[GrantB]

The missus and I are planning our vacation for the fall and are thinking about returning to lovely Flagstaff to set up a home base for some north AZ exploration. The last time we were out that way it was in November. Seemed at the time like a perfectly nice time of year to get some riding in around Flagstaff. Does this jive with the conventional wisdom of the locals? We're in near sea level Georgia and are looking to forward to some actual cold weather, so that's not so much an issue. We are likely to avoid snow around Flagstaff, though, right?

Also, maybe you folks have the names of some shops with reasonable rentals?


Thanks

 

[Jm.]

You are likely to avoid snow in flagstaff in october, but november is pushing it given that flagstaff is at 7000ft and all the riding goes up from there. Given the recent years of snow, there's probably a good chance that it will be "ok" for a good while into november BUT all it takes is one storm and you can forget about it because even if it doesn't dump 5 feet, the runoff will freeze and it will be impassable.

Here in prescott (5300 feet) any snow we get sublimates in a matter of hours and simply doesn't hang around. We won't have "lingering" snow like flagstaff does, and the temps will be quite a bit warmer. We still get snow with most good winter storms, but it is simply gone before the end of the day.

You're taking a chance by making Flag your "riding" headquarters, you could still ride here in Prescott by driving here, no more than 1.5 hours, and you could drive to Sedona, OR you could live here and drive to sedona 1hr, or flag 1.5hr, or just ride here on the hundreds of miles of trails that we have.

 

[GrantB]

I suppose living there would be best case scenario. Ah, well, maybe one day. I just work in a really tight labor market, so moving's tough. Thanks for the tips.

 

[bugaroo]

Stick with Oct. if possible

If your an xc lover the North Rim of the Grand Canyon has an excellent trail that runs a good distance and has awesome views. Of course you have Moab and the St. George area in southern Utah that is in prime season in Oct. and are only 4-5 hours of driving from Flagstaff.
I agree with JM that Prescott would be a far better choice for the flexibilty. You can still easily make the drive to Sedona and Flag, heck ride both the same day if you want to and still have time to get back to home base for dinner. Phoenix is very easy day trip too!