Sky Island Riders

Riding SoAZ Part VIII (Willcox to Steins)

Howard — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 02:55:42 +0000

Looking east, down the hill from the THING? (remember The THING? from the last episode?) Interstates 10 leaves the Dragoon Mountains down to a long flat valley which extends until you get to the New Mexico state line.

Approximately 20 miles further east on I-10 (95 miles east of Tucson.) is the town of Willcox. An agricultural community, Willcox only has a population of about 4000 but it is known to be a good destination to pick your own apples and peaches. Apple Annie’s is a popular place.

Willcox is also the birthplace of Rex Allen, singer, songwriter and film actor from the 50’s to the 80’s. For those of us who grew up watch the “Wonderful World of Disney” on Sunday nights, you’ll remember Rex as the narrator from all the shows with animals in them. Remember “Yellowstone Bears“

A cowboy and his coffee

Let’s talk agriculture for a minute. Although we hear a LOT about the desert’s of Arizona, the fact is that AZ is a big farm and ranch state. Here are a few facts:

Willcox was once known as the “Cattle Capitol” of America.
Beef is AZ’s leading agricultural product and AZ produces enough beef per year to feed almost 5 million Americans.
Arizona ranks second in the production of lemons, third in tangerine production, and 4th in the production of oranges and grapefruit.
Arizona ranks second in the U.S. in head lettuce, leaf lettuce, romaine lettuce, cauliflower and broccoli production.
Go to the AZ Farm Bureau for more info if you want it.

Willcox has three exits. The second one, exit 340, is named Rex Allen Drive south of I-10 and Fort Grant Road if you turn north. Going north, the road is two-lane and is in fair condition. Fort Grant itself, is 33 miles north of Willcox and is one of those old west forts originally built to protect settlers, was abandoned for a number of years and in 1973 was reopened as a state prison facility. I believe there are tours of what is left of the original fort, but I have been unable to locate that information as of this writing. Fort Grant’s most famous soldier was probably Edgar Rice Burroughs, author of Tarzan. It’s most famous inmate, back in the day, at least, was probably “Billy the Kid” although he was known as Henry McCarty at the time. If you turn east from the fort, onto Route 266, you will be led to US 191.

Willcox is the intersection of several roads that either lead to, or are themselves, great destinations. About 7 miles east of town is the junction with US 191 north. Also know as the Coronado Scenic Byway, 191 leads to some great places, but is, itself, a destination.

Talk about tight turns and no guardrails

Prior to 1993, it was designated US Route 666 and was locally known as the “Devil’s Highway.” The name is appropriate not just because of the obvious Biblical reference, but also because of how remote it is and how treacherous it can become. According to one reference I found, there are more than 1100 curves and no services in the 95 miles between Clifton and Pine Top. There are extremely tight switchbacks and I noticed only a single curve with a guardrail out of all 1100, and it wasn’t the most dangerous curve I negotiated. Remoteness aside, 191 is a riders dream.

Road snaking down the valley

Because of the massive number of curves and the natural beauty, US 191 is known as an exceptional road for motorcycles. There is even an annual motorcycle run there called the Devil’s Highway Run. I may have to check that out next year.

ADVISORY – The scenery along 191 is some of the most beautiful in the state, however, there is an average of a mere 70 vehicles per day that travel here, making it the least travelled highway in the state of Arizona. Make sure your vehicle is in proper working order This is NOT a road for your giant RV or truck with a long trailer, either. I believe vehicles over 25 feet are restricted from this road because of how sharp some of the corners are. I realize that most of Route 191 is north of our SoAZ area, but it is too good of a road to skip.

The next services going east on Interstate 10 are at Bowie, AZ. Bowie is a small community of about 3000 souls. Historic Fort Bowie, after which the town is named, is located about 20 miles southeast of town. It is a 1.5 mile hike to the remains of the fort, from the designated parking area. There is only one paved road leaving Bowie to the north. It is Central Ave off of Business 10. It turns into Hackel Road about 10 miles from town and eventually intersects with US 191 about 8 miles outside of Safford, AZ. This road is paved but is narrow and not well maintained. There are no services in the 40 miles between Bowie and Safford.

About 15 miles further east is the tiny community of San Simon which has a single gas station. It is most noteworthy because it has a weigh station and the state border station there. When I was a kid, every vehicle had to stop there and declare whether or not you had any fruit, vegetables or live plants that were not from Arizona. I believe is an intermittent Border Patrol checkpoint nowadays. I went through there recently and only trucks with livestock on board had to stop.

From San Simon, you are only about 15 miles from the New Mexico state line. There is a rest area about two miles before crossing into New Mexico. There is one place of note just over the state line and that is the ghost town of Steins. Take the first New Mexico exit (#3) and go north. Steins is located right on the north side of I-10. There were a few buildings open the last time I went there a few years ago and some were in the process of being restored. It’s a fun little place to visit and it’s right on the highway, so it’s easy to get to.

This completes my coverage of northeast Southern Arizona. I had no idea, when I started this section, that it would take two segments to cover it. I thought that since there wasn’t very much territory north of I-10, that it would be brief. There really are quite a few things to see, places to go and cool roads to travel north of I-10.

The next few segments will cover that part of the state east of I-19 and south of I-10. It is one of my favorite area to ride or drive with beautiful scenery and interesting towns.

