N.B.: when driving up to Barcroft gate, do NOT follow Google Maps' advice and take a "shortcut" via Silver Canyon Road. It is *extremely* rough with creek crossings and hairpin turns on loose gravel. We barely managed to go up this road in a 4x4.
Your are definitely right. Nobody should take this road. I took this road going down from White Mountain. It was an absolute pain. I have no idea as how would someone drive up this road. You must be a very good driver. Going down, the first 5-6 miles are absolutely horrendous. At one point, in a hairpin left turn driving down, the car slid to the right although I was barely moving. I thought I was a gonner. From mile 6 to 10 the road is so-so. After that, to the main street, it is in good condition. I see how someone would get tricked into driving up this road believing it is a good option. That until reaching a point where is probably impossible to turn around. Time-wise it took me to drive down as much as it took me to drive up on the main access road by Ancient Bristlecone Forest. The Silver Canyon road is only 15 miles, but there is no time savings. It would also be very dangerous if not impossible to drive, either up or down, on a sedan. You mention the water crossings but to me they were the least of the worries.
OK, when you read the note that White Mountain Road is much better than the alternative, just realize that White Mountain Road is still pretty bad. This "gravel" road is really just a rocky, dirt road. Take a truck or SUV with a tall profile to traverse this road. While we saw people going really fast on this road, we also saw the same people destroy their tire and get a flat. We took it at 10 miles an hour, and it took 1.5 hours each way to traverse the dirt section alone. If you plan to take this road easy for your car's sake, add 2 to 2.5 hours time to get to the trailhead from civilization.
We agree this is an "easy 14er" but that does not mean it was easy. We are seasoned hikers with a lot of high altitude experience and were plenty tired by the end of the day. This may be due in part to the quick elevation gain you get from driving up. Acclimating would have helped.
Drove the road yesterday in a high clearance Ford Escape, averaged 15 mph and took about an hour each way. I think that was prudent: any faster and we'd have risked a flat tire, as we had regular & not off-road tires with some mileage. Lots of sharp rocks. 4wd totally unnecessary. Did see some brave souls in a minivan!
In this post, the south route is listed only as being 7 miles long. Three comments.
The main one: when climbing mountains, most people in the world care MOSTLY about the elevation change (unless the distance is inordinately long): in one day many people can walk 10-12 miles round-trip with a few hundred feet of elevation change, while far fewer can walk 4000 feet of elevation change over ANY distance. Please add the elevation change to this route. (We could guess that it is the summit height minus the elevation at the gate, but we would be off by 800 feet—and why guess?).
Second, do mention whether the distance is one way or round-trip. I know that most people cite one-way distances; but some prefer to use round-trip distances. So unless it is specified there is always a small doubt...
Third: the distance, measured on Google Earth, the most accurate tool I know of as a physicist to measure common distances on the ground, is 7.65 miles one way, not 7. I will also add that the elevation gain is 3000 feet and the elevation loss is 450 feet, one way.
Thank you for you input- your points are well noted. I would make a few replies to your comments. 1) Most people in the world do not care about climbing mountains, & thus, do not care about silly things such as elevation change; that being said, even among those people who are interested in such undertakings, I would hesitate to make assumptions about things such as believed importance given between elevation change & length. Since sustaining notable foot injuries, length is definitely a far greater challenge to me than elevation gain; & even before, when I was in exceptional shape, despite 8,000'+ elevation days in the mountains, the overall length was a greater consideration to me; a well-respected former colleague of mine had a mug that said "Never assume anything." I concur with this notion. That being said, it is good to note elevation change for a given route- done. Same thing with clarifying whether a route is one-way or round-trip- that lack of distinction has driven me crazy in the past! Done. The last thing is that being a physicist holds no relation to being an authority on using software to accurately define distances :) Thank you for your input- I will make changes accordingly, & people will surely benefit from it!
gimpilator - Mar 11, 2012 9:58 pm - Hasn't voted
Primary ImageIt looks as though the signature image of this page was deleted. My guess is that it was one of Aaron Johnson's.
braindancer - Jul 22, 2014 9:32 pm - Hasn't voted
Note on the drive upN.B.: when driving up to Barcroft gate, do NOT follow Google Maps' advice and take a "shortcut" via Silver Canyon Road. It is *extremely* rough with creek crossings and hairpin turns on loose gravel. We barely managed to go up this road in a 4x4.
