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Flagstaff 2025 Trail Updates

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Discussion starter · #22 ·
Celebrate National Trails Day with FBO, the USFS, the County and partners at Roger's Lake County Natural area on June 7!

We’ll be working on Gold Digger trail. The focus on this now decade-old trail is maintenance, stabilizing rock sections, and refining corners to make this lollipop loop part of the Rogers trail from Fort Tuthill flow better and last longer.

FBO is providing burgers and brats. Sign up and get all the details at June 7 - National Trails Day - Rogers Lake - trail maintenance • Flagstaff Biking Organization
 
Discussion starter · #23 ·
#24 · (Edited)
rockman said:
That means trails remain open but roads in the SF Peaks, Dry Lake Hills, Elden, and Pumphouse Wash are closed to motorized vehicles.
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Not for Surrons, right?
 
Discussion starter · #25 ·
Trail day this upcoming Saturday, July 12. We'll be fixing a poorly executed reroute on Schultz Creek trail from 7 years ago that has devolved into a braided mess with a dumb 90-degree corner. If enough people show up, we'll also send a crew up to do a rock project and tread repair on Rocky Ridge.

Note that the location for this event has changed and we'll be staging from the Schultz Y. Schultz Pass Rd is still closed but we will shuttle up to the work site. Lunch will be provided by Biff's Bagels. July 12 - Schultz Creek Trail - trail realignment • Flagstaff Biking Organization
 
#26 ·
rockman said:
Trail day this upcoming Saturday, July 12. We'll be fixing a poorly executed reroute on Schultz Creek trail from 7 years ago that has devolved into a braided mess with a dumb 90-degree corner. If enough people show up, we'll also send a crew up to do a rock project and tread repair on Rocky Ridge.

Note that the location for this event has changed and we'll be staging from the Schultz Y. Schultz Pass Rd is still closed but we will shuttle up to the work site. Lunch will be provided by Biff's Bagels. July 12 - Schultz Creek Trail - trail realignment • Flagstaff Biking Organization
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I think I know exactly the one you're talking about! I'm stoked to hear this. I'm thankful that you know who's history is being erased one section at a time. F....that was a battle with that guy for so many years. So many decreasing radius turns that would turn into multiple ruts and after certain things came to light it became apparent why Flags trails were being built so poorly. IYKYK.
 
Discussion starter · #27 · (Edited)
raisingarizona said:
I think I know exactly the one you're talking about! I'm stoked to hear this. I'm thankful that you know who's history is being erased one section at a time. F....that was a battle with that guy for so many years. So many decreasing radius turns that would turn into multiple ruts and after certain things came to light it became apparent why Flags trails were being built so poorly. IYKYK.
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It was the trail crew foreman's way of adding chicanery to force bikers to scrub speed. Sadly, we are not realigning the entire piece but doing a Band-Aid Fix for now. It's in owls and we didn't get archy clearance in time.

Most don't remember but besides the right to left turns in Hobbit also the turns on the Sunset reroute from the early 2000s. Below the ridgeline/Broadside interesection and above the gully and climb 3 road. Decreasing radius just plain sucks and adds nothing to sustainability besides killing flow.
 
#29 · (Edited)
rockman said:
It was the trail crew foreman's way of adding chicanery to force bikers to scrub speed. Sadly, we are not realigning the entire piece but doing a Band-Aid Fix for now. It's in owls and we didn't get archy clearance in time.

Most don't remember but besides the right to left turns in Hobbit also the turns on the Sunset reroute from the early 2000s. Below the ridgeline/Broadside interesection and above the gully and climb 3 road. Decreasing radius just plain sucks and adds nothing to sustainability besides killing flow.
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Homie tried to realign our alignment on day 1 on Little Elden by moving our flags. I worked my butt off fixing it that day. Then he blamed us for using a chain saw on trees we actually fell with hand saws. The best move was where he had the young trail crew guy kick our rock work over right in from of me and told me we had to fix it! The trail crew lead was sitting across the way to watch. I told that kid he better not ever talk to me like that again and gave him the eye. This was in front of volunteers I was leading that day. That young man starting behaving very respectfully after that.

