This trip will begin at 8:30 a.m. at Performance Bicycle 3302 E Speedway, Tucson, Arizona, 520-327-3232. We will load up the van and then drive to Tucson Mountain Park to begin our ride. You will need to spend the night before in Tucson.

This morning we'll spend an enjoyable 2-3 hours riding in Tucson Mountain Park, a 20,000 acre Sonoran Desert natural preserve that includes one of the most magnigicent Saguaro Cactus forests in the world.  The Tucson valley is a high desert, once the floor of an ancient inland sea, and is surrounded by four mountain ranges, the Santa Catalinas, Rincons, Santa Ritas and Tucsons. On this trip we ride the best singletrack of the region. In addition to the characteristic Saguaros, there are also chollas, barrel cactus, prickly pear and ocotillo. The Tucson area is well known for its bird watching potential and at certain times of the year over 200 species of birds have been identified in the vicinity. After lunch, our smooth singletrack loop swoops in and out of arroyos finally returning us to the shade of our lunch tree. It's the perfect singletrack to warm us up for the more technical riding in the mountains. We'll load into the van and shuttle to the Santa Rita Mountains to our camp for the next three nights.
TOTAL MILEAGE - 16-20 miles

Out here in the shadow of Mount Wrightson, we will do several loops from camp. The morning ride will take us though limestone cave country, and traverse in and out of old growth oak trees. We'll have a mid-morning stop at the historic gold mining establishment of Kentucky Camp and learn about the trials and tribulations of the early gold miners. We'll return heading south on the Arizona Trail back to our camp for lunch. The afternoon ride takes us up to the newly created Link Trail. This section of trail follows an old water flume built by the ambitious gold miners in the early 1900's. Their hope was that through "advanced water technology" they would be able to recover trace amounts of gold that were previously not extractable. Needless to say, no one made much money, but they did leave us a great swooping and zooming trail that leads us right back to camp. "Downhill in both directions this flume trail!"
TOTAL MILEAGE - 12-25 miles

The Arizona Trail is a singletrack in the making that will eventually run the entire length of the state (approx. 800 miles). Currently the trail is 90% complete and many sections provide excellent riding. From our camp, we'll head up the dirt road for a couple of miles before intersecting a great section of the trail. Here, we'll head north through historic mining claims to Kentucky Camp and early gold mining outposts. The trail rollercoasters through beautiful woods and grasslands offering occasional views of Mt. Wrightson, which rises abruptly 5,000 feet from the desert floor. From Kentucky Camp we'll stay on the trail and climb up to Granite Mountain before rolling along to Forest Road 62 near Greaterville. We'll circle around and return to our same camp in Gardiner Canyon with plenty of time for a splash in the granite walled creek.
TOTAL MILEAGE - 20 miles

After a hearty breakfast, we'll load into the van for a short shuttle to the highlight ride of the trip, "Fantasy Island". In one square mile of land, the local mountain bikers have installed over 20 miles of singletrack. The trails twist between chollo cactus and roll through deep arroyos steep enough to coast up the other side. The trail tread is fairly smooth, firm packed soil. The technical nature of the riding comes from maneuvering your bike through the tight turns and navigating between the pricklies. If you don't have fun here, you're a fun hater. In the ride afterglow, we'll load up and head to our camp at Catalina State Park.
TOTAL MILEAGE - 15 miles

Today's ride is an awesome overview of the week's riding. Pedaling the singletrack of the 50 Year Trail, we'll overlook Oro Valley with the backdrop of the western slopes of the Santa Catalina Mountains and the Romero Canyon Wilderness Area. The winding singletrack culminates in the local's favorite section called the "chutes". We'll be riding out and back today, winding in and out of the saguaros, prickly pear and cholla cactus. After lunch we load up for our return to the bike shop in Tucson.
TOTAL MILEAGE - 16 miles

We will return to the bike shop in Tucson between 4:00-5:00 pm on the last day.

Riding Surface: Variable loose rocky single and double tracks.
Technical Difficulty: Moderate to very difficult. Some obstacles and one hike-a-bike section.
Physical Difficulty: Strong intermediate with some difficult sections.
Altitude: 2,000-6,000 feet.

Please Note: This tour contains some difficult riding on narrow desert trails. We will be without vehicle support during all singletrack sections of the trip. Itineraries are subject to change due to weather, road conditions, rider safety, and other factors which may affect the logistics of the adventure.

Mar 08 - Mar 12, 2010
Mar 15 - Mar 19, 2010
Mar 22 - Mar 26, 2010
Mar 29 - Apr 02, 2010
Oct 04 - Oct 08, 2010
Oct 11 - Oct 15, 2010
Oct 18 - Oct 22, 2010

Mountain Bike
5 Days
Southern Arizona
Camping
Intermediate/Advanced
$1185
Start/End: Tucson, AZ