This expansive loop from Bisbee takes you through the deep history of the Chiricahua frontier and into the surreal, sandy landscape of the Hot Well Dunes. It is a full-day adventure (approx. 277 miles) that transitions from historic mountain passes to rugged desert wash crossings.
Heading north from Bisbee through McNeal, the route quickly turns toward the rugged Dos Cabezas and Chiricahua Mountains.
Turning onto Apache Pass Road from Highway 186, the pavement gives way to a moderately challenging dirt and gravel track. The pass is home to Fort Bowie National Historic Site. While the ruins require a 3-mile round-trip hike, the ride itself through the pass offers a visceral sense of the “Geronimo era” landscape where the Butterfield Overland Mail once ran.
From the pass, descend into the town of Bowie for a critical fuel stop before heading north into the desert.
The Hot Well Dunes Recreation Area is a Bureau of Land Management site featuring two solar-powered concrete hot tubs fed by a natural underground lake.
The journey north via Haekel Road is typically paved but rough; however, your route takes a more technical turn via Tanque Road to the west. Tanque Road is a rugged dirt track with several wash crossings that should only be attempted in dry conditions—it is “strictly a 4WD or high-clearance adventure bike” route.
Crossing the Pinaleños on Stockton Pass Road (Hwy 266) is a scenic, paved highlight. It offers dramatic elevation changes and sweeping curves that provide a “premium asphalt reward” after the technical grit of Tanque Road.
Complete the loop by riding south through Willcox and down through the grasslands of the Sulphur Springs Valley, finally climbing back into the Mule Mountains to finish in Bisbee.
Details
- Location: Starts and ends at The Jonquil Motel in Bisbee, Arizona
- Distance: 277 mile loop
- Gas: Bisbee, McNeil, Bowie, Willcox
- Difficulty: Easy
- Road Surface: paved, gravel, dirt
- Time: full-day
Approximate Mileage
- Start – Circle K Bisbee – 0 miles
- Start – High Lonesome – 7 miles
- Whitewater Draw – 22 miles
- Gas – McNeil – 26 miles
- Jonny Ringo Grave (off track) – 54 miles
- Start dirt – Apache Pass Road – 82 miles
- Fort Bowie – 93 miles
- End dirt – 96 miles
- Gas – Bowie – 104 miles
- Start dirt – 107 miles
- End dirt – Hackel Road – 114 miles
- Hotwell Dunes – 124 miles
- Start dirt – Tanque Road – 131 miles
- End dirt – Tanque Road – 143 miles
- Stockton Pass – 155 miles
- Gas – Willcox – 192 miles
- Pearce Ghost Town – 224 miles
- Start dirt – Ghost Town Trail – 225 miles
- End dirt – 238 miles
- Historic Gleeson – 239 miles
- End – Circle K Bisbee – 277 miles