Our friends at Dirty Freehub posted this ride and on a cool day (60 degrees) we gave it a whirl. The recent heavy rainfall left us uncertain, so we chose to ride mountain bikes and were happy. Our ride was 32 miles with 1034′ of climbing though it felt like more to me.
This is a mixed surface ride ranging from sandy, to hard pack dirt, 5 miles or so of pavement, plenty of gravel, some ruts, washes, and adventure. The route started with a pretty sandy section that was made easier by the recent rain but I was still happy to be on my mountain bike instead of skinny tires. After a couple miles the route turned to hard pack fast dirt and then we hit the pavement section.
Cattle Tank Road is paved but has VERY little traffic on it and you even get to pass a pig sanctuary! Ironwood Pig Sanctuary, a non-profit, is home to over 660 pot bellied pigs making it the largest in Arizona and nearly the largest in the U.S. In non Covid times you can visit the sanctuary to pet and feed the pigs which I hope to do some day. Until then, you can sponsor a pig. So cute.
After the five mile paved section we turned right on a gravel road that was barely wide enough for a car and after a short distance, it was decimated by the summer monsoons. There is a giant trench running down the middle with plenty of sand and debris. I was able to ride all of it on a mountain bike but it would be dicey on a gravel bike with skinnier tires. I wouldn’t really call this a road, more like a path in spots.
The Owl Head Buttes pop into view and continue to loom off in the distance for quite awhile, even after turning right on South Owl Head Ranch Road. This smooth dirt/gravel road is pretty fast, except we kept stopping to get pictures of the buttes. We wound around and into and out of washes and up some small rolling climbs. The road is rough in a few spots but worth it for the views.
Eventually we wrapped around and turned right on Carpenter Ranch Road. This gravel/dirt section was fast in spots and mostly downhill. Again, the recent rains left it a bit rough and muddy in spots so mind the conditions before you head out. A few cars passed us on this section but the road is wide enough to not make it a problem.
Back at the car we marveled at the amount of fun ride options are in the area of Tucson. I’d ride this again, but I wonder if it would be better in reverse? I guess the Owl Head Buttes would be at your back for portions of the ride if you did indeed reverse the direction.
Leave a Reply