Approaches

From East. The turnoff from the I19 frontage road to this obviously spectacular landmark is a well camouflaged turnoff from the I19 frontage rd. It is just signed as Elephant Rock Rd. Actually there are two possibilities for the lowest part of the approach. They are described on the Hopkins Rd - Amado Rd shoulder summit page.

There are quite a few observatory service vehicles that make the run to the top. Consequently the road is kept with a very smooth surface, even partly paved. The first pavement lasts till the road climbs into scenery, dominated by the initial hogbacks to Mt Hopkins. After an unpaved stretch behind the lower hogbacks, pavement resumes.

When the pavement quits again the climb has entered its second stage. A set of chained pylons guard the narrow road from the dropoff. Their shadows leave gemetric patterns on the smooth dirt, as the sinuous track climbs higher and higher. Unlike anther more famous out-and-back climb to Mt Graham, this road tends to be in the sunshine morning and afternoon, which makes for pleasant temperatures and great light for taking pictures, during the short days of riding season. The spaghetti salad below reminds me personally of the climb up Grand Mesa in Colorado via its Land's End gravel road approach. Finally the road enters a low evergreen forest for the third and last stage.

This last stage unfortunately is over before it really ever begins. Looking above you see the last section of swtichbacks climbing to some support buildings and then the observatory is still higher. It looks enticing and reminds me of the last set of switchbacks up Mt Evans (excuse me - Skyblue), even if the environment here is 100 percent different. But this section is over before it ever begins. As soon as the road crosses a saddle that opens the viewshed to the east, it also ends at a locked geat, with a complete set of threats what will happen if you decide to go up anyway. While I had my lunch there several service vehicles passed through. They did not seem like cycling afficionados, to put it mildly. What would be a two directional highway with turnouts for oncoming traffic in countries accustomed to mountain roads, is closed to all traffic here. But what would you expect from a place where they put rumble strips on the side of the road in order to make life more difficult and dangerous for cyclists? The gates are at 7060ft and the highest point of the rroad is at 8520ft. From talking to other local cyclists later ... it may be useful to know that on Sundays, there is no official observatory traffic, and that the barricade is easily bypassed with a trail on the right.

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