This westward view is typical of the vistas from the Coronado Trail, which ranges in elevation from 3,875 feet in Clifton to 9,370 feet at the Blue Vista Scenic Overlook.
Mine, one of the largest open- pit copper mines in North America. Its scale boggles the mind. There’ s an overlook off U. S. 191 where you can turn around 360 degrees and not see a single bit of earth that has not be graded, reshaped, dug, or moved. With reddish dirt as far as the eye can see, it looks like a Mars terraforming project out of a sci- fi movie. Operating around the clock, the mine processes 700,000 tons of rock per day and upwards of 840 million pounds of copper per year.
We watched dozens of orehauling dump trucks that, from our vantage point, looked like Matchbox vehicles. In reality, each Caterpillar 793D truck is 42 feet long, 21 feet high( each tire is 11 feet in diameter and weighs over 8,000 lb), weighs 350,000 lb when empty, has a payload of 480,000 lb, and is powered by a 2,000- hp, 16- cylinder diesel.
We were at once impressed by such an enormous human achievement and horrified by the gigantic scar on the Earth.
Riding farther north, the mining hellscape was soon replaced by enchanted mountain scenery with rugged pink rock formations and dark green trees. The contrast was jarring, and the 1st- gear hairpins demanded our attention. It was a perfect spring day, crisp and clear, nary a cloud blemishing the blue heavens.
It was a Saturday in mid- April, our eighth day on the road, and Eric and I had fallen into a comfortable rhythm. Though I had read about the Coronado Trail several times in Rider Magazine, neither of us had ridden it before. We were like sponges, absorbing the sights, sensations, and sensational curves at a rapid rate.
We entered a burn area and rode above the snow line as we approached 8,783- foot Rose Peak. Ready for a break, we stopped along
AMERICANRIDER. COM | OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2025 | 37