I was recently informed the Tortilla Ranch Corridor was officially closed by the Mesa Ranger District. Vehicles are no longer allowed beyond the Tortilla Ranch Trail Head on the Apache Trail. If this closure indeed occurred it will sure impact the search for Jesse Capen by volunteers and volunteer groups. The sheriff's office can no longer keep the search active because of budget restraints. If anyone knows the status of this closure I sure would like to know. I will probably be able to get the details on Monday. I recall the ranger district closed it once before and the reopened it.

Thanks for any help in this area. Take care and be safe, Tom K.

Tom K,

If everyone posted everything "someone" told them. These pages would quickly fill up with tons of useless, and often incorrect information.
(Otherwise known as dis-information)

Please refrain from making (unconfirmed) announcements like this in the DUSA forums, PRIOR to verifying the information with a reliable source.



I will find out if the Tortilla Ranch Corridor is officially closed (or not) and post the information before the end of the day.

Best,

Jim

I just got back from a trip up to Tortilla Trailhead. The road is open all the way back to the second windmill, so the corridor is not closed.

Also... There are no notices about any closures posted on the bulletin board in the parking lot on the Apache trail.

It appears to be a "False Alarm" to me Tom.

Best,

Jim

Thanks Jim... My was almost broken with the news from what I thought was a reliable source. I was going to call the forest service on Monday. After the closing of the Massacre Ground Road I just couldn't believe they were going to close Tortilla Corridor. There is really no reason to close it.

Again thanks,

Tom K.

Tom,

I don't believe they will ever be able to legally close that road.

I read an article on the Internet (It was either on Ron Feldman's old website, TreasureNet or HikeArizona) that explained that there used to be some private property back in that corridor. It was either the "Patented" Miller Mines or a Homestead where Tortilla Ranch sat.

I am leaning towards believing that it was Tortilla Ranch, because I remember Clay telling me that he was once thinking about buying the ranch back in the late 60's or early 70's, and maintaining the government grazing contracts in the surrounding area. It was sometime around the time Mark (his son) was about to graduate from High School, and Mark wanted to have his own cattle Ranch rather than go to college.

Anyway... As you know, Mark died in a heartbreaking auto accident, which resulted in Clay losing interest in buying the ranch. The private property never sold, and it ended up being deeded back to the BLM, (so the owners would not have to pay annual taxes on it) with the agreement that the old road would never be closed, which would result in cutting off access to the two Trailheads back there at the end of the corridor.

I have been looking for that article all afternoon, but have not been able to find it. Maybe one of the members here have seen it too, and knows where it is on the Internet. (Something tells me that the article was written by Wayne (Zentull) but I'm not sure.

I can't think of anyone better than you, who might have the right contacts required to dig up all of the details on where the private property was, who owned it, and the agreement that deeded it back to the BLM.

It would make an interesting article for your Chronicles if you could find all the details. I'd start with Clay and follow the leads you get from him.

Best,

Jim

Jim - as soon as you mentioned that, I remembered reading that somewhere too. I'll do a little searching as well, but I honestly don't recall where it was.

I wonder if Greg Davis or Jack Carlson would remember or know the details?

I am sure glad to hear that Paul!!!

I was beginning to think that my mind was starting to fail me.

I have a feeling Tom will be able to come up with all the details with no more than a few phone calls.

Thanks for putting my mind to ease about whether I really did read that on the Internet somewhere, or heard it from someone who has left this world.

Jim

Gentlemen: I will find out the facts about the road easement for the Tortilla Corridor on Friday, March 4, 2011. Also I will do my best to get the paper work. Yes, it would be a good idea to do a story about the road's easement, the corridor's easement and it's history I have since been told the road was only closed temporarily for one day for some kind of a survey. I am not sure what the survey was. The person that reported it closed drove out there and a sign was in place saying the road was closed. At this point I am even more confused about the road. I have been using that road for over fifty years and plan on continuing to use it. Tom K.

Tom,

I have been getting a lot of phone calls and email from people who are confused about one of the postings, on the bulletin board at the Tortilla trailhead. I took photos of it when I was up there yesterday, and I see the poster that is causing the confusion.





Having this poster on the board out at the Apache Trail is very misleading!!! There is no indication on it that the "Hiking Trail" it is referring to, is actually 3 miles down the dirt road from where the it is posted.

Leave it to the Federal Government to post ambiguous and misleading information.

Here is another poster on the board that justifies carrying a pick and shovel while camping out there. (It almost makes it a REQUIREMENT for "SANITATION") Everyone that has ever spent any time out there, knows you cannot dig a trench in the desert without using a pick to break up the ground first.



Personally I have only seen that road closed one time in the last 20 years. It was during extreme drought (High Fire Hazard) conditions, and they closed it by stringing a locked cable across the entrance to the road. The reason was that a lot of people use ATVs on the road, and some ATVs do not have spark arrester mufflers on them. Once the drought was over, they removed the cable and reopened the road for vehicular traffic.

Best,

Jim

Yes, Jim I believe that is the sign that is causing all the confusion also. Newbies easily get confused with such signs that appear to be regulatory. I checked the trailhead today and I totally agree. Thanks, I will explore a column on clarification of this particular trailhead. Again thanks.

Tom K.