This page is no longer maintained. I ride too many places too often. Also, the weather can change faster than my interest in maintaining this page. And, as usual, the trails are always the same - GREAT!
Contact the Lakeside Ranger District (520-368-5111) or the Springerville Ranger District (520-333-4372), for the latest information on local trail conditions and weather. The snow level in Arizona can get down to the 2000' level (about Tucson elevation), so calling ahead may save you a trip.
Here are some past "reports" of the trail conditions. You should be able to get a good feel for what the trails are like at any time of the year.
2001
May - South Fork is still a) awsome, b) kicks my butt good, or c) all of the above. Trail conditions are perfect. Any elevation above 8000' takes some getting used to!
Kept the New Year's resolution alive and did Timber Mesa - in the snow! January 1, 2001, 6:30 AM, 17 degrees, still dark. Up to a foot of snow on the trail. Nobody has ventured onto the trail. Much more powder than on the ski hill (though that's pretty good too). Patches of frozen bare ground felt like I was on a rocket. Slipping and sliding down the hills was a blast. Did over 7 miles of riding, slipping, hiking (up the deep powder spots), and grinning! Got out before it warmed up the bare spots (read "mud").
2000
September - Great trails (what can I say?)
August - Got ripped by a reader who thought I wasn't being totally honest about the difficulty of the trails. He rode Ice Cave and Blue Ridge trails and was a little upset about how hard they were. Sooooo, even though I don't think they are particularly difficult, you may find that they are. As with other trials in the mountains, they may need maintenance, especially after a hard rain. Bring plenty of water, and above all, if you feel you are getting in over your head, BACK OFF! It's the safe and sane thing to do!
June - MOST OF THE
FOREST WAS CLOSED DUE TO EXTREME FIRE DANGER!
Sorry about that!
Mid-May did West Fork (West Baldy), Blue Ridge, Timber Mesa, Los Burros, and others. OUTSTANDING! A little dry, some marble-sized rocks coming up, but very fast! Fire danger is high, though.
Yes, it's a new millennium (depending on whether you start at "2000" or "2001"), and the weather has been really, really nice in the desert. No snow, no skiing, but outstanding (but very dry) weather in the lower elevations.
1999
What a year so far! The trails are the best they have ever been! A bit dusty, but WOW! In April did Biking and Skiing (yes, there was plenty of late-season snow), May, June, and July included Panorama, Springs, South Fork, Country Club, Blue Ridge, Ghost of the Coyote, Indian Springs, Timber Mesa at night, and others. Several times! The conditions are, in a word, OUTSTANDING!
Started out the new year right - with a ride! Did Los Caballos. Trail conditions - great! Trail - not so great! Too much sand and two-track.
1998
New Years Eve (day) - did Timber Mesa. In a word - PERFECT! 60+ degrees! No snow! No skiing! Nuts!
Thanksgiving day + 1, 1998 -
Wow! The weather is awesome! The trails are perfect!
Thanksgiving day + 2, 1998 - Wow! The weather sucks! The trails
are either 1) buried under snow or 2) muddy.
August, September, October (see June) - Trails are awesome! The rain hasn't been too bad, and the dust is all settled. Take care not to ride right after a major downpour, though. It could get a bit sticky!
June (all month) - Indian Springs, West Fork, South Fork, Panorama, Springs, Country Club, Blue Ridge, Pole Knoll, etc. All great trail conditions (a little dusty, maybe).
May 30,31 - Did some "team riding" on Buena Vista, Panorama, Springs (with side trip to fishery), and Los Burros. Great weather, great friends, great trails, and great mileage (about 40 total). The snow's gone and the dust is back! This time I took a camera, so look for pictures coming soon to a trail guide near you!
May 16,17 - Rode another new (too short) trail. The forest service built a short connector from the Springs trail to a new trailhead on Hwy 260, past the old fishery. Hilly, technical, and short - but very interesting! Also rode Los Burros, backwards (clockwise). In a word - AWESOME! A lot of deadfalls, still plenty of snow (all rideable), and at least one major rock slide area that required a little portage.
May 1,2,3 - Did some evening rides on Panorama and Timber Mesa. Fast, furious, awesome (but short)! On Sunday, we did some exploring on the back side of Blue Ridge. Found a rocky, but very fast, downhill Jeep trail that comes out by Porter Mountain. About 20 miles of full suspension only (if you want to keep your teeth)! What a blast!
April 10 - Back on the bike. Did some local single track. Did an endo. The wife didn't appreciate that! See next update.
February
28 - OK. This isn't really a trail update. But, it is a condition
update!
Did a major face-plant at Cave Creek Park. Did a little hop
coming off of a trailhead onto the parking lot and found out what
happens when your front wheel does an "out of bike"
experience.
Landed square on my face at 30+ mph. Broke my eye sockets, nose,
cheekbones, sinuses, and had a skull fracture. Also dislocated my
shoulder, but I've done that so many times already that really
didn't count for much. The front half of my helmet disintegrated
(better that than my skull!). See what happened to my bike! At least I got a helicopter ride to
the hospital and titanium parts for my head!
