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I hit the San Tans this morning for a little singlespeed riding. I haven’t been out on the converted Avalanche since Lost Goldmine at the end of May.

It was a gorgeous sunrise at 5:30 AM. Yesterday afternoon the park was hit with a deluge of rain. While there was no standing water on the trail, you could feel the moisture rising up from the ground. It was as humid as Houston out there. I was practically dripping beads before I even started pedaling!

I opted to take Goldmine to the San Tan loop ccw around Hedgehog then cw up the wash to the southern trails and then back with an out-to-the-saddle-n-back on Malpais before descending Moonlight to the trailhead. It was 10 miles of rigid singlespeed bliss and three miles of “I need stronger legs.” The great part about recent rains in San Tan Park is that the sand washes are rideable. Woo Whoooo!

The trails were in decent shape, washed out and rutted a bit from the rain plus a little sandy in non-wash areas. I’ve ridden in better conditions out there. I talked to Dave the park manager and he’s still hopeful of new trails being cut in the future. A nice ridge trail and some winding singletrack in the foothills at the north end of the park would be nice. It might be ten years but at least there’s a chance. I still love to ride the San Tans. To me the solitude and views are worth the horse tracks and sandy spots.

With the new 202 open from University to Power, Hawes is no longer a 30 minute drive on surface streets. If I can shave 10 minutes off that commute, Hawes will be seeing a lot more of me this summer. Can’t wait to drive there.

Calling all Southeast Valley mountain bikers! MTBR SuperModerator .downhillfaster. has founded the Queen Creek Riders Organization. The QCRO will give us SE Valley riders a virtual hub for group rides, trail advocacy and much more:

This group has been established to gather the mountain biking residents of the southeast valley into one place for the purpose of sharing rides, experiences, and opportunities. You’re also welcome to upload pics of your bike(s), ask any tech or trail questions, or even let everyone know if you’ve got a bike part for sale.

Read the invitation on the Arizona MTBR forum, then come join us in our little stretch of the desert.

Our first area of interest is the San Tan Mountain Regional Park. There’s a budding trail system in development there and mountain biker input is needed to keep the trails growing. If trail advocacy is not your thing, come join QCRO for the group rides. We’re planning on riding a plenty.

Today was my first singlespeed ride since 1984. And that’s only if you count BMX riding the Arco in T.O. I tell you, I wasn’t very convinced singlespeeding was going to be anything special until I was riding in the San Tans one day. As I rode around on the Fuel EX 9, I thought…these trails are not so technical that I need this much bike…they’re not so steep that I need this many gears…especially a granny…

Then I thought about my trusty 2001 GT Avalanche sitting in the garage with flat tires and a 1997 LX drivetrain that only I knew how to shift properly. The Avalanche frame was a warranty frame for my 1995 GT Karakoram that cracked. Sweet memories on both bikes.

So I went ahead and spent some change for a Forte singlespeed conversion kit at Performance, a SRAM singlespeed chain, and a new hard-to-find five bolt 94 mm BCD front chain ring to fit the old school LX crank arm. My local shop up the street (Arizona Bike Source) had one in red.

So for under 50 bucks I got a new bike. Tack on the Maxxis Crossmark tires and total cost was a bit more…but the Crossmark 2.1 tires roll like pie crust. Went straight to the San Tans and had a blast burning through the trails. A hardtail is all the bike you need to ride the San Tans, and I dare say that ONE is all the gear you need too. I’m starting on 34/18 ratio, and after a few rides I might go to 16.

Fighting the tendency to shift is a hoot. Even after 9 miles my right index finger dropped down and ghost shifted down after cresting a hill and picking up speed on the down. On the climbs it was easy to remember I had no gears, I just hammered into them. Over the course of the trail, I think I actually rode faster on one speed that with all the gears. Go figure.

This is my year of exploration and now all the trails in the valley are new to me and my singlespeed. The adventure never ends, only the shifting.

From SanTan Singlespeed

I have finally put together a map of the San Tan Mountain Regional Park trails. This is an MTB friendly map as it will tell you where to go for the singletrack, where doubletrack and old Jeep roads are, and most importantly…where the SAND is. While there is quite a bit of Jeep road and doubletrack, there is a smattering of young singletrack in the area, primitive in spots but skinny just like we like it.

I’ll be updating the San Tan Park trail page soon with more detailed descriptions of the trails. Until then, download the map for a visual layout of the system.

Download the PDF San Tan TOPO Map (PDF 1.3 MB)

I’ve been on a San Tan kick lately. I’ve been out to the park five times since I first explored the area in December. The unknown trails keep calling to me. Last weekend I rode all the newly designated trails on the new map. There are a couple of sweet singletrack segments that just may make the southern San Tans a destination.

Cross country and singlespeed riders will find rolling singletrack that winds through amazing Sonoran desert with views to the south of Rock Peak and the Malpais mountains.

There are still a few sand traps that could use an MTB friendly re-route and there are spots of doubletrack connectors in the mix. But overall the southern San Tan trail is ready to ride.

I hit the San Tans again this week, the day after the big rains. I was back to explore the new singletrack I found last week.

At the Park entrance I spoke with a ranger and she gave me a new map of the park. The south side of the park has three newly designated trails: the Malpais trail, Hedgehog trail, and Rock Peak trail. She said they haven’t officially opened yet, meaning there is no trailhead signage, but they do have trail markers and are open to hike, bike, and horse. The Hedgehog trail we’ve been riding for a while now. It just the new name given to the second half of the singletrack that wraps around the mountain. The San Tan loop trail got an extra 2.7 miles added as well.

