Great ride...

[Capt Steve]

We just returned from a brief but all too much fun trip, this time in our 87 Vette. We have ridden “The Devil’s Highway” about half a dozen times on 4 different motorcycles over the last 10 years. We would usually tow a motorcycle in the cargo trailer behind our little Class C motorhome and camp at Big Lake at 9,200’ in the eastern White Mountains of Arizona and ride the DH out of our campsite. Having traded motorcycles for our old Vette it was time to hit the DH once again.

The DH gets its name from its original DOT {AZ Department of transportation} designation as AZ Highway 666. The problem was people {idiots} kept stealing the highway signs and finally ADOT simply rebadged it as AZ 191 {you can’t make this stuff up.}.…

To get the most out of your ride you need to start at one end or the other. This trip we elected to start at the north end in Springerville {140 miles east of Payson}. We stayed at Reed’s Lodge… 75 years old and looks like what you find on Route 66. The rooms have different themes and ours was “The Eighties”. Too cute” just about covered it. Our favorite restaurant “Booga Red’s Cantina” is directly across the street… we had breakfast at 0630 and as always it was awesome.

“The Devils Highway” is arguably the greatest motorcycle road in America {which of course makes it the greatest Corvette road in America}. The 115 miles between Springerville on the north and Clifton/Morenci on the south {which takes about 3.5 hours to complete} is said to contain more than 1,000 curves and trust me, about 25% of those are first gear events. Most of the ride is at 7 to 9,000’+ with views that stretch for more than 100 miles. Not an inch of guard rail to be found and the weather can be problematic.

The further in you get {be it going south or north}, the curves begin to tighten significantly with the curve warning signs dropping to 20, 15 and then 10 mph recommended. At one point we had 6 of those in a row . Our favorite sign simple stated “10 MPH Next 11 miles”.

On the south end of the DH the 191 literally takes you right down and through the Morenci Copper mine which had been producing copper since 1871 and comprises 68,000+ acres making it one of the largest copper mines in the world. Spectacular does not begin to describe the 20 minute descent down through the mine and and into Clifton.

We got home at 2:45 after departing Springerville at 0730. The trip totaled 470 miles and was beyond spectacular. Dinner and beverages at the “XA Bar and Grill” last night, just half a mile stroll from our Motel was amazing. Springerville is serious cattle country and the locally sourced beef is unbelievable. Can’t wait to go back…

 

[ameridaddy]

I just looked at that on Google Earth - that's a whole lot of empty!
Is there much traffic on that road, cell service, or are you stuck for too long if you have car trouble?

 

[dmar]

Thanks for sharing, sounds like a great time and ride! I’ve ridden out west throughout the backcountry of Colorado, New Mexico and Utah, but not Arizona yet. I’ll have to talk to the guys about this ride for a future trip… My sister lives in Scottsdale so I could also fit in a visit.

There’s also some great riding out east, have you ridden much in the east? The “Dragon’s Tail” in the Smokey Mountains in Tennessee is an awesome stretch loaded with switchbacks. The Blue Ridge Parkway through the mountains of NC and Virginia is absolutely beautiful, too. And northern New England in the Green Mountains and White Mountains are a great riding experience. So many nice places, so little time…!

This picture was taken during a backcountry ride in Colorado a couple of years ago.

 

[hivel37]

Wife and I have been up and down 191
several times in both directions but not on two wheels.
That’s my favorite drive in AZ.

 

[BC38]

We just returned from a brief but all too much fun trip, this time in our 87 Vette. We have ridden “The Devil’s Highway” about half a dozen times on 4 different motorcycles over the last 10 years. We would usually tow a motorcycle in the cargo trailer behind our little Class C motorhome and camp at Big Lake at 9,200’ in the eastern White Mountains of Arizona and ride the DH out of our campsite. Having traded motorcycles for our old Vette it was time to hit the DH once again.

The DH gets its name from its original DOT {AZ Department of transportation} designation as AZ Highway 666. The problem was people {idiots} kept stealing the highway signs and finally ADOT simply rebadged it as AZ 191 {you can’t make this stuff up.}.…

To get the most out of your ride you need to start at one end or the other. This trip we elected to start at the north end in Springerville {140 miles east of Payson}. We stayed at Reed’s Lodge… 75 years old and looks like what you find on Route 66. The rooms have different themes and ours was “The Eighties”. Too cute” just about covered it. Our favorite restaurant “Booga Red’s Cantina” is directly across the street… we had breakfast at 0630 and as always it was awesome.