Did I mention that you also have to watch out for these on 191?

Riding SoAZ Part VII (Route 77 to The THING?)

Howard — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 00:15:46 +0000

Part VII of this series covers the northeast section of Southern AZ. (Kind of reminds me of the city of Northeast Southwestern in the old “Electric Company” show.) As defined in part I, Southern AZ is made up of Pima, Santa Cruz and Cochise Counties. This segment will describe roads and highways in the northern parts of Pima and Cochise Counties, north of Interstate 10. Because this area has fewer roadways than the areas south of the interstates I will be talking about towns and points of interest on or just a short distance south of I-10 as well. I will start in the area immediately north of Tucson and work my way east.

Oracle Road is/becomes Route 77. I am going to cheat just a little bit on my own definition, because the northwest side of Tucson has now expanded almost to the Pinal County line, just outside of the suburb of Catalina. I am, therefore, going to talk about a couple of routes that are actually in Pinal County. If you are looking for ways to go to Phoenix or other points in the north and you DO NOT want to use the interstate, Route 77 is a road with which you need to be familiar.

About 5 miles north of Catalina, there is a fork in the road. A left turn puts you on Route 79, which for some reason, known only to a select few member of the AZ DOT, is also marked as State Highway 80. (This peculiarity only lasts from the Rt 77 junction to Florence, then State Highway 80 ceases to exist.)

Route 77/79 Junction

Route 79 takes you to historic Florence, AZ. Florence is home to a state prison and I think my favorite attraction in the city is the Prison Outlet Store.

Prison Outlet Store

Am I the only one who finds this hysterical?

From Florence, there are a number of ways to proceed in to Phoenix. A few of these are noted in the “Ride Maps” section of this website. Also, if you are interested in driving a loop to Tucson’s north, about 10 miles from the junction is Park Link Drive. Until a year or two ago, it was dirt. Now it is a good quality paved road that connects Route 79 to I-10. It comes out right a the little town of Red Rock. For TV history buffs, the Tom Mix Memorial is just a few miles north of Park Link.

go back to Route 77. About 6 miles past the junction is Biosphere II. This former space experiment turn tourism destination is becoming very popular. I have yet to visit there but it is on my list of “Places to Go Unless I Change My Mind.” It is actually visible from the forest service road which leads from Ski Valley to the top of the Mt Lemmon ski lift.

A few miles past Biosphere is the town of Oracle. As of this writing, the state park located there is closed. However, if you turn right onto American Avenue and continue to drive, it eventually becomes the East Mt Lemmon Highway. The word “highway” here is very misleading. This is a rough, 4-wheel drive, narrow, steep road which does eventually lead to the top of Mt Lemmon. It is considerably less scenic than the other Mt Lemmon highway as well. If you are in the right kind of vehicle, it is a fun drive, though. Also along this stretch of dirt road, nearer to Oracle, are the Triangle Y Camp and Peppersauce Canyon and campground. These are both places where many Tucsonans went to summer or church camp in their youth.

Proceeding north on Route 77, you pass the exit to San Manuel. 77 is your gateway to points north. It will take you to Globe. From there you can go north on US 60/77 to Pine Top, turn east on US 70 and go to Safford or turn west on US 60 and loop down to the Phoenix area. If you are taking Route 77 for a loop toward Phoenix, I recommend taking the Route 177 spur out of Winkleman that leads you to Superior. It’s a great little road and takes you past the mine outside of Winkleman. It’s impressive.

Now we shall turn our sites east of Tucson and look down the eastbound Interstate 10 corridor. As mentioned previously, I try to avoid using the Interstate, but in many parts of Arizona, there are few, if any secondary roads to get to some locations. Some of the points I will mention in this segment are accessible from roads that come up from the south, but those will be discussed in a future segment.

East bound on I-10, the next point of interest is the town of Benson. Important routes leading south, which will be discussed in the future are Routes 80 and 90. An interesting northbound road is Cascabel Road. It starts as Pomerene Road and is on the east side of Benson. The first 15 miles or so are paved. After that, it is well maintained dirt/gravel and will eventually take you around the Rincon and Catalina Mountains and back to the town of San Manuel and Route 77. It’s about 55 miles from Benson to San Manuel using this road. There are no services at all between the two towns, but you will pass near the ghost towns of Tres Alamos and Reddington.

On the west side of Benson is the “town” of Gammon’s Gulch.

It is actually a movie set however, it is open to the public for much of the year. You can set the town from I-10 when you’re west of Benson. It is near the foot of the mountain as you’re looking north. Another interesting thing you can see from I-10 is Agua Verde Castle, also known as Durham Castle. It sets atop a small peak 5-10 miles east of Vail. It’s on the north side of I-10. It is a private residence and is not open to the public. If you ever go to Colossal Cave, they have those telescopes that you drop a quarter into and you can get a pretty good look at it from there.

As you go east out of Benson, you begin a fairly steep climb up to a pass in the Dragoon Mountains. At the top of the pass is Texas Canyon, so named for a group of Texans that settled there.

One of the many rock sculptures in TX Canyon

Texas Canyon is very interesting to drive through. One minute, you’re driving though desert with sagebrush and a few cactus, a mile or two later, the landscape is covered with huge boulders. Some are just laying around, other are stacked on top of each other in bizarre sculptures.

