El Camino Del Diablo (Arizona)

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Me and 3 (so far) of my buddies will be doing the El Camino Del Diablo trail sometime towards the end of December/January most likely during a weekend if anyone wants to come. I'll be posting updates here as we sort things out and get some more planning done.

Starting Point: South of the Fortuna Foothills in Yuma, Arizona (marked on Overland Bound map)
 
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Update 8/29/21: We decided we’d want to start at the entrance west of the Telegraph mountain range in the foothills of Yuma. I marked it on the Overland Bound map. I’ve been this way once in a utv and the terrain is great.

After that, head south down to the border but before starting wrap back up the mountain range to a secret spot I know of thats one-of-a-kind in the county.

Then, trace our steps back down and begin the trail. At the end of it we also wanted to go up from Ajo into Gila Bend to see the Painted Rock Resevoir. That’s the plan so far.

I’ll be updating the original post to display all this information and more for ease of access and to have everything in one central location.
 
Definitely interested in this trip. I am new to overlanding and off-roading in general. How would this trip be for a complete newb? Hopefully by the end of the December I will have much more experience.
 
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Justin P said:
Definitely interested in this trip. I am new to overlanding and off-roading in general. How would this trip be for a complete newb? Hopefully by the end of the December I will have much more experience.
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Hey Justin! We haven’t been on this trail before (maybe someone can chime in that has) but I’ve been watching plenty of YouTube videos for it, and it seems most 4wd vehicles would be able to do this.

We’ll be having some basic requirements for safety and an overall better experience of the trip for yourself and everyone in general (spare tire, radio, extra fuel, etc.) that’ll I’ll be updating on the front page of this thread later on!
 
Justin P said:
Definitely interested in this trip. I am new to overlanding and off-roading in general. How would this trip be for a complete newb? Hopefully by the end of the December I will have much more experience.
Click to expand...

Border Wall work has turned 75% of this into a wide dirt road ( Civic could drive it). The western portion is still easy with mostly bumpy sections due to a lot of use. It is still scenic but not near a nice as it was years ago.
 
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The timing of this may work well for me. I'm down for another trip down the ol' ECDD.

1Louder is correct, a decent chunk (40 miles or so) between Yuma and Tule Well already were or have been turned into a wide and flat road due to border wall construction in mid-2020. The areas east of Tule Well are largely untouched, the north road to Christmas Pass from Tule well is still normal as well. Tule well can easily be reached in a day from Yuma now. The Tinajas Altas at the Yuma end are epic for camping though.

There are very few obstacles that require more than 2wd and even those can be overcome with careful driving. The washboards can be pretty... annoying. The 126 miles can be done in a day, but there are stops worth stopping at and i tend to stretch it into 3 nights. My first trip out was done in 2 nights (before the road construction) and honestly we missed a lot because of our pace. The desert out there is the epitome of the Sonoran Desert. I've got GPX/KML routes with stops and areas for camping marked if you need them. This is a really great trip for beginners. It is remote enough to challenge you but there is enough border patrol that help isn't that far away.
 
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I drove the western most part starting from foothills blvd down about 30 miles and it was ROUGH!! All the snowbirds driving 2wd on their sxs have torn up the camino. I wouldnt drive my POV down that road, I was driving work truck and felt sorry for it
 
I drove this the last weekend of April 2023 and had a great time.

The trail is easy (high clearance needed; 4WD optional if you have a buddy to pull you out if stuck) and not long - probably a 7-8 hour drive straight through. Taking 2 or 3 days to do the road allows for plenty of side drives or hikes.

We took our time, saw some sights, and cooked some great food.

If I had it to do again, I’d have gone in early April and probably would have seen the desert in bloom! And it wouldn’t have been 100*+ on the trail!
 
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