Phoenix to Prescott: Planning the Backway to Crown King + Senator Highway

Phoenix to Prescott, the hard way. Late September. Two wheels, camping gear strapped down, and one of Arizona's most infamous trails between us and a burger at the Crown King Saloon.

We're kicking off the Wolfpack Trail Journal with a trip we've been wanting to do for a while: the Backway to Crown King, then Senator Highway north into Prescott. This post is our planning log — route, timing, and gear. After the trip, we'll follow up with a full report on how it actually went.

The Route

Most people reach Crown King the easy way — the graded county road up from I-17 through Bumble Bee and Cleator. We're not doing that.

The Backway to Crown King climbs out of the desert from the Lake Pleasant side, past Castle Hot Springs, and up through the old mining country of the Bradshaw Mountains. It's a legitimate technical trail: rocky ledges, loose climbs, tight switchbacks, and a reputation for eating side-by-sides on the weekends. On loaded adventure bikes, it's going to be a workout — and that's the point.

From Crown King (elevation ~5,800 ft, population ~100, one saloon, one general store), we pick up Senator Highway — which is a "highway" in name only. It's Forest Road 52, a dirt road winding roughly 35 miles through Prescott National Forest, past the 1875 Palace Station stage stop, and into Prescott.

The stats:

• Distance: Roughly 75–80 miles of dirt, Lake Pleasant to Prescott, plus the pavement run up from Phoenix
• Elevation: ~1,700 ft at the start to over 7,000 ft near Prescott — desert scrub to Ponderosa pines in one ride
• Timing: Late September — past monsoon season, warm days down low, cold nights up high
• Camping: Dispersed camping on Prescott National Forest land south of town, along the Senator Highway corridor

The Plan

Two days. One long one, one easy one.

Day 1 — Phoenix to Prescott, all of it. Out of the valley early, pavement to the Backway trailhead near Lake Pleasant, then the full climb through the Bradshaws to Crown King. Late lunch at the saloon and top off fuel. Then Senator Highway north through the pines and into the Prescott area, where we find a dispersed site and set up before dark.

This is the hard part, and we're not pretending otherwise. The Backway is slow going on a loaded bike — technical sections don't care about your schedule. The plan is to be at the trailhead at first light, treat Crown King as the midpoint rather than the destination, and keep enough daylight in reserve that we're not searching for a campsite with headlamps.

Day 2 — Home. But we haven't decided how.

There are three honest ways back, and we can't agree on one. So we're putting it to you — details below.

Three Ways Home — You Pick

Same start every time: coffee in Prescott. After that, it splits.

Option A — The Ghost Town Line

South on AZ-89 through Peeples Valley and down the Yarnell Hill switchbacks, one of the best stretches of pavement in the state and a fitting descent after a day of rock. At Congress we drop back onto dirt at Stanton, the old ghost town on the Hassayampa, and run Constellation Road south into Wickenburg. If the group still has legs and the river is low, Box Canyon of the Hassayampa is a six-mile roundtrip detour off Rincon Road — a narrow river channel, rocky at the entrance, sandy in the bottom. Then an hour of highway home.

Roughly: 25 miles of dirt · moderate day · mining history and one spectacular paved descent

The catch: more pavement than the purists will like, and Box Canyon is impassable when there's water in it

Option B — Bloody Basin

The big one. East out of Crown King on the county road through Cleator and Bumble Bee, a short hop up I-17, then off at exit 259 onto Bloody Basin Road. From there you don't see consistent pavement again until nearly Carefree — Bloody Basin through Agua Fria National Monument, past prehistoric pueblo sites and petroglyphs, then south on Cave Creek Road (FR 24) through Seven Springs and out the north edge of the valley.

Roughly: 110 miles of dirt · long day · all new terrain, none of it repeated

The catch: it's a lot of miles after the Backway, and Bloody Basin crosses several major creeks — in stormy weather that's a stranding risk, not an inconvenience

Option C — The Rewind

Senator Highway back to Crown King. The Backway down. Same dirt, opposite direction.

Roughly: 75 miles of dirt · known quantity · descending the Backway rides nothing like climbing it

The catch: no new country — though there's an argument that riding a hard trail twice teaches you more than riding two trails once

Cast a Vote

We'll run the poll on Instagram @wolfpacktrailco the week before we leave, and whichever line wins is the one we ride — weather and river levels permitting, because the desert gets the final vote regardless.

Ridden any of these on a loaded bike? Tell us what we're not thinking about. Comments are open below, and the answers will shape what we actually do.

What We're Riding

A 2017 Honda CRF250 Rally — not the biggest bike in the Bradshaws by a long way, and that's the point. The Backway punishes weight, and 250s go up things that 1200s have to think about. Tusk rack bag and handguards, both of which are about to earn their keep.

Riding with a group; final roster TBD. [Add other bikes here before publishing.]

Gear Notes

This is where the planning gets fun. A few things we're dialing in before we go:

• Soft luggage: Rocky trails and hard panniers don't mix. Soft bags that can take a drop are the move here.
• Water: Arizona is high and dry. Seasonal creeks cross the route, but we're packing everything we need — figure a gallon+ per rider per day.
• Fuel: Crown King's general store sells gas at ghost-town prices, and it's the only pump between the trailhead and Prescott. We top off before the Backway and carry reserve.
• Cold-weather sleep setup: It can be 90° at Lake Pleasant and drop into the 40s overnight at 6,000+ feet in late September. Pack for both ends of that.
• Tools and recovery: Tire plugs, pump, and a tool roll that actually fits the fasteners on your bike. The Backway is not the place to find out your kit is incomplete — which is exactly why the Tusk ADV Tool Kit is the first thing we put in the shop.

We'll post the full gear loadout closer to the trip — including what we're carrying from the shop.

Before You Go

If you're planning your own run at this, a few things worth knowing:

• Check conditions. The Backway can be closed or badly rutted after storms. Prescott National Forest and the Bradshaw Ranger District post current road conditions and any fire restrictions — worth a call before you commit.
• Weekends are busy. The Backway is popular with side-by-sides. Midweek is quieter and safer on a bike.
• This is not a solo beginner route. Cell service is patchy to nonexistent through the Bradshaws. Ride with someone, or carry a satellite communicator and tell people your plan.
• Check the Hassayampa before Box Canyon (Option A). Water levels change the answer completely, and deep sand plus a river bottom is not where you want to discover your bike is overloaded.
• Bloody Basin crosses live creeks (Option B). Skip the Sheep Bridge spur — the last ten miles are the hard part, and FR 24 through Seven Springs is just as scenic and usually in better shape.
• Plated bikes only for parts of the Box Canyon section — unlicensed OHVs aren't permitted on the connecting road.

Follow Along

We'll be documenting the whole thing — planning updates here on the journal, and photos and video from the trail after we're back. If you've ridden the Backway on a loaded bike, we'd love to hear what you'd do differently. Drop us a line.

Ride hard, camp harder.

— Wolfpack Trail Co.