Exploring campgrounds and rock formations in the Apache National Forest

 Today I rode Yagi, my Yamaha TW200 Dualsport motorcycle the ten miles or so from the campsite to the junction of US Highway 191 and Arizona Highway 78 and 75.

Here, there's a few buildings, making up the small town or populated settlement of Three Way, AZ.

There's a gas station here, a defunct drive-in theater, a small store and a maintenance center for the Arizona DOT.  Oh, and a ranger station for the US Forest Service as well.  Not much of anything else that I could see.  The building for the Jehovah Witnesses seemed defunct as well.

I filled Yagi up with gas and rode the additional 22 miles or so to check out the two campgrounds along AZ 78 and within the Apache National Forest.

Arizona Highway 78 is quite quite the twisty road by the way, sharp hairpin turns and sweeping sliders keep one's adrenaline flowing.  Here's the bit with the double hairpin turns....they definitely slowed me down.

Note: Several of  Blackjack Campground's sites are just fine for the VRRV, despite what the info on allstays.com says about there being a 16 foot RV length limit.  A couple of them you could fit a Class A into with some care.  There is however, no cellular signal, at least for Verizon users.

Nearby the Blackjack Campground, were the rock formations I'd glimpsed as I drove the VRRV to Safford, AZ on Tuesday.  I must admit, they appeared more impressive in those fleeting glimpses than they appeared today under overcast skies.

The other campground was the Coal Creek Campground and it was indeed five really tiny sites, not suitable for VRRV usage.  It also had no Verizon cellular signal.

As I found side roads, I took them to see where the trails led.  Mostly to view of the nearby hills and such, somewhat scenic but really not very impressive to me.  There's also the occassional water tank, used to store water for the cattle that roam the area I believe.

I think this tank started life as a Texaco oil tank or something:

Retracing my route, I ended up back in Three Way, AZ, getting Yagi's tank topped off.  I'd only gone shy of 60 miles so it didn't even take a gallon of fuel.

Here's shots of the defunct Drive-In theater next to the gas station:

Yep, that's the middle of "town" for Three Way, AZ

There was a set of signs stating one could get to Duncan, Safford or Clifton from the junction, I'm wondering if that's where the Three Way name came about for this spot on the map.  

I got back on the Black Hills National Backcountry Byway, checking out side roads as I went.  Not much to report, just small hills, lots of sage brush and "meh" views.  The last one I checked out next a small one lane bridge.  This bridge turned out to be an overpass over a rail line, I think used by the nearby mining complex that is next to Clifton, AZ.

Clifton, according to it's tourism office, is a quaint mining town worth a visit.  I am planning on touring it and the town of Morenci further along US 191 which is closer to the giant mine complex that one can see from the highway.