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Let me begin with a warning about this trail. Guidebooks rate this trail as moderate, however, it is quickly deteriorating. The description below is as of May 2010. When you go on this trail, it may and will be a little bit harder. With the rate at which this trail is deteriorating, it will probably become impassable in a few years. This trail is rated moderately difficult [8] and should only be taken with the following vehicles: Quads (2 WD and 4 WD okay) Dirt bikes (ok) Jeeps (only modified jeeps) SUV (not recommended for this trail) Trucks (only modified). Vehicles that go on this trail need to be modified for higher clearance, better articulation, skid plates, and so on. While it is deteriorating, we can still enjoy this trail! Here is the description:
Ride through remote mountainous on mostly loose dirt roads. At times, you will be in sandy washes and rocky, steep shelf roads. Pass through Constellation City, Copperopolis, Isaac Bradshaw’s grave, and many other neat things.
Begin by turning off Highway 60 in Wickenburg onto El Recreo Dr. (Jack Burden Rd. okay too). From here merge with Constellation Rd. and follow it for 8.6 miles to stage. Pavement ends at 2.2 miles, just after leaving Maricopa County. Stay right at 3.1 miles where Blue Tank Rd. goes left and stay left at 4.2 miles where a road goes right. At 8.6 miles, turn left onto staging area. From here you can head east straight across the road to Buckhorn Rd. Reset your trip odometer and get ready for a fun ride! Bear left at 0.95 miles. Use caution on the next 3 miles as the road makes several sharp turns as it climbs and descends. At 4.3 miles, continue straight off of Buckhorn Rd. Drop down of the main road and pass a fence and metal water tank. Stop at 4.8 to get an amazing view of Wickenburg as well as the trail. At 6.25 miles, off to the right. There are two holes, now filled in and is the possible (rumored) site of Constellation City. Continue to the right at 6.3 miles. To the left is blocked and is private property. Right after this, begin on the most difficult part of the trail. Pass through a gate at 6.5 (which was open when we passed through). Descend down a steep hill and come to another gate at (about) 7 miles. This is by far the hardest part of the trail. Careful tire placement and navigation is needed. At the bottom of the big hill, enter a creek. The creek crosses the trail five times and on some parts, there is a two foot drop and climb into and out of the creek. This part is also pretty difficult. Enter another steep but brief drop and climb across wash. At 7.8 miles, cross through Iron Springs, which can be wet sometimes. After this, climb the heavily eroded trail. Bear sharp right uphill at 8 miles. Bear right at 10 miles to stay on the trail. To the left is the optional difficult side trip to the Crown Point Mine. There are two shafts, and some remains are there; it is pretty neat. Bear right at the ‘T’ at 10.6 miles. Pass a corral, cross through a wash, and then come to another ‘T’ at 11.4 miles. Bear left. Cross a small wash and then arrive at Isaac Bradshaw’s grave at 11.7 miles. Isaac Bradshaw is the namesake of the Bradshaw Mountains just north of here. He was a successful prospector in Turkey Creek but died in 1885. We stopped at this point because we wanted to explore on the way back, but, you can continue onto Copperopolis. To do this follow the trail on and at 14.3 miles cross through mining remnants. Continue uphill and then turn left at 15.5 miles. The trail ends at 15.7 miles at the site of Copperopolis. The mine and other remains are on the other side of the wash.
The whole trip (to Copperopolis and back) is over 30 miles. Allow for a full day for the whole trip. If you did what we did (to Bradshaw’s grave and back) allow 5-6 hours. The trail is in a pretty difficult state. No doubt, it will continue to deteriorate. Use caution during rainy weather.