[1-track-mind]

I'm planning a self-contained weeklong winter tour with a mountain bike and Bob trailer. Right now I'm leaning towards flying into Flagstaff due to the high concentration of good singletrack nearby. Basically, I want to pull the Bob to singletrack, unhook and ride.
The big question is whether I can comfortably camp in northern Az during Feb or would it be better to fly into Phoenix or Tuscon. It will be my first trip, so I really don't know much about the state.

 

[MyBike'sBroken]

Well, unless you have snow tires on your bike, you aren't going too far in northern AZ. during the winter. On the other hand, Phoenix and Tucson have great weather, for the most part, during the winter. PHX and TUC do get the occasional winter storms, but it's mostly upper 60's during the day, upper 40's at night.

 

[1-track-mind]

Flights to Phoenix are much cheaper than Flagstaff, so maybe that's the way to go.
I could always rent a car and head north fi the weather permits.
Where would be the best place to camp close to Phoenix, that has good singletrack nearby ?

 

[MyBike'sBroken]

White Tanks Regional Park comes to mind. They have a nice campground, and lots of singletrack. It's in far west Phoenix (Waddell, actually), not TOO far from I-17, which goes to Flag. Also, Sedona is usually good for winter riding, and there is camping there. It can get cold at night though. You can't beat Sedona scenery, that's for sure.

 

[chongoman]

Flights to Phoenix are much cheaper than Flagstaff, so maybe that's the way to go.
I could always rent a car and head north fi the weather permits.
Where would be the best place to camp close to Phoenix, that has good singletrack nearby ?

You could also camp at Usery Park. that isn't very far from Hawes/red Mountain/ pass mountain stuff.

http://www.maricopa.gov/parks/usery/

I bet there is camping near some of the rides in the SanFrancisco mt. area in Tucson. I'm not sure of the conditions and availabilty though. any Tucsonians have input?

 

[DurtGurl]

I'm planning a self-contained weeklong winter tour with a mountain bike and Bob trailer. Right now I'm leaning towards flying into Flagstaff due to the high concentration of good singletrack nearby. Basically, I want to pull the Bob to singletrack, unhook and ride.
The big question is whether I can comfortably camp in northern Az during Feb or would it be better to fly into Phoenix or Tuscon. It will be my first trip, so I really don't know much about the state.

Phx has great riding especially for winter, but pulling a bob between singletrack locations is going to suck becuase Phx is also a huge city with a whole lot of nastiness in between our excellent riding locations. The best best for a continuous bike/bob epic week is probably the AZ trail. Like mentioned before, the northern sections of AZ may be a cold/snowy/wet for a few more months but the southern sections of the trail may be ok. Also, if you are planning this trip for this year, there is not much of winter left - our AZ "winter" should very quickly be turning into our AZ "spring" with warmer temps! Spring (March-April) can be incredibly beautiful in the desert and would be the ideal time for your adventure. Quite a few AZ posters (Yuri and Yetisurly come to mind but I know there are others) have done portions of the AZ trail by riding and camping along the way and have posted up details of their trips on the AZ board. Do some searches and see what you come up with. If anybody recalls the exact posts I'm mentioning feel free to post links for this guy!

 

[1-track-mind]

Phx has great riding especially for winter, but pulling a bob between singletrack locations is going to suck becuase Phx is also a huge city with a whole lot of nastiness in between our excellent riding locations. The best best for a continuous bike/bob epic week is probably the AZ trail. Like mentioned before, the northern sections of AZ may be a cold/snowy/wet for a few more months but the southern sections of the trail may be ok. Also, if you are planning this trip for this year, there is not much of winter left - our AZ "winter" should very quickly be turning into our AZ "spring" with warmer temps! Spring (March-April) can be incredibly beautiful in the desert and would be the ideal time for your adventure. Quite a few AZ posters (Yuri and Yetisurly come to mind but I know there are others) have done portions of the AZ trail by riding and camping along the way and have posted up details of their trips on the AZ board. Do some searches and see what you come up with. If anybody recalls the exact posts I'm mentioning feel free to post links for this guy!

Thanks, that's very helpful.
Sounds like Bob may need to sit the first trip out since my main interest is the singletrack around Flagstaff/Sedona/Prescott and the weather could be iffy.
After doing a similiar tour in thru Virginia,WV & Penn this summer, I know that warm weather reduces the logistics.
It's absolutely mind-boggling to learn about all the great places to ride right in Phoenix.
I had no idea any big city had that much undeveloped land !
I think I'll hit some of the trails in Phoenix on the first day, head north, and ride another day in Phoenix on the way back to the airport.

 

[yetisurly]

Thanks, that's very helpful.
Sounds like Bob may need to sit the first trip out since my main interest is the singletrack around Flagstaff/Sedona/Prescott and the weather could be iffy.
After doing a similiar tour in thru Virginia,WV & Penn this summer, I know that warm weather reduces the logistics.
It's absolutely mind-boggling to learn about all the great places to ride right in Phoenix.
I had no idea any big city had that much undeveloped land !
I think I'll hit some of the trails in Phoenix on the first day, head north, and ride another day in Phoenix on the way back to the airport.

when you are around, let me know and mabye we can advise you and/or tag along.

 

[YuriB]

when you are around, let me know and mabye we can advise you and/or tag along.

yea. bring the bob, carry the beer and we'll show you the singletrack.

but seriously, don't overlook southern az. you could do lots of stuff outta tucson/oracle/patagonia/oro valley.

 

[1-track-mind]

I was originally looking at flying into Las Vegas and hitting St. George.
I seem to be working my way southward.
Anything between Gooseberry and Copper Canyon is possible.
The magic combo is scenery and and ambience.