Autoblog Sunday Drive: Coronado Trail/US-191

Damon Lavrinc — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 14:32:00 EST

Click above for a map of the Coronado Trail/US-191

With over 400 curves and an elevation change that will take you from 3,500 to 9,000 feet over 96 miles, the Coronado Trail holds the distinction of being one of the twistiest and challenging drives in the lower 48. We've only heard rumors of the Arizona route and expected a tip to come in sooner or later, and our new friend Cosmin didn't disappoint.

The Coronado Trail is part of the highway formerly known as Route 666 that crossed Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico, and was later changed to Highway 491 (something about mysterious deaths and people stealing road signs). This particularly stretch has now been deemed by the Feds as US-191 and our route begins in Clifton, passes the Phelps Dodge mine - one of the largest open pit mines in the world - and takes us north through Morenci when the fun really begins. According to a few reports, things are intense from Morenci through to Hannagan, where the majority of the turns and elevation changes take place. After that, it's a more mellow drive to Alpine where 191 ends in a Google-estimated one-hour and 48 minutes.

For those physics enthusiasts in the area, we're sure your already familiar with the Coronado Trail, and for the rest of us, we might need to make a detour during our next transcontinental trip.

We've gotten a handful of excellent roads and routes, but we need more. Send your Google-formatted Maps to autoblogsundaydrive - at - gmail - dawt - com.

Autoblog Sunday Drive: Coronado Trail/US-191 originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 02 Nov 2008 14:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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