Mogollon Rim This week we are camping, riding and hiking around Payson, AZ. It’s almost the geographic center of Arizona. Mogollon Rim is a 200 mile long plateau that runs east from Payson. The plateau is roughly 2,000 higher than the surrounding topography and we rode part of it. ‘ Gravel Road 300 or Rim …
Month: October 2019
Petrified Forest National Park in NE Arizona was set aside back in 1906 to protect one of the largest petrified wood deposits in the world. We spent a day driving around to all the pullouts and hiking to see all the awesome sites. I’ve detailed some highlights below. Giant Logs Trail We started at the …
Canyon de Chelly National Monument is about 84,000 acres entirely on the Navajo Nation in Northeast Arizona. The monument was authorized in 1931 by President Herbert Hoover. Early Puebloans, ancestors of the Hopis, built cliff dwellings high in the sandstone alcoves and the canyon has been a sacred refuge to the Navajos for centuries. The …
Jug Handle Loop Jug Handle Loop is a mostly dirt road loop up by Dead Horse State Park in Moab. The loop is 37.5 miles with 3,247′ of climbing, mainly up Shafer Trail. We started the loop just off the split from 313 and Long Canyon Road. The gravel road into Long Canyon Road turns …
The Whole Enchilada As I previously mentioned, we have been coming to Moab to mountain bike for over 20 years. Somehow we have never been able to ride the route called The Whole Enchilada before. This ride starts way up in the La Sal Mountains and the high point is 11,126′ so snow can linger …
We put our Annual National Park Pass to use again and went to Arches National Park while in Moab. The area was a National Monument to begin with back in 1929 but upgraded to a National Park in 1971. The park has over 2,000 arches!!! It’s a really popular park, really popular. So, we waited …
We finally left Colorado and are spending a couple weeks in Moab, Utah. Derek and I have been coming to Moab for over 20 years and it never disappoints. As a bonus, our friend Kevin joined us for 4 days of riding and relaxing. Klonzo Trails As a warm up, Derek and I rode all the Klonzo trails from …
To complete our two week stint in Durango, we rode a few loops at Twin Buttes, did a giant gravel loop called Strada de la Plata, and rode again out in Horse Gulch. Strada de la Plata This gravel route clocked in at 56.9 miles with 5,021′ of climbing. The ride took us through several …
Engineer Mountain Trail Engineer Mountain Trail is typically done as a shuttle but without that option, we rode it as an out and back. It’s pretty straightforward, you climb for 9.2 miles and 3,624′ and then turn around and descend. The switchbacks start pretty close to the beginning and you wind your way up through …
Madden/Gold Run/Starvation Loop Exploration Day! From camp we rode up the gravel road to Madden Peak. It’s nice wide gravel for the first few miles and then gets increasingly rocky so it’s a good thing we were on mountain bikes. At the top we turned onto Old Gold Run singletrack and took that for miles. …