AZ 88; the Apache Trail

[Max Rockatansky]

Back in the early 2000s I used to frequently drive the entirety of AZ 88 on the Apache Trail from US 60 in Apache Junction east to AZ 188 at Roosevelt Dam.  The Apache Trail was built as a stage route to haul materials for the Roosevelt Dam project which took place from 1903 to 1911.  The Apache Trail was one of Arizona's first Auto Trails and for a good portion of the early 20th Century was the main highway from the Phoenix area east to Globe.  The Apache Trail appears on the 1925 Rand McNally Arizona/New Mexico Highway Map co-signed in sections with; the Lee Highway, the Bankhead Highway, the Southern National Highway, the Atlantic Pacific Highway, and the Old Spanish Trail.  When the Arizona Sign State Routes were commissioned the Apache Trail was intended to be designated AZ 66 but US Route 60 changing to US Route 66 forced the designation to be changed to AZ 88.  AZ 88 today has a large unpaved portion east of Tortilla Flat which remains unpaved and is a good reminder of how major highways used to be in the early 20th Century.

https://www.gribblenation.org/2020/04/2016-fall-mountain-trip-part-27-arizona.html

[SSR_317]

On one of my previously frequent trips to the Valley of the Sun, I did the Apache Trail from AJ (Apache Junction) to Roosevelt Dam, then back to US 60 and through the Queen Creek Tunnel back down to the east Valley. The one-lane portion of the unpaved road hanging from the side of Fish Creek Canyon was most likely the scariest piece of road I've even been on in my 64 years! But the experience & the scenery were well worth it.

[KeithE4Phx]

Unfortunately, AZ 88 is closed west of Tortilla Flat.  Between the wildfire and flooding of late last year, and the rock slide just west of AZ 188 3 weeks ago, it is completely closed over most of its length.  I haven't seen any indications of when it will reopen at either end.

[Max Rockatansky]

This article from AZcentral pertaining to the closed portion of AZ 88 was shared to a group I admin:

https://www.azcentral.com/story/travel/arizona/2023/01/23/why-apache-trail-is-closed/10592001002/?fbclid=IwAR2O-8m2wv2rdXIq8Xh7h9FNoNnwVY_dFtsZMP6rQFanIs1rH3PGyj2pEWc&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

[707]

Unfortunately, AZ 88 is closed west of Tortilla Flat.  Between the wildfire and flooding of late last year, and the rock slide just west of AZ 188 3 weeks ago, it is completely closed over most of its length.  I haven't seen any indications of when it will reopen at either end.

I believe you mean east?

[KeithE4Phx]

Unfortunately, AZ 88 is closed west of Tortilla Flat.  Between the wildfire and flooding of late last year, and the rock slide just west of AZ 188 3 weeks ago, it is completely closed over most of its length.  I haven't seen any indications of when it will reopen at either end.

I believe you mean east?

Yes.  Sorry about that.

[Plutonic Panda]

Work is continuing to get this road closer to being fully reopened. This is only phase one and won't fully open the road yet for all types of traffic but that phase is planned.

Arizona Department of Transportation crews are removing vegetation, grading the roadway and repairing drainage culverts to prepare for a project that will restore limited access to a stretch of State Route 88 (Apache Trail) that has been closed since severe flooding in 2019.
The work is preparing the roadway for a $4 million interim project scheduled to begin this summer that will make the five unpaved miles that remain closed near Fish Creek Hill east of the Phoenix area (mileposts 222-227) accessible to high-clearance four-wheel drive vehicles and utility task vehicles.
Meanwhile, ADOT continues seeking federal funding for far more extensive upgrades, estimated to cost $33.7 million, that would make the highway accessible to other vehicles and more resilient to storms.

- https://www.constructionequipmentguide.com/arizona-construction-crews-restoring-access-to-sr-88/64730

[JayhawkCO]

I have a feeling that I'll need to drive this right when it reopens so that it doesn't close again before I get the chance. One of my few bucket list drives in the lower 48.

[Max Rockatansky]

Once the low clearance work is done, I'll probably propose a meet for AZ 88.