AZ Gravel Rides

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AZ Gravel Rides

AZ Gravel Rides Seeking out Arizona's least travelled dirt and gravel roads. to keep trails and remote roads open. This gives them a reason to protect these roads from closure.

AZ Gravel Rides researches and creates off-highway dirt and gravel routes for travel throughout Arizona. We have continually introduced new routes with free GPS tracks for the off road community every year since 2009. We promote responsible travel in the backcountry (staying on designated roads, respecting private property etc.) Each route generates new tourism that delivers sustainable economic r

elief to less-advantaged rural communities. This creates local involvement within the communities who will help fight to keep access for off road enthusiasts in these spectacular backcountry areas. Land managers recognize this form of managed travel, and see value in the roads that are being utilized for recreation. Through the use of engaging photos and story telling through social media, videos and blogs AZ Gravel Rides has drawn adventurers to this emerging form of recreation. We also use this opportunity to share with people the rich and varied history of Arizona.

04/03/2025

Ride Across Arizona Section 6
Big Lake to New Mexico
Distance: 51.31 mi
Elev. min/max: 5806'/9055'
Elev. gain/loss: 5794'/-8417'

This mostly downhill section is by far the easiest section of the Ride Across Arizona. The roads are mostly very smooth and well maintained. In the past everyone that has made it this far has finished! One long victory lap! FYI: in the first four years of RAAZ 32 out of 78 riders have finished.

Video of the last nine miles of RAAZ: https://youtu.be/Gmt7z-DegtA

GPX is available at https://azgravelrides.com/raaz-2025/

Interested in road conditions? More photos of course conditions can be found at the most recent posts here:
Ride Across Arizona
Ride the Arizona Divide

28/02/2025

Don't like running with the big trucks on I-40 for the first 12 miles of Ride Across Arizona? (I wish they wouldn't move over into the passing lane when they go by, I like that boost from the draft) We've added an off highway alternate! Also added the Ride To Nowhere and Rich Hill to the AZ Gravel Rides Intra-State Backcountry Byways map bringing the total miles of backcountry routes to 8,816 miles! Maybe after this summer we can get it up to 10,000 miles! Ride on!

https://azgravelrides.com/arizonas-best-gravel-road-routes/

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/1/viewer?mid=1er5B-ZdKLTCbA-YytbDrhRR47Ge7Q1H4&ll=33.889199370413245%2C-111.40627549999999&z=7

Thanks to our partners McDowell Mountain Cycles and Redshift Sports

26/02/2025

Ride Across Arizona Section 5
Forest Lakes to Big Lake
Distance: 134.3 mi
Elev. min/max: 6255'/9573'
Elev. gain/loss: 13941'/-12500'

The 134 mile (with nearly 14K of elevation gain) section 5 of the Ride Across Arizona 2025 stretches from the community of Forest Lakes to Big Lake. Starting from Forest Lakes you'll once again jump on the Rim Road (FS 300) for a mostly downhill 60 mile cruise along arguably the roughest section of Ride Across Arizona. From there you'll jump on the pavement as you make your way through Show Low. There are numerous places to dine and stay (campgrounds, hotels) plus a great bike shop (Cyclemania!). After leaving Show Low you'll hook up with the Maverick Off-road Trail and eventually on to FS-267/N3566. This is where the fun starts as you'll begin the climb up to Green's Peak and at an elevation of 9,572.8 feet the highest point of the entire ride. The views are astonishing and you'll most likely have the chance to cool off sitting on a drift of snow that has not yet melted! After Greens it's a ripping downhill to the next slight climb and before you know it you'll be at Big Lake. There are five campgrounds, showers and a store at the lake. As we get closer to the May start I'll contact them to get the store hours and the status of the campgrounds.

More course photos can be found on the most recent posts on Ride Across Arizona and Ride the Arizona Divide.