January and February - One word, "El Niño". Ok. Two words then. My spanish is lousy. Anyway, lots of snow. Skiing is great. Biking isn't. "The Little Boy" (loose translation) is dumping a lot of moisture on the trails. It may be a while before they dry out.
1997
December 21 - Snow! About 4" of the white stuff. Thrashed a good part of Country Club before we decided to turn back. Sorta like riding in the mud except without the mess. Did another 7 or 8 miles on the ice-covered roads. The next day I decided to go skiing at Sunrise Park Resort. Knee-deep virgin powder. Too deep to bike. Just right to ski!
November 16 - Back again. Snowed two days before and Blue Ridge was frozen solid! Great fun! At least for a while. Then the sun came out. The air warmed up. The snow began to melt. The trail turned to adobe-making material. The wheels jammed. The bike stopped rolling. The bike got too heavy. Dragged the bike back to the trailhead. Yup. Great fun.
November 9 - Haven't been riding in the mountains enough. Finally made a trip up and did Buena Vista. Very uneventful. Very sweet!
August 30 - BOOM! Sphincter twitch! CRASH! Max pucker power! BANG! I'm gonna die! Hey, getting caught in a thunderstorm after dark in the driving rain is fun! Did the connector trail from Country Club to Los Burros at night. Almost got to Los Burros when a thunderstorm snuck up behind us. It's a life experience to watch lightning hit the woods no more than 100' from us! Six times, no less! Fastest five miles I every did blind. Rained so hard, my light could just almost reach the puddles where the trail was supposed to be. To top it off, after I loaded up the bike, I pulled out of the trailhead only to have "red and blues" in my rearview. Too much adrenaline still drifting through the veins, I guess. When Officer Friendly saw the wet, muddy, huddled shell of a mountain biker, he just laughed and gave me a stern "be careful, it's wet". Wetter inside, no doubt!
Most of August - Rode many mountain trails. Rode the desert, too. Hot desert. Cool mountains. Hmmm. Gotta stay in the mountains!
July 26-August 2 - Finally rained enough to soak the ground.
No more 1" goo pealing off of the ground. Actually, it's
good riding. The mud is mud and the rest of the trail is
dust-free. When it doesn't rain for 24 hours, the trails are
F-A-S-T!
Did Panorama on lights. Thunder and lightning on
the horizon, a starry sky above, and many unidentified blinking
eyeballs in the woods. What a trip! Also did several iterations
of Ice Cave and Blue
Ridge trails. Other than that, got rained out.
July 19-20 - Wow! Bought some lights and did some night
riding! Did the Country
Club and Springs Loop Trail. It had rained during the
day, so the trails were a bit muddy. Made the climb to Pat Mullen
much more difficult. The dense fog on the lower part of Country
Club added another dimension to night riding! Rode the last part
of Springs by moonlight, just because we could. You gotta try
night riding!
Tried to do Buena Vista. Too much rain. Too much mud.
Too much time spent on the ground 'cause my cleats wouldn't
release. Still fun though.
June 27... - Finally spending some quality time. Been doing heavy-duty trail maintenance on the Ice Cave and Blue Ridge trails. Worked for over four hours to rebuild 1/2 mile of the Ice Cave trail. Building water bars in rocky soil is the pits! There is still about 1.5 miles of on-again, off-again single track. Hope to finish the whole trail by summer's end. The Blue Ridge, on the other hand, will probably take until next year to completely finish. Been riding the Blue Ridge a lot.
June 13,14,15 - Yup. That was the weekend of the MBAA Finals at Sunrise Ski Resort. Great racing, great weather (a bit cool), and a overall great time! Didn't race this year, but we did the Blue Ridge loop (the whole thing this time). The trail's in great condition! This one may become a close second to Los Burros. Also did the Ice Cave trail (flashlight batteries went out too soon) and Woodland Lake.
May 24-27 - Trails are in excellent condition. Rode all or portions of Springer Mountain Loop (see below), Springs Loop Trail, Country Club, Panorama, Los Burros, and others. Had one major crash on Los Burros. Bruises, scrapes, blood, a kneecap the size of a softball, and other bodily damage. Only minor scratches on the Y-50. Thank goodness.
May 4 - Didn't have much time so we went to Country Club. Went with a group of six riders and my dog. The dog kicked butt. Afterwards I did the Springer Mountain Loop (see below). This was the official break-in of my new Y-50.
April 20 - Took a cruise around the Springs Loop Trail and Country Club using the connector trails between them. Mostly pretty much perfect. A few soft spots, but mostly those are confined to the connectors. The biking season has arrived!
March 23 - Rode the Panorama and the conditions can best be described as "PERFECT"! The only glitch (besides about a billion "mechanicals") was that the side trail to the vista was still snowed in. Also rode the Springer Mountain Loop (kinda our own twist on Blue Ridge and Woodland Lake). Some snow still on the north slopes. Some soft stuff, otherwise OK. Trails at higher altitudes are still snowed in (sob).
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