|   Any good riding in Arizona? | petertkim
Feb 20, 2003 6:07 AM | | Hi. My wife and and I will be moving out to the Navajo Nation area in northeastern Arizona. Can anyone tell me if there are good trails in that area? Looks like Durango and Flagstaff are reasonalby close by, but I was wandering if there are any good local trails. Thanks for any input. |
| re: Any good riding in Arizona? | Singlespeedster
Feb 20, 2003 7:56 AM | | http://www.anthonysloan.com/Sedona,_Feb_2003.html
Don't forget Sedona.
Arizona is filled to the gills with great riding.
A |
| Met a guy from Page in Sedona... | Fat-tire
Feb 20, 2003 8:34 AM | | recently (or he was from someplace on the Nation, maybe Chinle), and he said there is *some* riding, but not much. However, I was surprised when he told me Sedona was only about 2 hours from Page, and Flag is less than an hour. Both Flag and Sedona have lots of riding (Flag is my favorite place to ride in AZ). |
| Not that close | AZBound
Feb 20, 2003 8:51 AM | | Flag ain't no 1 hour drive from Page at any remotely legal or safe speed, but it and Sedona are still very close. There's got to be some pioneering possibilities around Winslow and Holbrook, and southern Utah is right there, too. Farmington NM has riding and a classic race. Tribal lands may or may not have legal riding, and access may be different for non-members. High country, especially the peaks rising from surrounding plateau lands (i.e Navajo Mountain), are sacred and possibly off-limits. But at least know that not all of the Nation is flat and sandy. There's mountainous terrain in the Chuskas and the slickrock someone else mentioned. There are some Tribal parks on the maps - maybe see what they might have. Have repsect. You might find yourself unable to ride around wherever you live but there will be a thousand weekend road trips available. |
| not really... | sdbelt
Feb 20, 2003 8:40 AM | | It's all flat and sandy. You are going to hate it here. ;-)
Actually, I think there is some really good riding right on the reservation. Near the Little Colorado and in the areas near Antelope Creek Canyon (as examples) I understand there is some cool slick rock biking, similar to Moab.
In general, Arizona has some great mountain biking. You probably won't have to look far.
--sdb |
| The Rez...ouch. | Paul B
Feb 20, 2003 9:26 AM | | I have a long and sordid tale related to tracking down rides on the Navajo Nation, and it basically boils down to this: There's riding, maybe even good riding, maybe even big swaths of slickrock...but you'll never get to ride it. Numerous reasons, mostly having to do with the way property law works on the Rez, lack of a centralized tourism authority, decades of tribal council in-fighting, and more than a little corruption.
I spent years trying to crack the code up there. Worked with some local tour guides, talked with council members, tracked down rumors, almost got busted by reservation cops. So far, not much luck.
Someday, somehow, there will be riding -- amazing, mind-blowing riding (think Canyon de Chelly and the slickrock outside Many Farms) -- on the Navajo Nation. But not today, and not in the near future.
That said, there are a couple cool rides in Page, and you ARE in the Four Corners area which opens up Durango, Moab, etc. If you're willing to drive a couple hours, there's some world-class riding in all four states.
Depending on how far east you are on the Rez, you might also be able to drop down the 191 through St. Johns into Springerville, where there is LOTS AND LOTS of kick-ass riding in the White Mountains.
I will make my obligatory guidebook pitch here. Might be useful, and I do go into some detail on the Page rides.
Here's another book, not written by me and kind of sketchy and outdated, but it covers exactly the area you're talking about.
Good luck. Send along more details about what town you're staying in and that may be helpful.
p. |
| we drove through there | Brodiegrrl
Feb 20, 2003 10:21 AM | | a couple of years ago. From Monument Valley through the Hopi Reservation, to Canyon de Chelly up to Moab.
The potential looked amazing, the NO TRESSPASSING ANYWHERE signs were kind of intimidating.
oh well, they've gotta have some land I guess... |
| Drove through a couple weeks ago... | ScottN
Feb 20, 2003 11:32 AM | | You're right, it does look really promising. A little dusty too:
Sn |
| re: Any good riding in Arizona? | Rezdog
Feb 20, 2003 11:31 AM | | It really depends where you will be at on the Reservation. I spent 5 years teaching in Tsaile, AZ (30 miles NE of Chinle) and I found lots of mountain bike riding in the Chuska Mountains. I had several "routes" and even the occasional single track. The elevation in Tsaile is near 7,000 feet so there are ponderosa pine forests, aspen groves, scrub oak, pinon, juniper and sage. In Chinle, behind the hospital there is some cool slickrock as well as some fun singletrack up and down the mesa. West of Manyfarms are expanses of slickrock much like Moab. I never had any problems with the locals at all. I spent most of my time up in the Chuska's exploring. You have to be a bit creative at times, like riding elk or cow trails, but hey what can you do? I race mountain and road, so I also spent lots of time on my road bike, enjoying some of the most courteous drivers ever! There are people who are avid cyclists. The hospital in Chinle and the clinic in Tsaile had a group of mountain bikers who were helpful in finding local knowledge. As far as time between cities, here is what I found, based on times from Tsaile (30 min. from Chinle): Durango, 2 to 2.5 hrs. Faster now that the road over the Chuska's is paved from Lukachukai to Shiprock:( Moab 2 to 2.5 hours. Flagstaff, 3 hrs. Sedona is about 40 minutes from Flagstaff. Phoenix 5 hours. Farmington,NM (Road Apple Rally in October) 1.5 hours. Also, Albuquerque was 3 hrs away. Remember, this is from Tsaile/Chinle area. Hope this helped. BTW goat heads are all over at the lower elevations like Chinle, Kayenta, Tuba City, etc. Enjoy your stay there! I try to get back there to visit the friends I made AND do some riding/hiking as often as possible. And I live in Flagstaff now.
John |
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