There are several interesting places nearby. There is the old Butterfield Stage stop about 7 miles south of I-10. On the opposite end of that historical spectrum, there is the Amerind Foundation Museum. Then there is “The THING?” The Thing is that typical roadside Americana kitsch that you usually think of as being found along Route 66 next door to the hotel where you sleep in the tee-pees.. There is gas, a Dairy Queen, a huge gift shop and, of course, the museum that houses “The THING?” What is it? I won’t tell you here, but if you haven’t stopped there, it’s worth the price of admission just to tell your friends that you’ve seen “The THING?”

Don't Miss It.

In the next segment, I will discuss Willcox, Rex Allen, pick-your-own produce and the “Devil’s Highway.” Please check back in a few days.

Ride Maps

Park Link Loop – 88 miles if you’re starting in mid-town. Difficulty – Easy. This loop has gentle, rolling hills and easy curves. From Red Rock back to Tucson I recommend the I-10 access road if you’re on a bicycle or scooter or if you just don’t want to zoom along at 75mph and miss the scenery. There is fuel and food available in Catalina and in Marana.

Winkleman-Superior-Florence Loop – 200 miles. Difficulty – Easy. This loop cruises through some beautiful country along the San Pedro River valley. It includes the 177 spur from Winkleman to Superior. If you continue on to Globe on 77 you get to go through Top-of-the-World and it is only 26 more miles.

Tres Alamos-San Manuel Dirt Loop – 159 miles with about 50 miles of dirt/gravel. Difficulty – Moderate IF you have the right vehicle. This may be rough on the average street bike or family sedan. Because of how remote it is, make sure someone knows what route you are taking and bring along some water. This route could be treacherous during monsoons.

Riding SoAZ Part VI (The Wild, Wild West)

Howard — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 03:39:08 +0000

I have one, maybe two, more segments to write about riding in the Tucson area. I’m sure, though, that there are some people who are want to get out on the open road and see what SoAZ has to offer. Actually, I’m one of them, so I’m going to come back to Tucson’s northern foothills and Catalina highway a bit later. So, on with the western half of Southern Arizona.

View Wild, wild west in a larger map

There are three primary routes that go west when you’re in the southern half of the state:

Interstate-10, which leaves Tucson and doesn’t really turn west until it hits Phoenix. It is the quickest way to L.A.
Interstate-8, which branches off from I-10 at Casa Grande and is the primary route to San Diego.
Route 86, which goes mostly west out of Tucson until it ends at Ajo.

I won’t really bother discussing I-10 or I-8 for a couple of reasons. Interstates are for getting from point A to point B as quickly as possible. They are a means to get to a good place to ride or drive. Stopping on the interstate roadside to snap a picture can get you run over. At the end of this segment there will be ride maps that will use the interstate to get to or from some scenic roadways.

If we’re not going to use interstate highway to go west, we are left only with Route 86, aka Tucson/Ajo Highway. If you remember back to Part II of this series, we covered points off of 86 as far west as Sandario Road and Ryan Airfield. The Tucson/Ajo Highway is a little more than 100 miles long and ends just east of Ajo, AZ. Road quality is fair, but there are lots of dips where sands may exist. Numerous roadside memorials attest, however, that this is not the safest road on which to travel.

Less than 7 miles further west of Ryan Field is the community of Three Points, or uh, Robles Junction. (From what I can tell, both names appear to be used interchangeably for the same area located at the intersection of Route 86 and Route 286.) There is a general store with fuel in Three Points. If you were to turn south onto 286, you would be in for a treat. This road runs along the middle of the beautiful Altar Valley for about 45 miles, until it ends in the little border town of Sasabe. There is gas and nice little general store there.

Located just outside of Sasabe is the Rancho de le Osa Guest Ranch, which claims to have the oldest building in Arizona on the property. It was originally a trading post built by Father Kino, and dates back to the late 1600′s. It has been a guest ranch since the 1920′s.

If you backtrack about 12 miles, you come to the Arivaca-Sasabe Road. This twisty road (a favorite of many motorcyclists) will take you east, through the town of Arivaca, before eventually ending on I-19 at Amado. There is gas in Arivaca and a very nice coffee shop called the Gadsden Coffee Company located on the east side of town. Their Arivaca Blend is pretty darned good.

Returning back to Ajo Highway, there is another Arizona landmark which shouldn’t be missed. Just 16 miles west of Three Points is the cutoff for Route 386. This is the road to Kitt Peak National Observatory.

At the junction the elevation is about 3400 feet. In just 12 miles miles, the road climbs to almost 7000 feet! This is another of Arizona’s twisting, turning mountain roads.

Kitt Peak regularly gets snow in the winter months. Also, temperatures at the top can be 30 degrees cooler than at the base, so bring appropriate clothing. There are different tours available and even an occasional over-night tour where you can check out the telescopes. There is very little in the way of retail or food at the top, so bring a picnic lunch or be prepared to survive on soda, chips and a Hershey Bar.

Advisory – While riding or driving in most of the area west of Tucson, you will be on the Tohono O’odham Nation, or Reservation, if you prefer. The Tohono O’odham live on 4.3 million, sparsely populated square miles of land, which includes San Xavier Mission and Kitt Peak. Few of the roads here are paved, villages are few and far between and most have no services. Ensure that your vehicle is in proper working order and that you have some extra water with you in the event that something happens and you have to wait a while until help arrives.

