Posts
14
Joined
8/30/2016
Location
Belleair Beach, FL
US
Edited Date/Time
11/19/2017 3:41pm
I am new to the Phoenix area and I'd love to gain some insight on the Moto scene. I did some searching on the vital forums but I am still left with some questions.
Some searching online has led me to all of the private motocross tracks in the area. Is there a local forum for the Moto scene here? For example in Ohio we have pitracer.com which allows everyone to connect.
Furthermore, I am quite interested in finding areas to legally freeride. I hear these tales of legit areas to ride where people go out in groups and tear shit up. I'm looking for anything to expand. I'm talking trails, mountains, planes, dunes, you name it!
Anyone out there that can give me some insight? Thanks in advance!!
Some searching online has led me to all of the private motocross tracks in the area. Is there a local forum for the Moto scene here? For example in Ohio we have pitracer.com which allows everyone to connect.
Furthermore, I am quite interested in finding areas to legally freeride. I hear these tales of legit areas to ride where people go out in groups and tear shit up. I'm looking for anything to expand. I'm talking trails, mountains, planes, dunes, you name it!
Anyone out there that can give me some insight? Thanks in advance!!
There are miles and miles of open desert from there.
Here you go,
http://azoffroading.com/arizona-trails/
http://www.outdoortrackandtrail.com/Statepages/AZ/azpage.htm
The Shop
As for tracks, we got:
Canyon MX Park in Peoria
Arizona Cycle Park in Buckeye
Motoland MX Park in Casa Grande
Ocotillo Raceway in Eloy
ET Motopark in San Tan Valley
www.gomxracing.com used to be a pretty active AZ MX site but it's essentially dead now.
Make sure you check out AEO Powersports in Peoria or Chandler for all your riding needs. The guys that work there are really deep into the Moto scene here and I’m sure would be happy to recommend some good riding spots.
Like others have mentioned, desert riding is plentiful, but most of the year it’s brutally dry and dusty and makes for less than enjoyable riding. Monsoon season is cherished here due to the fact that you can go out and cut some nice corner and single tracks into the dirt without it turning into “moon dust”.
There’s some open desert riding right around Canyon MX park, and some hidden corner tracks, shoveled jumps over canals and washes, but be careful because I found out the hard way that it is state/federal land and they don’t allow motorized vehicles beyond the county roads.
Prescott has some great trail riding and I know of a few very secret trails that lead to some old hidden tracks that can be a blast to mess around on. If you’re ever in the area feel free to PM me on here and I can give you directions or GPS coordinates.
As mentioned above, there are a lot of places to ride here in AZ. Don't be scared of riding in the summer. It's hot, brutally hot - just take lots of water and get used to it. You're getting here at a nice time of the year. My favorite tracks are:
ACP, Motoland, and Canyon in that order. ET is only open in the winter and they aren't catering to MX much these days (more focused on sprint cars, etc). When ET is open, it is a fun track. Canyon is nice in the summer because they have lights for night riding and are located a little higher up in elevation thus making it 5-10 degrees cooler than the valley.
As far as trails, just make sure you have your bike registered and plated for AZ. Go to a title agency (Desert Title) and pay them. It costs $25 per year plus the title agency fee which is like $5. If you ride in any of the forest locations, you will need a day pass which are easy to get.
Our favorite laces to desert ride are: Wildcat staging area off of Bartlett lake damn road. The trails in this location are fantastic. This is the area where they filmed Destry Abbott and Taylor Robert ripping up the AZ desert in Moto the movie (Moto 6, I think?). Anyway, this area is completely badass. Good mix of super tight trails, some large rocks (trials type stuff), wide open sand washes, tight turn sand washes, technical hill climbs, whoops, and just about everything. There is a reason they filmed those guys riding in that area. We also like Sycamore creek (upper and lower) and the Rolls OHV area. These are both on the 87 north (Beeline highway) going from Mesa to Payson. The Rolls OHV area is on your right when you pass the Bush highway exit. The Lower sycamore creek area is on the left off of the Bush Highway exit. This area has a little bit of everything as well - sand washes, tight trails, hill climbs, etc. Same goes for Rolls OHV.
There are other areas like Queen Valley, Box Canyon, Middle mountain, White tanks area. These areas are decent, but the ones I listed above are the best in my opinion. There are so many trails in these areas, you can ride for hours and never be on the same trail twice.
Take water, lots and lots of water. It's dry out here (except for July and August during monsoon season) and every breath you take, the dry air evaporates water from your lungs. You lose fluids just by breathing, not to mention being very active. I've been dehydrated before and it sucks.
Good luck, be safe, and have fun!
I did find an open mine over there, so be careful! You don't want to fall down a mine shaft. Stick to the roads and the trails until you know exactly where you are.
I don't live in Arizona, but is riding around Wildcat worth the drive (Coming in from San Diego)? That segment in Moto6 (I know the one you are talking about) looked like so much fun. I'm not one for rocks or super, super technical stuff - more so like jeep trails or easy to medium type single track with flow/small jumps and maybe elevation changes.
Thanks!
You can find the super tight technical stuff, hill climbs and rocks to hop in this area. But the majority of the trails are cool, easy to medium single track with small jumps, whoops, good flow, etc. Trail 503 IIRC is one of the best for this. I think 413 ridgeline trail is another one. The trails I'm talking about are wide enough and smooth enough to get a 4 seat Rzr down but it's tight and slow in the Rzr. It's perfect for what you are looking for IMO. SO much fun.
It's just like what you saw in Moto 6 the Movie.
Pit Row
FYI - you can also camp at Bartlett lake which is just down the road and that's a beautiful lake. You can ride trails from the lake (via Verde River access) back up to the trails (its a long sand wash, but there are lots of trails off of it). That long sand wash that goes from the lake to the trails riding area was the sand wash shown in Moto 3 the movie BTW.
The sand wash is trail 413. If you just stay on trail 413 the whole way it will take you to the Wildcat staging area.
**EDIT** It was Moto the Movie 3 that had Taylor Robert and Destry Abbott ripping it up out in AZ, not Moto 6.
We run 12-13 psi to avoid getting flats.
Enjoy!
I think the track is pretty good considering they have to build it to suit riders from 50cc beginner to Pro. They'd be able to put more into it if more people showed up and rode and brought more money in. They ain't getting rich so it's hard to justify massive changes. But they do keep it pretty good, constantly mixing in mulch to keep the dirt soft and it is prepped for practice 3 days a week. How many other tracks in the state have prepped practice that often?
Keep driving to tracks in Phoenix instead of MC and soon you might have no choice.
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