Detailed information on the route plus gpx files are at https://azgravelrides.com/raaz-2025/

22/02/2025

Ride to Nowhere
Distance: 87.69 mi
elev. min/max: 3312'/7077'
elev. gain/loss: 13348'/-13348'
Unpaved: 91%

Digging through some of my old fit files and found this. This has long been one of my favorite rides, the Ride to Nowhere. When I turned 40 in '94 this was the route I picked to ride for my birthday celebration. In fact if things would have worked out this would have been the location of our first cycling event. When I retired in 2009 the plan was to start up a bike race and this route was at the top of the list. Starting at the B***o Saloon near Wilhoit and heading down FS 72 to the Wagoneer Road and on to Crown King before returning to the B***o Saloon. The owner was stoked to have the venue there too. The only hold up was the incompetent dolt that worked at the Prescott Forest. Working with the Prescott Forest turned out to be a Race to Nowhere! After trying to get it permitted for two years we eventually gave up and moved on to Chino although a small group of us "unofficially" rode it in 2011😉. Lisa Jones of the Kaibab Forest out of Williams was fantastic to work with, a true professional, the complete opposite of what we had experienced in Prescott. Dealing with the Town of Chino turned out to be the downside of that decision.

Can't say this is the hardest route I've ever ridden but it's definitely near the top of the list. The route itself is special featuring numerous Native American ruins, ghost towns and a ton of climbing. Even before I heard the term gravel grinder this was always my favorite type of riding. Long ass dirt roads in remote areas with no people!

Getting to the start: Avoid the construction and traffic of I-17 and head up from Wickenburg.

Riding suggestions: Ride it all at once or better yet make it a two day trip with an overnighter at Crown King or at the nearby Horsethief Campground

Download at https://azgravelrides.com/arizonas-best-gravel-road-routes/

20/02/2025

Section 4 of the Ride Across Arizona, following the Mogollon Rim.

19/02/2025

Updated mile locations for Ride Across Arizona 2025 route including water sources, lodging, campgrounds and bike shops.

18/02/2025

Heads up on the Power Road Trail in East Mesa north of Thomas Road. This past weekend I came up on some large rocks placed in the middle of the trail in a couple of spots. I stopped to remove them and I could see footprints in the area as if someone had placed them there. Maybe a disgruntled hiker/runner or perhaps someone from one of the several homeless camps in the area. Also the Suron crowd has discovered the trail and are really ripping it up. Plus there were a couple of bow hunters in that area although they were very polite.. Be careful!

15/02/2025

Got soaked on today's ride. Had to bail at the Haul Road. Still managed to get a solid forty miles in. So glad this winter is nearly over.

11/02/2025

I needed to go up to Prescott for the day so I decided to load up the bike and take the back way through Wickenburg and visit the memorial for the Granite Mountain Hotshots. I parked at Congress and rode the Rich Hill Loop. Big dirt climb up to Yarnell with a super fast descent down Yarnell Hill back to Congress.

19 firefighters died fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire on June 30th 2013. I remember returning home that day from pre-riding the course we would use for the inaugural Chino Grinder in 2014 and hearing the news. In the eight years we ran Chino first responders from Yavapai County always rode for free.

Video's of the ride are in the comments section.

08/02/2025

Added the connector tracks for Quemado Lake and Pie Town to the Arizona Intra-State Backcountry Byways map providing off-road access to the Continental Divide from all four major urban areas of Arizona (Phoenix, Tucson, Yuma and Flagstaff). Total mileage is now at 8,686 with nearly 111,000 views!

https://azgravelrides.com/arizonas-best-gravel-road-routes/

McDowell Mountain Cycles | Redshift Sports

07/02/2025

Last day at Roosevelt we rode out to the Diversion Dam. Built in 1906 to divert water out of the Salt River during the construction of the Roosevelt Dam. At the time the Roosevelt Dam was the largest masonry dam in the world. The last photo has a chunk of the original dam. The entire dam was made of that color rock and you actually drove across the top of the dam as part of the Roosevelt-Globe Highway.

The Roosevelt Dam was renovated and raised starting in 1989 which is what you see today. At SRP I was assigned with the IT support for the project so I spent a lot of time driving the Apache Trail. I was the new guy in the group and everyone hated driving that road. The manager at the dam site was an avid off-roader so I learned a lot about the history and back roads of the area from him.

The photos cover miles 64 to 68 of the Tour de Roosevelt route. Miles 64 to 66 is the sandy section. Run wide tires! You can see in the photos someone had been out there and had a hard time. Tread pattern looked like 40mm Nano's.

I've added gpx links to the short side trips to the Diversion Dam and the overlook of the town.