Another 20 miles west from the Kitt Peak road brings you to the town of Sells. There is fuel and food available here. The next road of interest, however, is 20 miles further west and that is Indian Route 15. IR-15 is a wide, smooth road which passes through some amazing desert scenery. It is also nice, because it takes you north to Casa Grande. Returning to Tucson via I-10 gives you a very nice 200 mile trip with some cool places to see and visit. Check the ride maps at the end of this segment for a sample ride.

It is just 40 more miles to Why, AZ and the “T” intersection of Route 86 and Route 85. Turning south at this point takes you through Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument to the US-Mexico border at Lukeville. This is a busy border town because it is the way one takes to get to the ocean at Puerto Penasco, Mexico, aka “Rocky Point.” Rocky Point is the closest ocean to most of southern Arizona and New Mexico and is a popular destination for many of Arizona’s desert dwellers from Tucson and Phoenix. Because of the high traffic volume, Route 85 is in good condition and is well maintained. Note – The pics of Rocky Point aren’t mine. I got the from Google Images.

Route 85 north takes you to Ajo, AZ, a popular retirement community. Outside of Ajo, you cross the Barry M. Goldwater (formerly Luke) Air Force Bombing Range. It is 2.7 million acres of “You can’t ride here” and it extends west almost to the California stateline. Route 85 through the range is beautiful, though. There are many wild looking rock formations that look like they are right out of a western movie.

Just after exiting the bombing range’s northern border, you arrive at Gila Bend, AZ and Interstate 8. Gila Bend is a quirky little town with a lot of UFO and other space stuff. It reminded me of Roswell, NM only not as green.

This brings us to the westernmost edge of our previously describe area called SoAZ.

Ride Maps

Sells/Casa Grande Loop – 220 miles of beautiful desert scenery. Mostly straight, or gentle curving roads. Includes Park Link Road as an alternative to returning to Tucson from Picacho. Level of Difficulty – Easy.

Arivaca Loop – 135 miles through the Altar Valley. Take the detour to Sasabe. Don’t forget to stop for a snack at the Gadsden Coffee Shop in Arivaca. Returns to Tucson via Old Nogales Highway. Level of difficulty – Moderate.

Gila Bend Loop – 330 miles. An all-day drive which showcases the variety of desert we have here. There is also a lot of farmland on this route between Gila Bend and Florence. Includes the bombing range and Casa Grande. Note – Road quality between Maricopa and Gila Bend is fair at best. Level of Difficulty – Easy

Riding SoAZ Part V (Fabulous Foothills)

Howard — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 20:23:52 +0000

I think my favorite things about Tucson are the Foothills. When I was a kid, we would drive up into the foothills to get the great views of the city and to see how another half lives. Tucson is literally surrounded by foothills on all four sides. I have already written about riding in the Tucson Mountains to the west (in Part III) and in the north end of the Santa Ritas to the south in part IV. Lets get to the real foothills of the Rincons and the Santa Catalinas.

Let’s pick up in Vail, where we ended last segment. As you may recall, the main drag through Vail is Colossal Cave Road. After crossing the railroad track, going north, you come to a stoplight at a “T” intersection. As mentioned previously, a left puts you on Mary Ann Cleveland Way and returns you to Houghton Road. Make a right and you are now on Pistol Hill Road. Pistol Hill heads out of Vail to the northeast, climbs along the northern ends of the Rincons then loops around to the northwest where it intersects with Old Spanish Trail.

Old Spanish Trail winds around the border of the Coronado National Forest after going through some historic ranch land, which is rapidly being converted into tracts of housing. There’s a great cemetery along here if you’re like me and enjoy that kind of thing.

Another nice place to stop through here is the Rincon Valley Farmer’s Market. They not only have produce, but they’ve got locally handcrafted items and, my personal favorite, coffee, fresh roasted on the spot.

Spanish trail continues to twist its way northward, eventually passing by Saguaro National Park East. The park not only has an interesting visitors’ center which gives some great history of the area, but it has the awesome “Cactus Forest” loop drive. This loop is 8 miles of one way, steep climbing, tight turning bliss.

I took an out-of-town scooter friend on the loop a while back and he said “It’s like the scooter gods came down and created the perfect road, just for us.” The scenery is gorgeous. You will need to watch for cyclists, particularly, if you’re riding this on a weekend.

Continuing on Old Spanish Trail after Saguaro National Park, will eventually take you to Broadway Boulevard, near Camino Seco. If you’re headed back to town, it is an excellent route to take. If you’re wanting to continue near the mountains, I prefer to make a right hand turn on Freeman, which is located less than a quarter mile north of the Park entrance.

About a half-mile up Freeman, you come to the top of a hill. The view from this point is spectacular. In the distance are the Catalinas. Spread out before you is beautiful desert. As I write this, we are in monsoon season and everything is very green. Freeman is as straight a road as you will ever travel, but there some nice little dips and hills to go through and over. As always, watch for sand and critters.

I really love exploring the side streets in this area. You do have to be careful, though, because some of them abruptly go from asphalt to dirt.

The paved portion of Freeman ends at Speedway Blvd. You can’t see it from this point, but less than a mile further north is a wide,(usually) dry wash. There are three ways to cross. Turn right and go about one mile east and cross using Wentworth. Wentworth is paved, except for the actually part of the road that goes through the wash. It is fairly well maintained, however, so isn’t usually a lot of sand or debris to worry about. You’ll arrive at Tanque Verde Road in about a mile.

