page_title: El Camino del Diablo
section_title: El Camino del Diablo today
hierarchical_section_title: El Camino del Diablo / El Camino del Diablo today
caption_attribution_description: El Camino del Diablo, border patrol. Good morning! A Border Patrol helicopter circles around our camp in the morning while Eric was still sleeping
context_page_description: El Camino del Diablo is a historic 250-mile road that currently extends through some of the most remote and arid terrain of the Sonoran Desert in Pima County and Yuma County, Arizona. In use for at least 1,000 years, El Camino del Diablo is believed to have started as a series of footpaths used by desert-dwelling Native Americans. From the 16th to the 19th centuries, the road was used extensively by conquistadores, explorers, missionaries, settlers, miners, and cartographers. Use of the trail declined sharply after the railroad reached Yuma in 1870. In recognition of its historic significance, El Camino del Diablo was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. It has also been designated a Bureau of Land Management Back Country Byway.
  The name, like its other historic name Camino del Muerto, refers to the harsh, unforgiving conditions on trail.
context_section_description: Today, the Camino del Diablo remains a dirt road, suitable for four-wheel drive and high-clearance vehicles carrying extra water and emergency equipment. No emergency or tow services are available, and visitors use the trail at their own risk.
  South of the Mexico–United States border, the original Mexican sections of the Camino del Diablo have largely disappeared. In its place, the Mexican government has constructed a paved highway, Mexican Federal Highway 2, which roughly parallels the border for 120 miles (190 km).
  The current route begins 21 miles (34 km) southwest of Ajo, Arizona, at the boundary between Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge. From there, it continues west past San Cristobal Wash, following the northern edge of the Agua Dulce Mountains to reach Papago Well. From there, the road passes Camp Grip, then runs south of the Sierra Pinta as it passes through the Pinta Sand Dunes and then the Pinacate Volcanic Field. From there, the road passes through the Tule Desert and Tule Mountains, and into Tule Tank Canyon to reach Tule Well, where the road intersects with Christmas Pass Road. The road then passes through the Lechuguilla Desert, just south of Tordillo Mountain, before finally reaching the Tinajas Altas Mountains. At Tinajas Altas, the road forks, and the traveler can take a shorter route which heads north through the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range, passing east of Raven Butte and Cipriano Pass and following the eastern border of the Gila Mountains, before finally reaching Interstate 8 and the Gila River at Wellton, Arizona. Alternatively, the traveler may choose a longer route which more closely follows the original route. This route crosses the Tinajas Altas Mountains and continues in a northwest direction, passing west of Raven Butte and Cipriano Pass. It then follows the western border of the Gila Mountains, passing by the abandoned Fortuna Mine, before finally reaching the small community of Fortuna Foothills, Arizona.
  The trail follows the Mexico–United States border very closely for most of its length. To transit the entire trail, a permit is required from the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge office in Ajo.
caption: Border Patrol helicopter along El Camino del Diablo, 2004
exif: {}