Before getting to the new singletrack, we rode most of the older, existing trails. The existing trails a zigzag of near perfect trails. The best part: Kendall could pick the shorter, easier line while I stayed high and rocky. Each respective trail would eventually meet.
Picture taken by Kendall Gin
It's like riding a groomed singletrack trail, you feel like a king riding in this place.
I had read about the corduroy-like trails from local builder Phil, the main. He comes out in his spare time to maintain the trails. Judging by the amount of raked trails, he most come out here a lot.
Nearly every section we rode to the north had some evidence of his raking.
The new, trail was about 1-mile long of high, contouring and ending appropriately abruptly to hide it from the ATVers out there. We took a jeep road back down the mountain, but not before scouting out some of the flagged future trail. Good stuff planned for this trail.
Kendall and I even got to meet the legendary Phil and his son, working on the trail! We chatted for a bit. He mentioned that the city of Casa Grande contracted Mark Flint to lay out the trails and now the locals are laying out the trails. If you want to help out, just check out MTBR for the most recent volunteer dates. They really have some sustainable, fun trail out there (both new and old).
I love the lighting on this picture. Great ride to end a great vacation with Kendall and the family in LV.
Great trails, definitely worth the stop. If was going to go again, I would avoid the Peart St entrance and go directly to the the truck stop (the one that used to have a Starbucks). Here are the directions.
Directions: Exit 200 Sunland Gin Rd. from Phoenix/Chandler go right, from Tucson go left. First right is Arica rd. it will be after the truck stop. Follow Arica rd. and when you reach the unpaved area you will see signs posted.
Trail Map available here from MTBikeAZ.com
Also, I would love to take the higher line to check out some of the technical options that are on the ridge. Perhaps that could be the carrot for those readers that maybe want to check the CG Mountain out....If you are driving on I-10 or I-8, stop by and see the new/old trails, perhaps you may just find yourself riding up on the technical trail.
4 comments:
Hello Chad:
First, glad you liked the trails on CG Mountain. As a local volunteer involved in this project I would like to clarify some items that you reported.
First, these trails are not being built by Mark Flint. The City of Casa Grande hired Mark to help lay out the new segments. Trail construction up to this point has been completely done by volunteers, including Phil.
Second, the existing trails are not all being ignored. In fact Mark indicated these were some of the best built "unofficial" trails he had seen and tried to incorporate as much of these as possible. Some of the existing sections needed to be re routed due to unsustainability and some segments are on private property which didn not allow for inclusion into the Mountain Park.
Lastly, since you have been out to enjoy the trails, I invite you and others who have enjoyed this area to now donate some time to contstructing some of the new trails. As you have experienced, these new trails will be a wonderful addition to the City of Casa Grande residents and visitors alike.
You can find out more about this great effort by visiting the Casa Grande Mountain Trails project website at www.cgmountaintrails.org
Thanks
Kent Taylor
Kent,
Thanks for the explanation. I changed a bit of the post to reflect your thoughts. After talking to Phil, I assumed some of his stuff to be accurate, hence the posting.
I tend to stay more locally for work days (or do AZT), but I will continue to keep it on the radar should I a date line up.
Very Nice Photos....
Great job Kendall Gin!
Kendall Jeep
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