Note: If you continue east on Speedway, you’ll arrive at Tanque Verde Ranch just three miles down the road. It is a historic dude ranch and has a lot to offer. It is on the list of “Least Expensive Places to Stay in Tucson” however.

If you turn west on Speedway, turn north onto Tanque Verde loop Road after about one mile. This road through the wash is paved all the way to Tanque Verde. If the wash is flowing, you will need to go two miles from the Freeman intersection to the bridge at Houghton Road.

Once on Tanque Verde Road, you have a few options open to you. Going west on Tanque Verde takes you back in to Tucson. If you are looking for some “off the asphalt adventure”, turn to the east. Tanque Verde Road will become Reddington Road. It turns to dirt and gravel and can be very rough. High clearance vehicles are usually recommended. Continuing will eventually bring you to a “T.” North takes you to San Manuel, AZ and will take you behind the Catalinas. South will take you behind the Rincons and eventually to Benson, AZ. Advisory: The desert can be very unforgiving. If you chose to take to the back roads, make sure you have extra water with you and tell a friend where you plan on going and what route you will take to get there.

If you crossed the wash via Houghton Road, you can continue due north. Houghton the most direct route to the Catalina Highway and up Mt Lemmon. Houghton ends at Snyder Road. I prefer to take Soldier Trail, which is conveniently located halfway between Tanque Verde Loop and Wentworth.

Soldier Trail is mostly straight, but again crosses through some beautiful desert. About two miles up Soldier Trail, you will come to one of my favorite area parks; Agua Caliente. There are natural springs and water can be found here year round. It is quite historic, but the visitors’ center is only open intermittently, however.

Agua Caliente is a true oasis, just like in the movies. We like to take all of our out-of-town visitors here.

If you return to Soldier Trail northbound, you cross Snyder (remember where Houghton Rd ended?) and continuing further you find yourself at Catalina Highway. The ride Mount Lemmon is a segment all its own and I will be getting there in the next week or so. In the meantime, let’s cover some of the foothills between the Catalina highway and Sabino Canyon Creek.

Catalina Highway, Snyder Road and Bear Canyon Road, form a scenic triangle of curving, hilly residential streets perfect for bicyclists, scooters or drivers just looking for some nearby desert scenery.

View Snyder Triangle in a larger map
If you enlarge the map you can see the triangle and how it is filled with a lot of little streets waiting to be explored. You can only go a short distance west of Bear Canyon Road because there are no bridges across Sabino Canyon Creek. From the intersection of Snyder and Bear Canyon, you can clearly see another portion of Snyder, but the only way to get there is to go all the way back to Tanque Verde then east to Sabino Canyon and return north.

Ride Maps

Now that we’ve covered a bit more area, I can post a few ride maps that occur within more than one of the areas we’ve covered:

1. 70 mile loop to Vail via Old Spanish Trail and Sahuarita Road. Great desert scenery with gas and snacks available in Vail or Corona de Tucson.

View Larger Map
2. 65 mile loop to Vail which includes Bear Canyon, Soldier Trail and Freeman Road. It also goes right past the Rincon Valley Farmers’ Market.

View Larger Map
3. 43 mile loop around the foothills of the extreme northeast. It does include Agua Caliente Park.

View Larger Map
Note The mileage on these loops is long mostly because of our starting position. If you remember I am starting all rides from Speedway and Campbell just to give everyone a common point of reference. If you’re starting on the east side, these are all much shorter.

Howard — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 15:25:57 +0000

Riding SoAZ Part IV Sahuarita Road

Howard — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 23:43:44 +0000

View Larger Map

The southern boundary of our “Tucson Square” is formed by Sahuarita Road. It stretches for more than 20 miles, connecting Mission Road to Route 83, aka the Sonoita Highway. There are virtually no stoplights making this a surprisingly fast way way to cross town, east-west. If you live on the east side and are wanting to go to anyplace from Sahuarita to Nogales, consider taking Sahuarita Rd. Improvements have recently been made west of Corona de Tucson as well, making it wider, smoother and safer. It’s biggest drawback is that there are few north-south connections to Tucson.

Near the west end of Sahuarita Road is the growing community of Sahuarita. The City of Sahuarita is our gateway to points south as well as some routes that lead to ghost towns as well as the scenic Arivaca Loop, which will be covered in a future segment.

At Sahuarita, there are three main routes to go north to Tucson. The fastest is Interstate-19. West of I-19 is Mission Road, which I’ve already discussed, and, paralleling I-19 about a half-mile to its east, there is Nogales Highway. Two things to know about Nogales highway; First, it does not go all the way through to Nogales and second, it becomes 6th Avenue at Irvington Road shortly after you enter Tucson.

Going east on Sahuarita Rd, the next street of note is probably Wilmot. Wilmot technically goes north and connects to I-10 however, there are about eight miles of dirt to get there. I believe that a layer of asphalt will be happening in the near future, but as of the first of June, much of it was still dirt.

