Highway 87 to Payson is missing Mile 225

[JuanJaimeiii]

The Arizona Trail Association in it's description to reach the Mount Peeley TH says there is a turnoff for FR201 near mile marker 225 on Hwy 87. I don't recall seeing this so I figured I would check it out prior to my hike yesterday. Here is the strange thing. 1. There is no turn off for FR201 at MM225. 2. There is no Mile 225!

Does anyone happen to know where mile 225 on Highway 87 to Payson went? Alien abduction maybe? I don't know but it's not there. Im not referring to the mile marker sign but rather the whole mile. It's gone! Who ever took it did a great job splicing mile 224 and mile 226 together because if you weren't looking for it you wouldn't know it was missing. The same hold true for both directions on 87. Check it out next time you pass thru.

[outdoor_lover]

That was the weirdest thing I have ever seen on a major Highway. And weirder still was the fact that the AZT Description actually has MP 225, which according to your odometer, has never existed. It is exactly one mile from MP 224 to MP 226 in both directions.... Somebody really pumpkined up when they built that stretch.....

[chumley]

When they re-routed the 87 around sunflower they cut some distance off the trip by now going over slate creek divide. But instead of changing all the mile markers for the rest of the way to Winslow they just skipped one. It's very likely that one or two of them aren't really close to being a mile apart either.

This is also true on 20 miles of the 260 east of Payson where new highway has been built over the past few years.

[outdoor_lover]

@chumley
That was several years ago. How in the world did the AZT come up with MP 225, when it most likely never even existed???

[JuanJaimeiii]

Interesting

[chumley]

@chumley
That was several years ago. How in the world did the AZT come up with MP 225, when it most likely never even existed???

That's more of a mystery. Perhaps the turn is about a mile past MP224, and somebody just assumed that it would be marked as 225?

[outdoor_lover]

Perhaps the turn is about a mile past MP224, and somebody just assumed that it would be marked as 225?

Doesn't work that way either. One mile past MP 224 puts you at MP 226. Both directions and there is no dirt road that takes you to FR201 anywhere between 224 and 226. We drove that stretch 3 times and checked a couple of dirt roads in between that just dead ended. One went to a Water Tank and was 100 feet long and the other went to some kind of Nursery type plot about 400 feet in. Both of them had gates that were locked. The "Nursery" gate looked almost brand new.

In a nutshell, where ever John downloaded those directions from, if you are trying to access the Mormon Grove TH, just cross out the part where it tells you that the alternative route is to hang a left at MP 225 and take that road to FR201. It just doesn't exist. And Highway 87 is missing exactly one mile, both MP 225, and a physical "Mile" between 224 and 226...

[chumley]

I bet the directions are from the old road. While the AZT may be more recent than the new road, the directions to Peely or Mormon Grove were probably extracted from an older source that was written a long time ago.

I had a mountain biking book that talked about getting to Trail 100 in the Phx Mtns from before when the 51 was built. Really? Take Northern ave to where? ;)

[Sredfield]

Well, that's a good one. I suspect there was a MM225 when the road went up Sycamore Canyon, but when it was moved that mile "disappeared."

[mazatzal]

I agree it is all about the old versus new alignment. The new 87 opened in 03 or 04 so there was plenty going on with AZT back then.

[big_load]

Does FR201 still intersect with Hwy 87 somewhere in that vicinity? I see a connector, but not FR201 itself.

[outdoor_lover]

@big_load
No, that's what we were looking for. I don't think it intersects at all anymore, but John might know more about that. I believe it intersects the Road that I dropped John off on, which is where the Mt. Ord turnoff is located.

[Sredfield]

Anyone know the MP # for the junction at the top of the hill, where the highway cuts north/west down to the old route? This is where the equipment has been parked for the last several days/weeks, and there was a road closure sign on the gate. I can rewrite the access description but knowing that marker number will save a trip out there.

thanks

[joebartels]

Bruce uses street view on google to figure out mile markers

[wallyfrack]

Anyone know the MP # for the junction at the top of the hill

222.5
Per Mt Peeley TH directions: SR87 east to signed turnoff for Sycamore Creek about .5mi north of mile post 222

[beterarcher]

Coming from Payson, you need to take Fr 626 NW which will turn into Old Beeline Hwy after about 1 And 1/4 miles. Follow this several miles SW to Fr 201 which takes you up to the trail head. There is another TH about 1 mi down Old beeline on the right, Just before Srv Rd 393, if your vehicle won't make it up Fr 201. From Phoenix, turn left at Sunflower frontage road which is Old Beeline Hwy. continue about 3 and 1/2 mi to the lower TH. Or you can continue up Old Beeline to Fr 201 and take it up to the higher TH. I figured this on Google Earth, so the imagery is a little old, June of last year. there appeared to be construction at the Beeline Hwy, Fr 626 intersection. Good luck.

[big_load]

@beterarcher That's the way it looked to me earlier on Google Maps, so at least it's consistent with the imagery.

[Sredfield]

Thanks for mentioning this, how's this for a correction:


Access description to Mt Peeley, Ending access point for Passage 22; Beginning Access Point for pass 23.

Mount Peeley: Usually closed for winter and not advised when wet. Drive 4.75 miles northeast of Sunflower, AZ on AZ 87 past mile marker 222. At the top of the long climb turn left (west) on to FR 627A. Drive 1.25 miles on this winding paved road to a junction with a gravel road entering from the right. Cross the cattle guard and drive another 1.25 miles to a 3-way junction; stay right on to FR 201 and continue 9.5 miles along this narrow, twisting road to the Mount Peeley trailhead and a small parking area. The AZT is 0. 5 miles west of the parking lot along the Cornucopia Trail (#86) where Passage 22 lies to the south, and Passage 23, also called the Mazatzal Divide Trail, heads north.

Edited for the road number, to match FS maps versus Google Earth. (And people ask me how I can spend so much time doing "office" work for the ATA.)

[JuanJaimeiii]

Shawn your description for the Mount Peeley access is dead on. There is no other feasible way to get there. As for the mention by others of taking the Sunflower frontage road up the old Beeline, that simply is not possible anymore. You can go in about a half a mile from 87 but that's it. It has been blocked and barricaded in a manner that looks to be permanent. At mile marker 222.5 on Hwy 87 is the road with all the equipment and the closed gate. That is the single access point to all that lies behind it for now. Most maps show that road to be FR626 but some show it as FR627. Not really sure why that is but either way it does in fact turn into the Old Beeline Hwy if you follow it down the hill and to the southwest. As your directions indicate you take a turn to the North or a right at the cattlegard onto FR201 and basically take it all the way up to Mt Peeley TH.

The information I pulled was from the Arizona Trail Association site of which I am a member. It is or at least was incorrect for both passages 22 and 23 as they both have the Mt Peeley TH in their descriptions. One ending and the other beginning as you also correctly noted.

I am sure others will appreciate the correct information but they may never find out that mile 225 is missing. Thanks for all your efforts.

JJ

[mazatzal]

@Sredfield
Spot on Shawn