White Mountain Road is much, much nicer.
Diesel - Sep 20, 2014 4:23 pm - Hasn't voted
Silver Canyon RoadYour are definitely right. Nobody should take this road. I took this road going down from White Mountain. It was an absolute pain. I have no idea as how would someone drive up this road. You must be a very good driver. Going down, the first 5-6 miles are absolutely horrendous. At one point, in a hairpin left turn driving down, the car slid to the right although I was barely moving. I thought I was a gonner. From mile 6 to 10 the road is so-so. After that, to the main street, it is in good condition. I see how someone would get tricked into driving up this road believing it is a good option. That until reaching a point where is probably impossible to turn around. Time-wise it took me to drive down as much as it took me to drive up on the main access road by Ancient Bristlecone Forest. The Silver Canyon road is only 15 miles, but there is no time savings. It would also be very dangerous if not impossible to drive, either up or down, on a sedan. You mention the water crossings but to me they were the least of the worries.
lindakimble - Sep 1, 2014 3:11 pm - Hasn't voted
White Mountain NotesOK, when you read the note that White Mountain Road is much better than the alternative, just realize that White Mountain Road is still pretty bad. This "gravel" road is really just a rocky, dirt road. Take a truck or SUV with a tall profile to traverse this road. While we saw people going really fast on this road, we also saw the same people destroy their tire and get a flat. We took it at 10 miles an hour, and it took 1.5 hours each way to traverse the dirt section alone. If you plan to take this road easy for your car's sake, add 2 to 2.5 hours time to get to the trailhead from civilization.
We agree this is an "easy 14er" but that does not mean it was easy. We are seasoned hikers with a lot of high altitude experience and were plenty tired by the end of the day. This may be due in part to the quick elevation gain you get from driving up. Acclimating would have helped.
RaymondShevsky - Sep 4, 2016 4:17 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: White Mountain NotesDrove the road yesterday in a high clearance Ford Escape, averaged 15 mph and took about an hour each way. I think that was prudent: any faster and we'd have risked a flat tire, as we had regular & not off-road tires with some mileage. Lots of sharp rocks. 4wd totally unnecessary. Did see some brave souls in a minivan!
Diggler - Oct 20, 2016 9:20 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: White Mountain NotesCongrats! Modified page wording slightly. Better safe than sorry. Glad you made it up there (beautiful area)!
Digonnet - Jul 15, 2022 3:58 pm - Hasn't voted
Remember to mention elevation changesIn this post, the south route is listed only as being 7 miles long. Three comments.
The main one: when climbing mountains, most people in the world care MOSTLY about the elevation change (unless the distance is inordinately long): in one day many people can walk 10-12 miles round-trip with a few hundred feet of elevation change, while far fewer can walk 4000 feet of elevation change over ANY distance. Please add the elevation change to this route. (We could guess that it is the summit height minus the elevation at the gate, but we would be off by 800 feet—and why guess?).
Second, do mention whether the distance is one way or round-trip. I know that most people cite one-way distances; but some prefer to use round-trip distances. So unless it is specified there is always a small doubt...
Third: the distance, measured on Google Earth, the most accurate tool I know of as a physicist to measure common distances on the ground, is 7.65 miles one way, not 7. I will also add that the elevation gain is 3000 feet and the elevation loss is 450 feet, one way.
Diggler - Aug 2, 2022 9:42 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: Remember to mention elevation changesThank you for you input- your points are well noted. I would make a few replies to your comments. 1) Most people in the world do not care about climbing mountains, & thus, do not care about silly things such as elevation change; that being said, even among those people who are interested in such undertakings, I would hesitate to make assumptions about things such as believed importance given between elevation change & length. Since sustaining notable foot injuries, length is definitely a far greater challenge to me than elevation gain; & even before, when I was in exceptional shape, despite 8,000'+ elevation days in the mountains, the overall length was a greater consideration to me; a well-respected former colleague of mine had a mug that said "Never assume anything." I concur with this notion. That being said, it is good to note elevation change for a given route- done. Same thing with clarifying whether a route is one-way or round-trip- that lack of distinction has driven me crazy in the past! Done. The last thing is that being a physicist holds no relation to being an authority on using software to accurately define distances :) Thank you for your input- I will make changes accordingly, & people will surely benefit from it!