Another four miles to the east and you arrive at Corona de Tucson and the intersection of Houghton Road. Houghton travels north past the Pima County Fairgrounds, over I-10, past the community of Rita Ranch and then to the east side of Tucson. At or near the fairgrounds you will also find Tucson Raceway Park, a 3/8 mile oval stock car track which is in the process of being converted from asphalt to dirt and will re-open August 21, 2010. For those wanting something a bit louder and a bit faster, there is Southwestern International Dragway drag strip. Both places places offer great weekend entertainment that is pretty gentle on the wallet.

Southbound Houghton Road ends about three miles from Sahuarita. However, if you are out taking pictures and are are interested in some beautiful scenery, I strongly recommend this little detour. It begins climbing into the Santa Rita foothills as it ends. At that point your are in an Ocotillo Cactus forest of sorts. There are great views looking toward Green Valley and, of course, toward Tucson.

Corona de Tucson is nestled at the north end of the Santa Rita Mountains. It’s a nice little village with a population of about 1,000 and growing rapidly. There is a gas station here with a nice little market inside, a golf course and American Legion Post 109, which is active in the motorcycling community via the “Legion Riders.”

Continuing east on Sahuarita bring a noticeable decline in road quality. Be advised, there are frequent potholes from here all the way to Route 83 and the shoulder is nothing but rough dirt, gravel, and/or sand. The road also starts going through some dips, so, as mentioned in the previous post, be wary of running water as well as sand and debris in the roadway. It is monsoon season as I write this and today I came across some good examples:

About three more miles east is Wentworth Road which is another of the roads which take you to I-10. It meets the interstate at the town of Vail. Vail is a rapidly growing community with a population of about 3,000 as of 2007. There is very little in the way of retail or services in Vail, but all that they do have is located directly on Colossal Cave (aka Wentworth) Road about one mile north of the I-10 interchange.
There is a Quik-Mart with fuel, a Quizno’s sandwich shop and a Dairy Queen. There are also a couple of local eateries and a gun shop.

There are a few ways back to Tucson from Vail. There is the interstate, of course. North on Colossal Cave Rd takes you to a stoplight at a “T.” A left turn puts you on Mary Ann Cleveland Way which will take you to Houghton Road and Rita Ranch. A right keeps you on Colossal Cave Rd which takes you on a beautiful loop around Pistol Hill Road which takes you to Old Spanish Trail and eventually back to Tucson’s east side.

Are you seeing the possibilities for some good riding loops, yet? I hope so. Old Spanish Trail will be covered in our next segment. Please stay tuned.

Our final north-south road for this segment is Scenic Route 83, aka Sonoita Mountain View Highway. Highway 83′s southern destinations will be covered in a future installment. It is only about 2 miles to Interstate 10. You can either hop on the freeway here, or return to Vail via the frontage road which runs on the north side of the interstate.

This completes the segment following the length of Sahuarita road. I hope this encourages you to get out and see what lies south of town. In our next episode, I’ll cover the east side foothills, Saguaro National Park East, and scooter-safe routes through Tucson proper.

admin — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 18:34:36 +0000

Riding SoAZ Part III (NW Tucson)

Howard — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 23:41:58 +0000

As you look at the west side of Tucson on a map, you’ll see that a large section of that area is shaded differently than the rest of the map.

View Tucson Mtn Park in a larger map
This is a combination of Tucson Mountain Park and Saguaro National Park-West. It you like hiking, it is a wonderful area, representing many miles of trails.

Tucson Mountain Park only has three paved roads that cut through it; Gates Pass Blvd, Kinney Rd and Picture Rocks Rd. These are all great riding roads, if a bit short. The way these roads cross the park does make for excellent loop possibilities through and around it. Since we’re already in the south part of Tucson, we’ll start with Kinney Road. Kinney crosses the park diagonally and connects Ajo and Sandario for a ride that is 12 miles of fun. It twists and turns its way past Old Tucson Studios and the world famous AZ-Sonoran Desert Museum. If you are visiting Tucson, both are great destinations, although I prefer the Desert Museum.
About halfway along Kinney, you’ll intersect Gates Pass Blvd, which is the most challenging of the roads through the park, particularly on the west side of the pass itself. I think most people get to Gates Pass from Speedway Blvd. Speedway actually becomes Gates Pass when you cross Camino de Oeste Road. (Here’s where it happens.)

There is a great park at the top of the pass where you can hike and take some awesome pics. The descent down the west side of the pass can be quite dangerous if you don’t watch your speed. It’s a fairly steep grade with a couple of tight corners. It is further complicated by large numbers of bicyclists, particularly on the weekends. Please watch for bikes.

The final road road through the park is Picture Rocks. It is short but is another important part in shorter, scenic loops around the west side. Advisory – if you are riding east on Picture Rocks, there is a downhill, decreasing radius, left hand sweeper which we like to call “Scooter Killer Curve.” It’s 3-4 curves after you crest the hill and is responsible for at least two scooter crashes of which I am aware.

Just north of Picture Rocks, we reach the northwest corner of our “Tucson Square.” As previously mentioned, it is here that you will find the Marana Regional Airport. There is another nice little diner here as well. I thinks it’s called Rick’s and they don’t have a webpage. Feel free to add a comment if I’m wrong on either count. There are two nice little roads to turn back to the east from here; Avra Valley Road, which is in front of the airport and is the most direct route to I-10 and Twin Peaks Road which is about 2 miles south on Sandario.

Twin Peaks becomes Silverbell and is a good way to return to Tucson proper. In the near future, Twin Peaks will cross I-10 and will connect to Camino de Marana, but construction is still underway.