The Hobbits forrest rebuild was to be the first major Trail faeries project (FGR back then) which I took a week off from work to be there with the conservation crew which said person deliberately changed the dates of and then went forward with THE MOST F-d up turns we had ever seen from him. This of course was perceived by many community members as "our" work and we had to wait another year to get in there once the Faeries had the green light to get back in there to make it at least acceptable. That one left hand corner wasn't just decreasing radius, it was like a sharp 135 degree triangle hiking trail switchback. This was also after how many years working in there with like 5 to 6 trail days a season? I think it was over 3 years? The Trail Faeries repaired everything in a few weeks iirc.

The struggle was real and "that guy" is a fucking dickhead.
 
Discussion starter · #30 ·
I wish I could say it was a learning experience, but it really just is indicative of the need to have the right people in the proper roles. It was a struggle for sure but with 37 miles of new trail in the last 3+ years we're in a good place and new leadership in the Coconino NF going back to 2019 has made a huge difference in getting things done. And after those early days of trying to get the Trail Faeries mobile trail crew established, they've gone on to do great things as well.
 
Discussion starter · #31 · (Edited)
Thanks to the 40 folks who came out today to help with maintenance of Schultz and Rocky Ridge trails. The effort on Rocky Ridge involved some arduous rock removal and tread repair. The Schultz Creek project involved opening up a turn by removing a stump and a braided fall line section was also addressed and the trail returned to singletrack.

The stump in question
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The turn after removal and some better backslope which will berm up nicely
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Overview of the finished turn and lessening of the grade on the runout into the braided fall line section
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Before pic of the 10% grade fall line braid section
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After pic with the braid returned to singletrack
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@rockychrysler putting down some tread repair
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Discussion starter · #32 ·
Arizona National Scenic Trail trail maintenance this Saturday, July 26. We'll be meeting at Aspen Corner on Snowbowl Rd and reestablishing tread and cleaning drains on one of the best trails in Flagstaff!
July 26 - Arizona National Scenic Trail – trail maintenance • Flagstaff Biking Organization

The FS trail crew finished the tuneup on Big Bang last week and are now working on lower Brookbank. There's also a new reroute of Aspen Trail at Snowbowl in the works to relocate it away from the new chairlift. Trail Faeries wrapped up 4 miles of Little Elden cleanup and are now on Heart trail.
 
Discussion starter · #34 ·
Pet Store Intern said:
Mucho Thanks to all of the trail-day volunteers and also the FS who keep trails ridable for lazy schlubs like me.
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Volunteerism is all we've got in 2025. Forest Service layoffs put the halt to all new trail construction planned for this year. The lone exception will be finishing the realignment of Lower Oldham trail in August that was started last year.
 
Discussion starter · #36 ·
#38 ·
Five0 said:
Just out of curiosity. What was the trail that was scheduled to be built prior to the budget cuts?
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Only a few trails in the original 2020 MEDL master plan never got built... Little Gnarly Bypass and the Sandy Seep Loops. Otherwise, I think MEDL mostly got done as scoped.
 
Discussion starter · #39 · (Edited)
Swell is the same thing as the Little Gnarly Bypass.

Perhaps of most importance to mountain bikers are the Reserves. One is an adoption of the existing Private Reserve double black with some reroutes and the other a new single black directional trail in the Oldham drainage.

The 12 miles of Sandy Seep loops also include a connecting trail to about the middle of Heart Trail. There's two hiking only trails in the plan, one called Devils Chair dropping from the Elden towers to Buffalo Park and the other on the backside of Elden.

A 5-mile Flagstaff Urban Trail System (FUTS) trail that connects Elden Lookout Road, Buffalo Park, and continue east, terminating at El Paso Drive in Mobile Haven. In the same Frontside Elden area, Forces of Nature, Christmas Tree, and Pipeline Trail are slated for heavy maintenance or realignment. There were some smaller reroutes including a bypass near the Hobbit Forest and a reroute of portions of the Catwalk on upper Sunset. Doubtful if these will ever happen. There is also a new trailhead on 89 and a connecting trail to Little Elden and up to 10 miles of equestrian oriented trails.

The total proposed MEDL trail system is 110 miles. 37 miles of new and realigned trail have been completed. With 44 miles of existing system trail remaining the same, that leaves another ~30 miles of new trail construction and realignments as proposed in the MEDL recreation planning project.
 
#40 ·
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