“The Devils Highway” is arguably the greatest motorcycle road in America {which of course makes it the greatest Corvette road in America}. The 115 miles between Springerville on the north and Clifton/Morenci on the south {which takes about 3.5 hours to complete} is said to contain more than 1,000 curves and trust me, about 25% of those are first gear events. Most of the ride is at 7 to 9,000’+ with views that stretch for more than 100 miles. Not an inch of guard rail to be found and the weather can be problematic.

The further in you get {be it going south or north}, the curves begin to tighten significantly with the curve warning signs dropping to 20, 15 and then 10 mph recommended. At one point we had 6 of those in a row . Our favorite sign simple stated “10 MPH Next 11 miles”.

On the south end of the DH the 191 literally takes you right down and through the Morenci Copper mine which had been producing copper since 1871 and comprises 68,000+ acres making it one of the largest copper mines in the world. Spectacular does not begin to describe the 20 minute descent down through the mine and and into Clifton.

We got home at 2:45 after departing Springerville at 0730. The trip totaled 470 miles and was beyond spectacular. Dinner and beverages at the “XA Bar and Grill” last night, just half a mile stroll from our Motel was amazing. Springerville is serious cattle country and the locally sourced beef is unbelievable. Can’t wait to go back…

I've never driven (or ridden) that section of AZ-191, but it certainly looks like it would be an interesting stretch of road.

I'm much more familiar with the section of AZ-191 that runs south from I-10 down to the border at Douglas. Especially that last 25 miles from Elfrida into Douglas.

I've driven that 25-mile stretch of AZ-191 many, many, MANY times - because my mom lives in Elfrida. So, from my mom's place, Douglas is the nearest town you can go to buy most of the essentials you might need.

Bisbee would be the second best choice - but it is at least 5 miles further away from Elfrida.

 

[Rodan]

191 between Alpine and Morenci is a great ride. Many years ago, I rode it with a group out of Phoenix... our goal was to make 5 trips across it in a single day. We started from Springerville, and took the southbound route through New Mexico on 180 (also a nice ride) so we could start our 191 ride northbound from Morenci.

The weather was pretty good, but we did have several miles that had just been chip sealed, which can be a little sketchy on a bike!

Long story short, we didn't make our goal. After three transits (up, down, and back up again), we were exhausted and returned to Springerville and cleaned up for dinner at a German restaurant in Alpine.

Ended up with a little over 500 miles on the day.

One of these days I need to ride it again, either on the bike our in our Miata. Living in AZ, it's always been just a little too far for a day trip, but not far enough to be a destination.

 

[Capt Steve]

I just looked at that on Google Earth - that's a whole lot of empty!
Is there much traffic on that road, cell service, or are you stuck for too long if you have car trouble?

Cell service is pretty iffy depending where on the mountain you happen to find yourself but you really can't count on it. From Springerville up to Alpine is about20 miles all posted at 65 with lots of nice sweepers. From Alpine we drove for 75 miles in a little over 2 hours} and NEVER saw another vehicle in either direction. only saw a couple all the way into Morenci.

Most of the DH is posted 25 {which is not to say bikes and Vettes don't scoot a bit faster than that but...} keep in mind you will only miss one curve on this ride... you won't get a chance to miss a second one. Most of the DH is closed to any vehicle 40' or larger.

 

[S&W Fan]

When I lived in Tucson we would start in Morenci and go north on 666. Always a fun ride, one of many during my two wheeled days there, left in ‘84.

 

[Norton 750]

After 30 accident free years, I stopped riding about 11 years ago. My wife would not get near a motorcycle for love nor money. So I was riding less and less...finally gave my Harley to my older brother and bought a Backdraft Cobra. A four wheeled motorcycle as my wife loves roadsters. But without a top or windows or a heater or a radio a touring car was in order. Enter the 1973 Corvette...L-82 engine, four speed manual and T-Tops so I can lock it up like a real car. Sounds like a great road trip to try ourselves!