[sodade]

Following up from my comments on this thread:
I have done some more exploring on the North side of Copper Basin (mostly because it is in my backyard and because I can't ride the awesome 305 every day).

332 from copper basin rd to 51: awesome singletrack, rideable both directions and in the wet. The sharlot maps show a couple branch offs, but I have not been able to find them.

51 from 332 intersection to 322: not bad at all for a fireroad - goes straight up and then straight down. Very loose which makes the climbing a little tough and makes the decent a touch sketchy. It is rideable in the wet - but it sure is wet and after the little bit of snow up there, it stays wet. For a bit of it you are basically riding on a stream. Basically though it is a connector trail that will give you a couple grins.

391/9401j from 51 to Copper Basin: not much reson to do this fun bit of singletrack unless you are doing small loops like I sometimes do from the house. The very end near copper basin is basically a hike a bike over railroad ties for 15feet or so - either direction (though I bet you downhillers could go down it). There is a pretty deep creek crossing right now so I am waiting for it to go down a bit. There is a "gate" in the middle that is an annoying mess of barbedwire. A lot of the time, it is down and I just keep it that way because it is rediculously difficult to put it back up.

321 from 51 to 232: this is fairly short, but it is a bit of fun. The big issue is the stream crossing. I was barely able to cross it on tues, but just after the rains I couldn't cross it. I turned on to 323, but it would be interesting to see what it does past that intersection - anybody know?

323 from 321 to 326: ick!! time to update the sharlott map - it is NOT a singletrack (as it's green color would indicate) - it starts out as a brutally steep and loose fireroad and then, at the flat part, morphs into a nasty logging road - super wide with huge mud puddles that you have to ride through. Ride this only if you have to...

326 from 323 to 373A: again - not singletrack. pretty boring, but not as bad as 323. I was trying to find the connection to 332 but I couldn't. It is real easy to get lost up here as the fireroads generally don't have signs.

387 from 51 to the road (forget the name): This one starts out as being bike legal, but then, in the middle is hiking only. Not much of a loss for me though - the first part is boring and really loose and the off limits part is only rideable going down and then only if you are a hard core huckster...

I am hoping that others can add to this info...

 

[cavscout]

Great Info

Deleted

 

[cavscout]

Great Info

Been looking at ways to connect that area with Thumb Butte for a long ride. I suppose you haven't ridden 326 north of 323? A buddy and I will be checking that area out soon (hopefully). FWIW, the section of 387 that is hiking only is the Rancho Vista Trail. If you look at the Sharlot maps, the yellow line shows the city boundary. That portion of the trail is off limits to bikes, as is the Butte Creek trail (look north through the golf course). That's a real shame as it would be nice to connect to 321 that way. Looking at the maps you can start off HWY 89 (using #48) and ride all the way north to Thumb Butte and beyond to Iron Springs Rd. Pretty cool.

Keep us posted with any further exploration....

 

[sodade]

Been looking at ways to connect that area with Thumb Butte for a long ride. I suppose you haven't ridden 326 north of 323? A buddy and I will be checking that area out soon (hopefully).

nope, but I would guess that it is a "logging" road like the rest of it. If the northern section of 332 is as nice as the southern, then that might be a better way to make that connection than 326. Fair warning: there is still a lot of mud/water in that area so be prepared for a post ride wash/lube job. Can you (or anyone else) clue me in to the good trails to check out near Thumb Butte (i.e. on the N1W2 map)?

FWIW, the section of 387 that is hiking only is the Rancho Vista Trail. If you look at the Sharlot maps, the yellow line shows the city boundary. That portion of the trail is off limits to bikes, as is the Butte Creek trail (look north through the golf course). That's a real shame as it would be nice to connect to 321 that way.

Yes, my house is real close to the Rancho Vista trail so it is a real bummer that I can't drop back in that way. I was hoping that the eastern part of 321 would be a way to connect over to Hassayampa, but you are saying that east past the gate at the yellow line on what looks like 321 is off limits? It is such a small stretch to the first road intersection that I might poach it (or walk it) if I am desperate for a quick bailout route.

Looks like the rain is coming in tomorrow - guess I'll be riding 305 for a couple of days (sniff sniff). I am thinking about going out to Granite Mtn this afternoon - any body know if there is still any clay mud out there?

 

[fixgeardan]

nope, but I would guess that it is a "logging" road like the rest of it. If the northern section of 332 is as nice as the southern, then that might be a better way to make that connection than 326. Fair warning: there is still a lot of mud/water in that area so be prepared for a post ride wash/lube job. Can you (or anyone else) clue me in to the good trails to check out near Thumb Butte (i.e. on the N1W2 map)?

Yes, my house is real close to the Rancho Vista trail so it is a real bummer that I can't drop back in that way. I was hoping that the eastern part of 321 would be a way to connect over to Hassayampa, but you are saying that east past the gate at the yellow line on what looks like 321 is off limits? It is such a small stretch to the first road intersection that I might poach it (or walk it) if I am desperate for a quick bailout route.

