Casa Grande Mountain
UPDATE: Casa Grande Mountain will be getting a facelift this spring…Expert trail builder Mark Flint has been hired by the city to build new trails on the mountain. Flagging started earlier this year and trail building will begin in January. Awesome.
View Casa Grande Mountain in a larger map
Casa Grande Mountain from MTBikeAZ on Vimeo.
Fun section of CGM. One of about 12 clips from the mountain. Raw footage only. Vholdr mounted to bottom tube of frame. Watch as I dodge cholla cactus.
Looking for some fresh singletrack to explore I searched the MTBR trail reviews and Arizona forum for a new ride. Casa Grande Mountain looked good on paper and the trail view in Google Earth looked even better.
First thoughts are that this trail rocks. Pristine singletrack no more than 24 inches wide in most places. This morning I had first tracks over some freshly raked trail. It’s the groomed corduroy of the desert.
There are two distinct sections of trail. The north side loops are about 5 miles total. If you ride over the saddle from the north side you enter Phil’s Wild Ride. It’s not really called Phil’s wild ride but it should be. Phil, a Casa Grande local, has built most of the trails over that first saddle that lead to the south side of the mountain.
There are a few different ways to ride the north side loops. A couple of connector trails let you mix-n-match till you find what you like. The trails here are not too technical as they twist and turn up and down the mountain. There are even a couple of nice jumps and two wash bridges to cross.
The south side trails run from the saddle clear down to the south point of the mountain in a Desert Classic-like fashion. They have the look and feel of Wild Horse out in near Hawes with a little bit of Twisted Sister action and a smattering of Pass Mountain. The further south you go the more technical it gets. There are quite a few trails to choose from to get the south point. The East and West Legs are the most technical with Bootleg esque exposure, steeper climbing and more technical decents.
The locals have built an awesome system in Casa Grande. It’s such a new system that the singletrack is still SINGLEtrack. I feel some serious respect for the trails, knowing that it local sweat maintaining the mountain. My thanks goes out to everyone who have built and maintain these trails. I’ll have to do my part and give back to the mountain.
Last Saturday I met CGCharlie, his wife Doris, and friend Clarence out on the trail. Charlie has built most of the north side trails and continues to clean and cut new ones. Today I met Robert, a local who helps maintain the trails by raking and riding frequently.
Casa Grande Mountain is the best kept secret outside of Phoenix. It doesn’t have to be that way. Spread the word.
Local Bike Shop: Round Trip Bikes | Group Rides at CG Mountain
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Where is the access to the trail head? I looked for it today is it off the end of Peart?
The trailhead is a bit tricky to find. Follow Peart to the end just past the hard right turn. Right before the pavement ends, hang a left off the side of the road onto a “hard to see” jeep road. Follow the jeep road about a quarter mile staying right when it forks. There is a lone cactus with no arms that marks the trailhead. See the photo above. Good luck.
After riding the trail. Let me know what you think.
I rode this trail last weekend and highly recommend it to anyone who has 2 – 3 hours to ride. Not an all day destination but has good climbs, some technical, and some nice downhill too. Great way to spend the morning
I rode this trail yesterday (8/30/08). I’m in Maricopa and started from the north end. I missed the trailhead by the cactus, so ended up following the jeep trail until I decided to head toward the mountain and intersected the singletrack. It is good….once familiar I will speed it up a bit, but be careful the first time…….
I got there from Peart. Parked at the end of the paved road……lot’s of broken glass.
It was a couple of days after a storm and I only saw 3 or 4 tracks. This trail would really develop with a little more traffic. I’m 30 min. from it or South Mountain. The Casa Grande trail had nobody on it when I went, but the trail is well formed.
P.S. I did come across one rattler.
Very fun trail if you get on the right section! Do yourself a favor and click the “topo” map at the top of this page. Ride the blue and black trails and STAY AWAY FROM THE GREEEN-unless you enjoy bad books and boring movies. I thought I was going to slit my wrists! I just took the wrong turn starting off. This would actually be a great trail to take my kids on and I plan on going back with them. It should give them some fun/challenging stuff to ride.
Follow the directions from Peart Rd. to the trail head. Start the ride at the “lone cactus”. About 100+ yards the trail forks – go right and climb the switch backs (left goes to the kids area). You’ll dead end into another trail – go left. This trail is a lot of fun and challenging. It will take you out over the saddle into some great views. Make sure you do the black loop shown on the topo, and then you head back, making it a lollipop ride. I want to do it again!
Hey BarqsMan or Shawn – did either of you calcualate the total distance of the blue and black trails…doing a loop from the trailheard off Peart?
This trail is a blast. Narrow rocky single track, some challenging sections through rock washes. I live in Queen Creek and work nearby in Eloy. I snuck out of work early to get a ride in. I didn’t complete the trail as I was running out of daylight, but plan on making it back at least once a week. Hats off to those who built the trail. Very cool!
Wonderful trails and nice scenery sums up this area.
There are many miles to Bike or Hike, and very nice trails too. Spring is upon us and the desert really comes alive during this time, and this is a nice way to check it out up close. I hike this area several times a week and I really love it. I can easily take a 10 mile hike without backtracking too much. The future plans look great too, it looks to almost double the trails.
You do need to look out for people shooting accross the trails, particularly on the Southern end (I like this portin the best). There are no signs designating this as a trail park and there are constantly people shooting randomly and VERY OFTEN accross the trails or the trails are in their line of fire. You WILL want to bring a safty whistle to make them aware of your presence and that you wish to hike/bike through. Most will allow you to pass after they see you. I would hope that someone is going to address this serious safety issue soon. Just be very careful on the Southern end!!!
…David
Yes, I second the safety precaution on the southern end. I won’t even go there if I even hear shots from the distance. I had one close call a while back where bullets were a blazing and all I could do is backtrack to cover. I am sure this will be addressed at some point in the future. I’ll bring it up with Round Trip Bikes and see what they know about it.
Although Casa Grande mountain has a beautiful shooting range on the northwest side of the mountain people shoot on the south and east side recklessly.
What a great trail!! I rode the entire thing this morning starting at the big cactus and just kept taking the trails to the right the entire time. Just cruised it finishing in 1:43 with an average speed of 7.7, around 13.5 miles worth of stuff. Definitely fun and challenging on the south end but nothing too tricky. No mandatory hike-a-bike anyplace. I did put a foot down about a half dozen times but that was just because I didn’t know the trail. There must have been a mile to a mile and a half of freshly raked trail on the black trail system that I was the first over. I am not sure who maintains this trail system but they are doing one heck of a job!! I was the only one out there for a Sunday morning so people are missing out. I live in south Chandler and it only took me about 45-50 minutes from driveway to trailhead. This is closer than Estrella for me and maybe even McDowell. Guess where I am going more often!
Just to update anyone interested. The shooting has been curbed quite a bit. The city has put up fencing and signage letting folks know that shooting there is illegal and poses a safety issue. This has cut back on the shooting quite a bit. Occasionally you will see someone but we have been addressing them directly and educating them on the use of the range rather than the wilderness.