The Arizona Department of Transportation has reopened a section of State Route 88 known as the Apache Trail, after severe flooding in 2019 shut down the largely unpaved roadway.
A large rock slide from a September 2019 storm left the rugged, narrow and winding Apache Trail unpassable for five years. After $4 million in reconstruction efforts, ADOT has restored limited access to the road northeast of Apache Junction.
“ADOT has reopened this section as a primitive roadway that is only suitable for certain kinds of vehicles. Those vehicles would be high clearance, four-wheel drive vehicles, and utility terrain vehicles," ADOT spokesperson Garin Groff said.
ADOT is still seeking $33 million in federal funding to completely restore the Apache Trail for passenger vehicles.
Groff says this is only a roadway one should take for specific recreation purposes in the area.
