Author Topic: Arizona 288 --Globe-Young Hwy?  (Read 12347 times)

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Offline MrBent

Arizona 288 --Globe-Young Hwy?
« on: July 12, 2012, 12:04:14 pm »
Hey, riders:  Coming up close to the start of a big tour and still working on some options.  We're thinking about possibly bypassing the Phoenix area all together as we work our way from Silver City, NM, to our home in CA.  From Globe, AZ, I found Hwy 288.  Does anyone know about this road for cycling?  Paved?  Water sources?  I can see that we won't have any supplies, so will have to leave Globe well stocked.  If we did this route, we'd pick up the Magollan Rim Rd. and follow that across to 87 and 260.  I've pedaled that stretch before.  Any advice/experiences greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Scott

Offline yumadons

Re: Arizona 288 --Globe-Young Hwy?
« Reply #1 on: July 12, 2012, 01:38:04 pm »
288 is a windy, hilly, dirt road. I've only driven it once years ago and don't think there's much on there. I don't remember anything about the town of Young. 

Offline MrBent

Re: Arizona 288 --Globe-Young Hwy?
« Reply #2 on: July 12, 2012, 02:28:16 pm »
Thanks, Yuma.  I'm still interested in hearing more about it, but after I put the route through RidewithGPS, I discovered it gains about 12,500 ft. between Globe and the upper highway.  And water looks scarce.  We'll route through Phoenix. 

Scott

Offline roadrunner

Re: Arizona 288 --Globe-Young Hwy?
« Reply #3 on: August 02, 2012, 09:02:14 pm »
I live in Arizona and have ridden many of the following areas.  There are reasonable alternatives to Route 288 to get to the Mogollon Rim from Silver City.  One would be to take US-70 to Globe, AZ-88 to Roosevelt, AZ-188 to AZ-87 to Payson.  From Payson, you could ride AZ-87 to the Rim Road.   From that point, you could go west through Camp Verde to Prescott (which involves a LOT of climbing), then north to Ash Fork and ride I-40 or much of old Route 66 to the California border.   I'd recommend riding from Strawberry to the Lake Mary Road which goes north to Flagstaff.  From Flagstaff, you can ride most of the way to the CA border on old Route 66.  Several websites identify parts of Route 66 that exist but are not shown on most maps.

An alternative route to the Rim Road through scenic backcountry is on US-180 from Silver City to Eagar, AZ, then AZ-260 though Show Low to the Rim Road.  There are few services, other that some at Glenwood, between Silver City and Alpine.