn of most local authority types but I gotta say that the rangers in this area (Ray and Paul) are very helpful so don't hesitate to contact them when planning a trip. They have even helped us with alternate routes to avoid areas that are closed but not marked as such. Their recommendations were actually more rugged(FUN) and off the beaten path than the normal route.
St. George can be accessed quite easily in less than 2 hours from the Mt. Trumbull school house. It is a relatively smooth 45+ mph road. Occasionally it just makes sense for at least one vehicle to make the trip with all the gas cans and a shopping list to keep the trip moving along.
Another suggestion is to look for parallel roads when up near the Blackrock Mountain area. One road will be rock filled, slow going, and miserable due to lava flows while a parallel road less than a mile away will be smooth and fast.
It was a long and fast dusty road into Toroweap. Once we got to the point and campground we found more people then we had seen the entire trip. Most of the campsites were taken so it became obvious that our group of 6 vehicles would have to fine someplace else to camp.
There is an adequate place for large groups to camp on the way to Toroweap. Just before you get to the Toroweap ranger station there is a fenceline along the national park boundary. Follow it to the right and it leads to a runway. There is a concrete pad with one or two picnic tables and a large metal awning for shade. It's not the most beautiful place around but there is plenty of flat ground for tents etc. The former ranger would divert us there as soon as he saw the size of our group so it's ok to camp there. I've been told that the runway is no longer in use because flight restrictions have been changed since it was built. There is NO firewood in the area but on one 22o occasion we did burn quite a few cow patties that are abundant in the area.
I'll try to post some pics soon, hopefully Mark will beat me to it...
