Everyone driving between Linden and Show Low this summer already knows there's construction on 260. What most people don't know is that the orange signs are covering up two different jobs, running on two different schedules, and landing on two different halves of the corridor. If you live on the Linden side of that stretch, you're not dealing with the same disruption as someone closer to town, and the details that actually matter didn't make it into the press release.
The Arizona Department of Transportation's pavement rehabilitation project on State Route 260 between Linden and Show Low started Tuesday, July 7, 2026, and is expected to wrap sometime this fall. Five weeks in, the pattern of who feels it and when is starting to show.
Two Segments, One Orange Sign
ADOT's own project page breaks the work into two distinct pieces, and they are not the same size or the same job.
| Segment | Mileposts | What's happening | Who feels it most |
|---|---|---|---|
| West | 332-337, roughly Timber Ranch Road to Joe Tank Road | Full removal and replacement of the top pavement layer across 5 miles | Anyone using the Joe Tank Road turnoff, which sits right at this segment's western edge |
| East | 338-340, Mogollon Drive to US 60 | Spot repairs across 2 miles, plus new sidewalks, guardrail, rumble strips, and pavement markings | Drivers closer to the Show Low side, where the work is lighter and shorter |
Only two miles of restriction are active at any given time, and crews direct traffic through the work zone with flaggers and a pilot car rather than closing the road outright. That detail matters: if you're timing a drive around the closure, you're guessing at which two-mile stretch is live on a given night, not the full eight miles between the two towns.
The west segment is the one doing the heavy lifting, both literally and in terms of how long it will feel like construction season. A five-mile full-depth rebuild takes longer to move through than two miles of spot patching, which means Linden residents on the western end of the corridor are likely watching this project longer than their neighbors closer to Show Low.
Which Clock Are You Supposed to Believe
Here's where it gets genuinely useful to know before you plan an evening around it. ADOT's own materials don't agree with each other on the work hours.
The news release announcing the project states crews will work "from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. Mondays through Fridays." The project's own detail page, published on the same domain, lists the hours as 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., Sunday evenings through Friday mornings. A local radio recap of the announcement repeated the 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. window. So two out of three public sources say one thing, and ADOT's own project page says another.
Both versions agree on the parts that matter most for planning: no work happens on weekends or holidays, and restrictions lift every morning before the workday starts. But if you're trying to time a dinner reservation or a grocery run down to the hour, don't lean on a single source. Check az511.gov or call 511 the day of, since ADOT notes that's where real-time restrictions get posted as they change. The project's community relations contact is Ryan Harding, if you want updates sent directly to your inbox rather than checking twice.
The Turnoff Inside the Work Zone
This is the detail that doesn't show up in any construction notice, because ADOT isn't in the business of tracking trailheads. The western repaving segment runs from Timber Ranch Road to Joe Tank Road. Joe Tank Road is also the access point for the west trailhead of the Los Caballos Trail, one of the longer trails in the White Mountain Trail System. Driving directions to that trailhead call for heading about four miles west of Show Low on AZ-260, then turning onto Joe Tank Road, which starts paved and turns to gravel after the first stretch.
In other words, the exact intersection you'd use for a pre-dawn hike, ride, or mountain bike loop sits at the boundary of the active work zone. If you're loading up early to beat the heat, a few things are worth building into your morning:
- Confirm on az511.gov whether the west segment is active before you head out, since flaggers and equipment near the Joe Tank turnoff can slow the last few minutes of your drive even after the posted overnight window ends
- The first mile past the pavement is gravel regardless of construction, so don't mistake normal trail access conditions for work-zone conditions
- If you're hauling a horse trailer, campers in the area mention passing Linden Valley Arena on the way to the forest access roads near Los Caballos, a useful landmark for confirming you're on the right stretch before the pavement runs out
The trail's east trailhead, reached off 260 near Bagnal Draw via Forest Road 136, is a second way in if the Joe Tank Road turnoff is actively flagging traffic when you want to head out.
Sources Don't Even Agree on How Long the Trail Is
While cross-checking the trailhead access, a second inconsistency turned up that's worth knowing before you commit to a full loop. AllTrails lists Los Caballos as a 13.7-mile moderate hike with about 1,181 feet of elevation gain, taking 5.5 to 6 hours. Trailforks lists the same trail at 15.9 miles with 1,365 feet of elevation gain and rates the climb Black Diamond, its hardest difficulty tier. That's more than a two-mile gap between two of the most commonly cited trail-tracking sites, and a meaningful difference in how hard the day will feel.
The trail is dog-friendly on leash according to Trailforks, and it's genuinely one of the longer routes in the local trail system, which may explain why the numbers vary depending on which segment a given tracking app or hiker actually logged.
Why This Trail Gets Better the Moment the Cones Come Down
Here's the part that actually changes how you might want to use Los Caballos this year. The U.S. Forest Service notes that the trail winds through ponderosa pine and pinon-juniper woodland at elevations noticeably lower than the east side of the district, and because temperatures run several degrees warmer here with less shade cover, the Forest Service specifically suggests using this trail in spring, fall, or winter rather than the heat of summer.
That means the exact stretch of trail made harder to reach by this summer's construction is also the stretch that's least comfortable to hike in July and August anyway. Once the repaving wraps this fall and the flaggers clear out of the Joe Tank Road intersection, Los Caballos becomes one of the more usable trails in the system for the cooling months ahead, not a consolation prize while the good trails are elsewhere.
The Weeknight Errand Run
For day-to-day life, the construction schedule mostly reshapes weeknight timing rather than the weekend. Since restrictions lift on Fridays and don't return until the following work week, a Saturday trip to Show Low for groceries at Safeway or a stop at the Walmart Supercenter runs at normal speed. The DG Market on Linden's eastern edge remains the closer option any day of the week if you're skipping the drive into town altogether.
Weeknight dinner plans are where the timing gets real. A reservation at Cattlemen's Steakhouse and Lounge or a stop for the donut burger at The House means driving through the corridor during the exact window when one of the two segments could be actively restricted. Since only two miles are ever closed at once and the road never fully shuts down, the realistic cost is a short wait behind a pilot car rather than a rerouted trip, but building in an extra ten or fifteen minutes on a Tuesday or Wednesday night beats finding out at the flagger.
Golfers heading to Bison Golf Club, the 18-hole course east of Linden designed by the PGA Tour's Billy Mayfair, are more likely to be crossing the lighter eastern segment than the heavier western rebuild, so tee times should see less disruption than trips toward the Joe Tank Road side of town.
The road will get repaved. The trail will still be there once the cones come down this fall, probably easier to enjoy than it is right now. Knowing which half of the corridor you're actually dealing with, and which source to trust when the schedules disagree, is the difference between white-knuckling every drive this month and just building in fifteen extra minutes on the nights it matters.
Living in Linden means tracking details like this as a matter of course, not just when you're thinking about buying or selling. If you're curious what a summer of infrastructure work and a tightening mountain market mean for the value of your own property, Erin Amos tracks both. Get a free home valuation anytime, no obligation, or browse the Linden neighborhood guide for more on what makes this corner of the White Mountains worth paying attention to.