I-10 is a major feature on the west side of town. This far north, there aren’t a lot of options to get over or under it. There is, however, a nice frontage road that runs along its length. Be advised, though, that there is a lot of construction around Marana to widen I-10 and make more overpasses so the frontage road stops and starts in different sections, depending on where they are working at the time. To cross I-10 from this far north, your options are Tangerine, which is about 2 miles north of Avra Valley via I-10 or the frontage road which is 2-way and runs on the west side of the interstate. Your other option is to take Silverbell south to Cortaro Farms or a bit further to Ina Rd.

All three of these roads will eventually take you to Oracle Road (our eastern border of the west side if you remember all the way back to the 5th paragraph of the previous post.) Riding around this entire area is fun. There aren’t a lot of destinations or particularly hilly or remarkably twisty roads but it is picturesque. You cannot ride into the Santa Catalina mountains from this part of town either. There is a lot of fun to be had here with smaller displacement bikes, particularly 50cc’s. I encourage you to ride out here and just wander around the various roads. The northwest area is still sparsely populated, so, like the southwest section, there isn’t a lot of traffic here either.

Advisory - When riding on the smaller roads, particularly in hilly areas, be aware of washes. DO NOT attempt to cross them if they are running with water. Also, if it has rained recently there may be sand and rocks in the road. Like this:

Oracle Road is also Route 77 when you’re going north and is the non-interstate gateway to Phoenix as well as Globe and Northern AZ. Stay tuned for a future segment about Route 77 and its potential. Oracle southbound returns you to the downtown area.

No discussion of this part of town is complete without a mention of Roller Coaster Road. Roller Coaster starts on the west side of Oracle about a half-mile south of Orange Grove. I have included Roller Coaster on a couple of group rides. As the name implies, it has a series of short, sharp twists, turns, drops and climbs. It’s worth the time it takes to ride it but alas and alack only the first mile has the great twisties.

Ride Maps in the west side:

Gates Pass Loop, around through Picture Rocks, past “Scooter Killer Curve.” If you’re a novice rider, do this loop counter clockwise. Both Scooter Killer Curse and Gates Pass are easier this way. Go clockwise when you want a bot more of a challenge. It includes the McCain Loop behind the Desert Museum.
Mission Loop – 44 miles and takes you past San Xavier and over Gates Pass. It includes Camino de Oeste where you get to see this:
Starr Pass, “A” Mountain Loop – 20 miles, Good for novices and 50cc bikes. There are great views from both Starr Pass and Sentinel Peak. This route also takes you by Pat’s Drive-in where you’ll find great chili-dogs.
Double Airfield Loop – 90 mile loop, great for novice riders interested in a longish ride. This map includes Roller Coaster Road as a finale.

Riding SoAZ Part II (SW Tucson)

Howard — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 18:41:12 +0000

In part II of this series, I will talk about riding in Tucson. Tucson is not exactly one of those large metropolitan city with lots of suburbs, however, there are a few. It is, though, large in terms of the land it occupies. For the purposes of this article, I will extend Tucson as far north as Oro Valley and as far south as Sahuarita. I will also discuss riding as far east as Vail and as far west as Picture Rocks. I will be including rides in Tucson Mountain Part, both Saguaro National Parks and the Sky Island Scenic By-Way, aka Catalina Highway, aka Mount Lemmon Highway.

This makes an area roughly 45 miles east-west and 30 miles north-south. That’s over 1300 square miles! For anyone reading this who is not familiar with ”the wild west,” space has never been an issue here, so we use a lot of it. As you can imagine, this provides for a lot of riding areas without even leaving the general Tucson area. I’ll bet that even some folks from Tucson didn’t realize that the city was this big.

Obviously, there are lots of just ordinary city streets on which to ride. Residential streets are a great way to get to know your city, but for the most part, I am going to ignore them. I will, however, discuss those streets which are scenic, fun, or otherwise noteworthy.

In order to discuss riding distances and times, we must have a common point of reference. I looked at the square created by my previously mentioned boundaries, and I believe that the University of Arizona, specifically, the intersection of Speedway Blvd and Campbell Avenue, (HERE) represents the approximate center. Also, it is easy to find for anyone new to the area. Therefore, this is the point I will use as the starting location for all rides mentioned when discussing Tucson rides.

I’m going to start with the west side of town. Why? Because that’s where I most recently went riding and I’ve got some decent pics of the area. Once again, please allow me to create my own definition of “the west side.” I had originally thought about using just that part west of I-10, but I am, instead, going to move my dividing line eastward, to Oracle Road and then I-19 as you go south. Okay? Okay.

View Reference Point in a larger map
The west side is a little short on twisting, turning roads, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t ANY twisties, nor does it mean that there aren’t some beautiful rides. There are some of each. There are also some very scooter friendly routes that are ideal for traversing the city from north to south and back again.

Let’s start in the southwest corner of our defined area. In that area is San Xavier del Bac.

The mission is a great destination. As you can see, it’s beautiful. If you enjoy history, it’s excellent as well. On the weekends, there are many vendors out in the parking lot selling everything from baskets to, my favorite, frybread. From Speedway and Campbell, the mission is just a 15 mile or 30 minute ride, making it perfect for a 2 hour outing where you can get some good food, shoot some nice pics and buy some great Christmas gifts.