05/02/2025

The old Globe - Roosevelt Road from back in the 80's. Back then the Beeline was two lane and so was this road. Always a toss up between the two. Not the most scenic road but it is smooth and fast with some awesome twists and turns. Still some asphalt visible along the way. Cuts off a huge chunk of highway between Globe and Rosey. Might add as an option to the Tour de Roosevelt . Makes for a hundred mile track. Gpx up when we return.

05/02/2025

Well today was a tough day but a spectacular day on the bike! The Tour de Roosevelt course is awesome! Don't waffle too long, we'll be meeting up March 1st at Windy Hill Campground to do the 70 mile loop. Check Facebook group Riding AZ Gravel under events for details.

30/01/2025

The coldest day of the winter so far but I still got forty miles in. Trying to average 40 to 60 miles a day between now and the end of April. Almost all of it in zone 2. Ride Across Arizona 2025 starts May 5th!

29/01/2025

GPX is available for section 2 of the Ride Across Arizona 2025

27/01/2025

All Roads - AZ Gravel Arizona-New Mexico - 6,843 miles, 697481 feet of elevation gain, 70% dirt/gravel roads. Link to the map is below and at https://azgravelrides.com/arizonas-best-gravel-road-routes/

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/1/viewer?mid=1eomtqkOtjWE7_TSPIOOFTVITEuLnpjg&ll=33.889199370413245%2C-111.40627549999999&z=7

With the exception of the southwest portion of the AZPT _Bicycle Version Trail and the Rug Road in 2024 we were able to revisit and ride all the routes listed on our page https://azgravelrides.com/. You may notice we've removed some routes like the Apache Trail for safety reasons. They are completely paving it and it's a real s**t show, tons of motor vehicles. Also avoided the over populated trendy areas to focus on more remote and isolated places. We like riding where there aren't a lot of people. We're stuck with Phoenix and Mesa because we live there, hence the shorter local routes.

We are starting to do more and more riding in New Mexico along the eastern Arizona border. There just aren't that many people and they do a great job of maintaining the roads (sometimes!).

If you ride them all you'll have ridden 6,843 miles and 697481 feet of elevation gain with a tad over 70% dirt/gravel roads.

As I stated previously I rode 9,280 miles in 2024 with 2,031 on the e-mtb. Having that ebike sure made exploring faster. We can cover huge distances each day. Kind of like a motorcycle, lol!

24/01/2025

I love stats! These are 2024 Long Voyage Gravel Worlds Champion Luke Hall's stats from his epic ride at Gravel Worlds. Luke destroyed the 300+ mile course while riding completely SELF SUPPORTED beating the previous course record by an hour and 40 minutes!

One wonders what would happen if a rider like Luke showed up for the Ride Across Arizona 2025. Could he ride straight through to Flag, take 8 hours off the bike, and then power through the remaining 300 miles? Theoretically he could complete the 616 mile course in under 48 hours if he averaged just 15.4 mph!

Huge shoutout to Luke and his sponsor Rodeo Adventure Labs. I messaged Luke to get some feedback on longer distance events and he answered almost immediately. What's with Rodeo Labs? I mean they seem to have a knack for sponsoring the nicest pros. Everyone we've dealt with in the past have been outstanding including RAAZ alum riders like Jay Petervary, Ashley Wedelich and Daniel Bijan Connell.

Special thanks to Gravel Hall of Fame member Dan Hughes for the use of the photo. For those that don't know Dan is the GOAT of gravel. The only person to win DK/Unbound (4X's!!!), Gravel Worlds and the legendary Trans Iowa. For good measure he came back to Unbound in 2023 and took a tandem win too!

https://www.rodeo-labs.com/preparation/

23/01/2025

FYI: The new hotel is open at the Topock66 Colorado River resort. If you're planning on taking on the Ride Across Arizona 2025 this May get your room!

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66 year old Paul Kuzdas, first to finish the Ride the Arizona Divide for the second year in a row! Three peat in 2025? Can't wait to find out! Ride the Arizona Divide 2025 starts September 26th in Heber. Considering it's history (Fire in the Sky) nights are always special in the Heber area. Link in the bio or at https://azgravelrides.com/ride-the-arizona-divide/ #ridingazgravel #redshiftsports #ridemmc #azgravel #adventure #cycling #bicycle #rideacrossarizona

Such a relaxing and mellow way to start off the New Year!

This happened at the end of our ride yesterday. I caught the movement off to our right out of the corner of my eye expecting a pack of dogs. Surprise! Guess I've been riding the canals to long!

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