Synopsis
Italian Trap is a nice easy trail for stockers looking to have some fun. A nice blend of rocks and smooth sections, with a few good hill climbs thrown in for fun.
At the end is a large wash with several nice camping areas. The Arizona Trail continues south across the wash from where you arrive, but is closed to vehicles. Some nice secluded pools can be found here when there is water present.
The trail is a dead end so back out the way you came, or you can take a newer offshoot out that will connect you to the Chiva Falls trail a few miles before Three Feathers. This trail can be found in the last portion of the trail breaking off to the West - it is fairly obvious.

Group Size
The trail is plenty large enough at the end to allow a big group to park and turn around. Bring your friends!

Difficulty
2.0
The trail starts out with a steep rutted descent, but is wide giving you choice of lines. A few more climbs and descents follow, eventually leading to a long easy section. Stock 4wd FJ's are good to go.

Length
Short, trail head to trail end will take between 30-45 minutes.

Location
The start of the trail is approximately at mile 12.5 of Reddington Road. Reset your trip odo when your tires touch dirt and the trail head is at about 9.5 miles. Turn right (South) into the trail head and continue heading south past a short (dead-end) road to your left.

Aerial of the trail:


Pictures
Turn-off to the trail:


Look down the first obstacle:

Another steep rutted hill:

This is the trail that takes you to Chiva Falls:

Little climb out of a wash:

Some big mud puddles here - the water goes, but the mud stays for a long time here:

One of two campsites under big trees at the end:


Here's from another day about a week later and after some rains, this is the wash you have to drive through to get to the campsite (about 100 yards left from the end of the trail):



Previous AZFJ Runs to this Trail
Unknown.

GPS Track
Unavailable

Awesome!

I've always been a bit confused what is "Italian Trap" and what is "Chiva Falls" and how many Chivas there actually are!

Been meaning to go down there with the GPS and topo maps and settle it once and for all.

Ya, I never actually knew what it was called until a few years ago. I've been going there with my dad since I was a kid, and he'd been going there with his dad since he was a kid. Apparently they used to drive their Morris Minor out there to go hunting - no pics of theirs, but here's one for reference:

Great write up! Thanks for participating!!

I look forward to seeing some pics...

....maybe one day....when there is a Tucsonfest...we can run this trail!!

awesome, thanks for the writeup!!

heading out there tomorrow evening for reconnaissance. anyone interested in coming along?

meet 5:30 at the circle k on tanque verde. i don't have a gps yet, so it'd be great if someone with one came along to record some waypoints!

could be a really fun trip with thunderstorms in the forecast - nice and cool, plus chance of water and some lightning in the sky...

call or post if you wanna come along:
five twenty - three sixty - fifteen three niner.

-cayce

Sorry it's late and I've been in the heat for too long...

Cayce how long is this trail? I'm on the far NW side at Dove Mtn. Tangerine/Thornydale area. Could be real interesting if we get the
storms they are forecasting. Any wash crossings that may be a challange
to cross with water flow?

520-955-1168

Mr_R2FJ wrote:

Sorry it's late and I've been in the heat for too long...

FISHY!!!!!!!

tmac wrote:

Cayce how long is this trail? I'm on the far NW side at Dove Mtn. Tangerine/Thornydale area. Could be real interesting if we get the storms they are forecasting. Any wash crossings that may be a challange to cross with water flow?

From the trail head it isn't too long, although I've never paid attention to the time while I'm out... I'm gonna guess about 1 hour from the trail head, which starts at mile 12.5 on Redington Rd. I usually go with my fiancée and dogs, and I go really slow while they walk, so my memory is kinda skewed.

As far as crossings go, the only big one will be at the end of the trail - we could drive upriver a hundred yards or so to see a camp spot, but it is unnecessary to do if it is really flowing. There are some lowlands near the end that will have some mud, depending on how bad the rain has been they could be pretty deep. There are also a couple smaller water crossings along the way, but only about a car length across or so. I've only been there once during a major storm, and that was about 15 years ago, so it will be very interesting to see if it gets poury

Once we go in we can decide to take the longer way out through Chiva, or come back out the way we came, which will be shorter, if you're worried about time.

Someone take some GPS tracks if you go out there again! =)