As you can see by the map, you get to San Xavier using Mission Road. Mission is a great west side road with which to be familiar. South of San Xavier, it becomes a bit twisty and eventually ends in Green Valley. It’s a scenic way to get there and you avoid having to ride on I-19. North of the mission, you go into Tucson just west of downtown and, if you turn west onto Congress St, you end up on Silverbell Rd, which will take you all the way to our northern boundary along a path which parallels I-10. For those on smaller displacement bikes or those who just don’t like riding/driving the freeway through cities, Mission-Silverbell is a great way to cross Tucson when going north-south.

Near the spot where Congress and Silverbell merge is the entrance to a Tucson landmark, Sentinel Peak Park or “A” Mountain. Visible from much of the city, it has a large “A” on the side of it.

The is a one-way road that wraps around it and, from there, you can get great views like this:

The next road of note is Valencia Rd. Valencia run east-west across much of the city, making it a good way to traverse Tucson on the south side. I have found much of it to be in need of repair, however, so be prepared to have your teeth rattle a bit. It has also been my experience that people tend to drive well over the speed limit on Valencia as well, so be prepared. I have used Valencia west of Mission on a couple of group rides as a way of avoiding the busier section of Ajo Way. Valencia intersects with Ajo at Ryan Airfield.

Ryan Airfield is on the western border of our Tucson “square.” Ryan Field is another good destination for those interested in a short outing. It is less than 20 miles and is about 30 minutes from our start point. (Map) While there you can observe small planes taking off and landing and you can enjoy some tasty food at Todd’s Restaurant located at the airport. Ajo Highway, aka Route 86, is the gateway to western AZ which will be covered in another segment.

** Please note that I don’t receive any compensation from any of the businesses/restaurants that I have mentioned or will mention in this piece. There are many great places that won’t get mentioned and I apologize to them. **

Another important road is Sandario Road. Sandario starts about 2 miles west of Ryan Field. It runs due north and ends at Marana Regional Airport. That’s 20 miles. Sandario is a great north-south road to use to cross the city and it’s a beautiful drive. It’s almost perfectly straight, but it has a lot of rolling hills and the desert scenery is beautiful. Another nice thing is that there isn’t a lot of traffic. There are a lot of horse properties out here as well, for those who have equestrian interests. There is gas available where Sandario intersects Picture Rocks Rd.

My word processor tells me I am at 1000 words. I think that’s a pretty good length for a single post. Stay tuned for the next installment which will cover Tucson Mountain Part and “Scooter Killer Curve.”

Riding Southern Arizona (SoAZ) Part I

Howard — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 04:06:47 +0000

As I mentioned in my previous post, I’ve decided to write a bit about riding in Southern Arizona (SoAZ). SoAZ has (in my opinion) some of the best 2-wheeled riding areas in these United States. I am writing this as a general piece about riding 2-wheeled vehicle here. You must decide for yourself if each individual ride is appropriate for your particular scooter or motorcycle. At times, I will specifically mention if an area is “50cc friendly” or if you must ride at highway speeds, etc.

So what or where is “Southern Arizona?” According to Wikipedia, SoAZ is generally considered to be the part of the state “south of the Gila River.” I am going to create my own definition. For the purposes of these posts, SoAZ consists of Pima, Cochise and Santa Cruz Counties. Not coincidentally, this is the part of the state where you will find the “Sky Islands” The namesake of our club.

To make it easier to write about clear geographical areas, I will further subdivide SoAZ into four areas. The first area is the Tucson metro area. The next area is everything west of a not-so-straight lined formed by Interstates 10 and 19. (See the second map.) Area number three is that part east of the I-10/19 line and north of that section of I-10 east of Tucson. (You have to look at the map. I-10 runs east/west when it’s east or Tucson, then turns kind of northeast when it’s west of Tucson.) The final area I will write about will in the southeastern corner of the state, south of Interstate 10.

There will be some who will wonder “Why doesn’t he include Phoenix?” There are a few reasons.

One – I’m the one writing this.
Two – Arizona has three major cities: Tucson in the south, Phoenix in the central part and Flagstaff in the north.
Three – Look at the map above. Using two (imaginary) horizontal lines, divide the state into thirds. Phoenix, at least the way I see it, is at the extreme southern edge of the central zone.
Four – The southern zone is characterized by low desert dotted by numerous, very small mountain ranges. Some of these are quite high in elevation.
Harsh desert punctuated by mountains

As you leave Pima county, going north, the landscape begins to change. The tiny mountain ranges spread out and as you go north of Phoenix you be climbing onto some high plateaus. There is more water.

The Salt River runs through Phoenix.

Further north, AZ looks a lot like Colorado. See there, three general geographic “zones” of Arizona.

Pine trees and snow-capped peaks

There are, indeed, many great riding areas in the other two regions of Arizona. They are, however, someone else’s responsibility. I live in SoAZ and I grew up here. I have visited the other areas, but have limited experience, virtually none on two wheels. as “they” always say, “write what you know. I know SoAZ.

I am really looking forward to writing this. It looks like this will be a five part series, with this introduction being Part I. One of my early goals for this site was to have part of it be a reference for people coming here who want to ride. I guess the Live traffic Feed was my inspiration.

Howard

Club ride to the desert San Xavier del Bac mission