I headed back to finish off what I started on the Malpais trail. Just knowing the name of the trail made it less adventurous. Being less adventurous, there seemed to be more sandy spots as well. Good thing for all the rain it made the singletrack (sandy or not) nice to ride.

I still had to explore the section of trail from the boulders down to the big wash. It turned out to be good stuff. More technical than the other segments of the trail. It is a modest descent on various gradients of desert earth – Loose stuff, sandy stuff, some granite, some hardpack. It didn’t last long enough though before the fun ran right into an endless beach.

I walked the coastline for more than a half mile looking for signs of an escape route but to no avail. The scenic nature of the wash was amazing though. It follows near the base of the Malpais mountains which shoot right up in to the sky. The solitude, the scenery, the sand… I made it as far as a fallen cactus strewn across the wash, then turned around to salvage the ride with the singletrack back to the San Tan trail.

I still have a couple more segments to ride along the new San Tan Trail, as well as the Rock Peak Trail. Although Rock Peak looks like it’s going to be a beach. There are still a few other unmarked spurs that beg exploration out there. It looks like exploring the San Tans is going to be a longer adventure than I thought. Good thing I live close.

From San Tan Malpais Trail

After a couple of weeks out of the saddle fighting colds, flues, and viruses, I made it out to San Tan Park this week for a short “see how I feel” ride. I opted to drive out to the park entrance on Phillips and pay the extra 5 bucks so I didn’t have to gruel through the rite of passage over Goldmine Mountain. The best 5 bucks I ever spent.

I warmed up over Moonlight trail and connected with the San Tan singletrack. Conditions were dry, soft and sandy in more places than the last time I rode out here. Still rideable, it just takes a bit more energy to push. The horses sure chew up the trail as they klopp, klopp, klopp. I saw more horse tracks than tire tracks on this ride. Riding after the rains is San Tan’s finest riding.

I was planning to just ride the singletrack CCW around the mountain till it meets the sandy doublewide back to the entrance. Here I’d turn around and ride CW back the way I came. It’s a good thing I had a game plan, because there is nothing better than ditching your game plan when you see fresh new singletrack, especially in the San Tans.

A couple of small yellow flags and a herd of hoof prints caught my eye one mile into the singletrack on San Tan trail. I didn’t see it last time I rode out here. It looked so inviting – all the hoof prints and all – I just couldn’t wait to leave my tracks over the top.

I rode the “new” trail for about 2 miles out. The connection to the San Tan trail looked new but there were stretches that looked and felt like old trails. It had a Wild Horse kind of feel – winding through the desert in and out of washes. Occasionally more in washes than out. There were at least two long stretches I could have broken out the beach towel. No worries for me though, exploring new trails trumps sand.

I ran out of time before I could drop down into what looks like a big wash in Google Earth. No signs of any trail looping back, other than the big wash. The original trail plan for the area shows a trail named 1-9 that looks like the route I followed. I know the original plan has been changed a lot, but maybe 1-9 made the cut. All I know is the 2 mile stretch I rode was fun. It needs a lot more bike traffic to pack the trail. I know I’ll be back finish the loop and do even more exploring.

I finally got out to San Tan Mountain Regional Park last week. I’ve read plenty about the Santan’s in the past that kept me from exploring the area. Horse tales and sand traps are enough to keep any mountain biker away, not to mention all the doubletrack and jeep roads. I live so close to the Skyline trailhead that I still had to see for myself.

So glad I checked the park out. The heavy rains from the past weeks plus some serious riding by someone out there has packed the trails quite a bit. The gem trail of the San Tan Park is the wide Hawes-like singletrack on San Tan trail that loops to the south and rounds a big mountain. I could tell horses had been there but the MTB presence was cutting right through the hooves and forming a sweet trail. Nothing technical at all but plenty fun and fast. I love the adventure of a new trail.

I rode the San Tan trail counterclockwise from the Skyline TH. Just making it up and over Goldfield Mountain is an epic couple of miles. Once I was on the main loops even the doubletrack was a hoot. You can ride fast and keep a good pace. Going down Moonlight trail from the west side of San Tan is a blast. There are a couple of swoops that can give big air. Goldmine trail is nothing but a wide jeep road, but it completes the loop so ya gotta ride it.

The sandy spots on San Tan trail are on the east side, right out from the staging area up to a fork to the singletrack. I wouldn’t recommend doing the loop clockwise. Unless you like to climb in sand. But you can sure fly down it if you keep your speed up.

The San Tan trail from the Skyline TH is pretty much a “rite of passage” into the park. I don’t think many riders enter from here. There are four stages to the 1.1 mile climb. Stage one, the “warm up” from the gate that doesn’t even come close to getting you warm enough for stage two, the first big up. It’s rocky, technical, and pretty steep, but plenty of cleanable lines.

Then there’s the period of rest, about 100 yards of down before a little more of that cleanable technical uphill. The trail levels off again. Now it gets fun. The third leg of the climb starts off with a warning sign. I’ve only made it about 75 feet before losing it. But that was 50 feet further that the first time I attempted this leg. Most riders will begin the quarter mile hike-a-bike here. For the last 200 feet, the climb steepens enough to give it its own stage. It’s a monumental hike-a-bike, steep, loose, and rocky.

The drop down into the park is steep too, loose in spots but rideable and very fun. If you haven’t been to San Tan park I recommend the rite of passage. The epic climb plus the singletrack to the south make riding the oversized jeep road worth it.