Looks like the rain is coming in tomorrow - guess I'll be riding 305 for a couple of days (sniff sniff). I am thinking about going out to Granite Mtn this afternoon - any body know if there is still any clay mud out there?[/QUOTE im thinking about doing 305 to smith ravine to spruce lookout tomorrow am /early or maybe go play out at granite.how early do you like to ride you up for it?

 

[sodade]

im thinking about doing 305 to smith ravine to spruce lookout tomorrow am /early or maybe go play out at granite.how early do you like to ride you up for it?

I gotta go to Phoenix tomorrow so I am out of commission, but I'll probably be up riding 305 the first fiew days of next week in the afternoons until things dry up so let me know if you want to ride with a pokey granny gear lover...

I did an out and back on 48 tonight starting at copper basin. Man, that is one tough trail! Some of the climbing (both directions) borders on the insane - I made it up maybe 50% of the phone pole steps and kept my heart rate pegged. But the downhill sections - wow they are fun! I pussed out on only one of the drops - luckily I did because the way I was going down would have caught my chainring on the pole. Flying down drop after drop with tons of loose rock in between was a sketchy blast! I wonder how many times you guys have to dismount on those climbs though? I know I can do better than the 50% I did today, but some of those sections are beyond hard...

 

[Jm.]

For a fun 48 based loop, head up 48, at the first trail junction turn left and go down to meet trail 260, there's some technical switchbacks and rolls if you choose the right trail, then ride up 260 untill you hit the access road for Mt Francis, and then turn right on the acess road, continue to the gate where I have placed a Rockshox sticker and go around the gate and continue up the road about a half mile or so untill you come to the chainring embedded in a rock on the left , trail 48 starts to the immediate right and drops off and down, then ride trail 48 back to the beginning. It's a good loop and fun.

Trail 260 is fun to come down on a DH bike, but the lower part that meets up with highway 89 is terrible right now due to monsoon washout and the fact that much of it is fall-line and extremely prone to erosion.

 

[cavscout]

48/260 loop

Did some of this yesterday from Copper Basin rd. Fun trail with killer views. Lots of work in places (climbing). Just to be clear - the FIRST left (coming from Copper Basin) that we ran into is a fire road. The left Jm is talking about is much further south. (right)? On the way back took that (the fireroad) up until the 9415? singletrack drops down (off the right hand side) to Quartz Mtn. You'll know you are on the right road by all the downed trees and you'll see a chainring embedded in a tree on the left hand side. The descent on 9415 is narrow, rocky and LOOSE. Fun. From the Quartz Mtn turnaround, we took the fireroad down to White Spar. FAST!! with whoop de doos. I believe this route is described as the Sierra Prieta trail by some, but it's not marked as such on any maps I've seen.

 

[Jm.]

Did some of this yesterday from Copper Basin rd. Fun trail with killer views. Lots of work in places (climbing). Just to be clear - the FIRST left (coming from Copper Basin) that we ran into is a fire road. The left Jm is talking about is much further south. (right)? On the way back took that (the fireroad) up until the 9415? singletrack drops down (off the right hand side) to Quartz Mtn. You'll know you are on the right road by all the downed trees and you'll see a chainring embedded in a tree on the left hand side. The descent on 9415 is narrow, rocky and LOOSE. Fun. From the Quartz Mtn turnaround, we took the fireroad down to White Spar. FAST!! with whoop de doos. I believe this route is described as the Sierra Prieta trail by some, but it's not marked as such on any maps I've seen.

the left i was talking about is on the trail a few miles from the start of 48

 

[sodade]

more Thumb Butte / Copper Basin info...

I went on a hike today to scout. I went south on 332 where it crosses Thumb Butte road. Ick. Surprising that this is part of the "Prescott Circle Trail" - it is a confusing mass of ATV tracks - ugly, rutted and filled with broken beer bottles and discarded cans. Perfect example of why ATV people suck! After it turns left, it goes steeply up a washout to 326. Note that there is no trail sign for 332 at this junction (ergo, I got lost the last time I was scouting this area).

From there I went North on 326 back towards Thumb Butte road. The first half is flat, wide logging road filled with huge mud puddles. After it intersects with 314, it becomes a fun down hill singletrack. Right now though, there are a couple of big trees down that would make portaging a bike through very difficult. Also, note that there were a lot of people walking their dogs off leash up the trail, so certain times might be better than others.

I went west on 367 and could see where it might be kinda fun - not earth shattering, but a decent connector if you are trying to get to 332 north of Thumb Butte rd. Which leads me to my question: What trails north of Thumb Butte are fun?

 

[Jm.]

Which leads me to my question: What trails north of Thumb Butte are fun?

The ones that go to Iron Springs road from White Rock. Even those aren't very long or super-fun, like most stuff in the Thumb Butte area, they are pretty short, and it's hard to put together a long ride on singletrack. 316, 317, 315, 328.

Even though it looks like there are more "trails" north of Thumb Butte Road, much of it is just fire-road type stuff. Thumb Butte is fun when you want to do a short ride after work or something, but you can't link a multi-hour ride consisting of singletrack like you can out at Costco or Granite Basin.